how it started
A Little Paint.
A Lot of Heart.
Every story starts somewhere. Ours started with Silva.
Every story starts somewhere. Ours started with a handful of paintbrushes.
Before there was Art Play, there was our founder, Silva—a nanny with a busy working week and an idea that wouldn’t leave her alone.
Working with families across Chiswick, Green Park, Kensington and Chelsea, she noticed something about children. Give them paint, a little freedom and permission to make a mess, and their imaginations would take over.
She wanted to make more room for that.
So she started running birthday parties where children could paint, experiment and follow their own ideas. There was no business plan, no investor waiting in the wings. Just a handful of paintbrushes and a growing collection of very colourful birthdays.
And then something happened.
People kept coming.
Our first shop had room for 18. We made it work.
The parties outgrew their first home at Philip’s Gallery, and Art Play moved into a tiny shop on Petticoat Lane.
Eighteen people could fit inside. Each booking helped keep the doors open.
Silva continued nannying to help pay the rent, cover the team’s wages and buy the next batch of materials. What came in went straight back into Art Play.
It took the team’s hard work, support from family and friends, and customers willing to give a little new place a chance. Everyone pulled together to make it work.
Little by little, the small shop became something bigger than its four walls.
And somewhere along the way, the grown-ups decided they’d quite like a paintbrush too.
Turns out, adults need playtime.
Word travelled through Facebook groups, WhatsApp messages, handwritten flyers and friends telling friends.
People came to paint. They also came for a few hours away from their phones, their to-do lists and the feeling that everything had to be done properly.
Here, you could try something simply because it looked fun. Your painting could be a masterpiece, a glorious experiment or something you’d need to explain on the way home.
All were welcome.
From Petticoat Lane, we moved to a balcony in Spitalfields Market, then into a permanent studio that family and friends helped us build.
With every move, more people became part of the story. The team brought their energy and ideas, customers brought their friends, and helping hands made each new space feel like home.
Our community kept growing. Our trusty Art Play trolley kept rolling, piled with canvases, materials and whatever the next workshop needed.
That trolley deserves its own chapter.
A bigger home. More people around the table.
Eventually, the story brought us to our Shoreditch venue.
There was room for dedicated creative studios, more materials, proper coffee and cocktails. Room to gather your friends, celebrate a birthday or settle into an afternoon of making something with your hands.
Getting there took a shared effort. Behind every workshop was a team making it happen, keeping things moving and putting care into the little details that made people want to return.
Together, we were building a bigger home for the feeling we’d loved from the beginning: come in, get comfortable and have a go.
Then came Chelsea.
We collected the keys, and another chapter began—with everyone pulling together once again.From a shop with 18 seats to homes in Shoreditch and Chelsea, Art Play has grown one booking, one recommendation and one returning face at a time.
Everyone who has worked here, helped us along the way or walked through our doors has played a part.Which brings us to you.Today, our tables are filled with painting, pottery, mosaics, candle making, terrariums and plenty more reasons to try something new.
Some people come for a guided workshop. Others choose a canvas and see where the afternoon takes them. There are dates, birthdays, family outings, team get-togethers and people happily taking a little time for themselves.
You don’t need experience. Curiosity will do nicely.
Whether you’re five or ninety-five, coming alone or bringing the whole gang, we want you to feel welcome from the moment you arrive.
To find your own way of creating.
To leave with something you made and a memory worth keeping.
What started as one person’s idea has become something we’ve built together.
At its heart, it’s still wonderfully simple: put some materials on a table, bring people together and give them the freedom to play.
Pull up a chair.
There’s room for you in this story.