The Art Garage debuts South Austin studio with grand opening party

A local family-owned arts and crafts business that started in a garage has opened its third location. The new Art Garage studio is located at 8204 Brodie Ln., Ste. 103, four minutes from where it started in 2008. A grand opening party invites guests to celebrate on August 8 with art projects, guest vendors, and more.

The new location started its soft opening phase on May 26. The official opening party on Saturday will give guests a chance to make spin art and tie-dye for free, or take 15 percent off pottery painting all day — even after the party, from 10 am to 1 pm, is over.

There will be giveaways at the top of every hour, and other small businesses will be selling their goods and services: Peaches Coffee will bring coffee and matcha, King of Pops will bring frozen treats, and tattoo artist MK from Spirit of the Mystic will be giving tiny tattoos.

General manager Kaiya Emmert says her mother, an art educator, started the business in their South Austin home's garage, building up from private clients to birthday parties, summer camps, and finally a commercial space starting in 2011. Emmert has been involved in managing the business since 2020. Now, she says, the whole family works together on the business; she works with her sister at the Brodie location and their father manages the website.

"Our staff is what makes the magic happen," Emmert says. "The art is just our way to facilitate a memory and a really good time. And it's kind of a feeling you leave with ... you feel like you found a community space and somewhere where you can come, create, and have a good time."

All three art garage locations — including the original commercial space on Circle Drive and a North Lamar location that opened in 2023 — offer the same experiences. (Emmert jokes that the Circle Drive location just has more paint on it.) The colorful studios welcome people of all ages to paint pre-sculpted pottery, fuse glass, or make tile mosaics.

The kid-friendly space is perfect for parties, summer camps, and more, but Emmert says adults also make up a large portion of the customer base. In fact, most of the visitors to the North Lamar location are adults. The shop welcomes plenty of families, plus all-adult groups for parties, team building activities, bachelor and bachelorette parties, and senior outings. Some visitors are regular, while others notice the shop in passing and stop by.

"It's really lovely how much variance there is, because you really get to work with all sorts of different types of people," says Emmert. "Everybody needs that creative outlet in their lives, and we work really hard to make it feel very accessible, and fun, and low-stress and pressure for people to walk in and try something new."

When someone enters as a walk-in, a studio assistant will greet them and find out if they have a specific vision or want to take a tour for inspiration. Painting ceramics is a popular choice. Then the assistant sets up the customer's table with all the materials they'll need and explains the process, and Emmert likens the rest to visiting a restaurant. The assistant will check in every so often for refills, help executing a design, or just moral support.

When the guest is done, they'll either leave their project there to be finished and picked up in a week, or they'll walk out with a finished piece. The latter is available for mosaics, if the customer wants to apply the grout themself.

The Art Garage hosts a variety of events, so the grand opening won't be guest's only chance to stop by and try something special. Three special events are coming up at the Brodie location in August.

First, on August 14, is a snack plate clay workshop, where guests will form their own segmented plates that they can glaze or paint later. Then on August 22, guests enter an Amalfi Coast state of mind at an Italian Summer Sip & Paint with limoncello spritz cocktails (or mocktails) and Italian-inspired pottery to paint. Finally, on August 29, local matcha shop Pink Crescent will visit and serve specialty matcha drinks. Pottery during the event will be discounted. The snack plate and matcha events are open to guests 13 and up, while the Italian event is restricted to ages 21 and up.

"I've been trying to ... find like local partners for events and things, because I think it's so fun when you can kind of cross-promote and lift up other local spots," says Emmert. "And everybody, like, comes in to paint with a matcha or a coffee anyway. So having it at an event makes it that much better."

All Art Garage locations are open 11 am to 6 pm Sundays and Mondays, 11 am to 7 pm Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10 am to 7 pm Thursdays, and 10 am to 8 pm Fridays and Saturdays. The grand opening party is free and open to the public.