Getting Colorful at the Splatterbox

9 friends walk into a birthday party looking like this...

And walk out like this. 

Our friend Ali planned a get together for her birthday at Albany Art Studio in their splatterbox. We really had no idea what to expect. 

The studio is in charming downtown Albany, you enter on the first floor to an exposed-brick, open area with tables for parties, classes, and wine and paint events. When the space was ready, they took us upstairs to the Splatterbox, a huge open room with energetic music playing, black lights glowing, and COVERED in neon paint. 

The studio offers free protective wear of goggles, ponchos, shoe covers, and shower caps, although we mostly let paint get everywhere. Creative tools include paint brushes of various sizes great for flinging, splashing, and splattering, and squirt guns! There's a $5 entrance fee, the only thing you pay for is paint. 

For our group of 9, we split the "bigger" paint kit for $99, which includes 110 ounces of paint, enough for over an hour of paint throwing and fun. You can also buy canvases. We painted walls, gave each other handprints and names and beards, and mostly splashed each other with paint of all colors. 

On Saturday night they have adult BYOB where they welcome cider, beer, and wine. You can make reservations ahead of time, but it seems like walk-ins are welcome too. 

When our paint ran out, we spent another hour dancing, drumming, and taking photos.

Here's a few things to know if you want to check out a Splatterbox:

1. Wear white if you can! All of your clothes should be ones that are disposable to you, they will definitely get paint on them. (Although I was surprised my black leggings came out of the wash pretty clean).

2. The paint actually came off super easily in the shower. The paint is egg-based tempera. I was a little bit worried about my hair. Brushing it out after a wash took a little bit longer than usual, but it wasn't bad.

3. You can bring clothes for the ride home, but we ended up dancing and hanging out long enough after painting that our clothes were dry. My skin got pretty painted, so I was worried my hair/skin would paint my clean clothes. I ended up not changing and just popping on a free poncho over my painted clothing and wearing that home, and no paint got on my car interior. 

4. You may end up having your gas light come on on the way home and have to stop for gas late at night while covered in paint. Our gas attendant said absolutely. nothing. It was hilarious.

5. We brought some beer and having a drink or two was fun, but definitely not necessary to enjoy this experience. The music, atmosphere, and creativity are a blast in themselves. I think this would be a super fun activity for a date, with kids, during the day or night.

For more local adventures, check out my Adventures & Stories page.

Linking up with:
Lou Lou Girls Fabulous Party