New Glen Business Mixes Painting, Wine and Friends

"Who doesn’t like a little wine and a little art?" says Mari Sokolowski.

That's the concept behind Pinot's Palette, a new business she's opening in the Glen in early 2014. Pinot's Palette offers painting classes, wine tastings and food in a studio atmosphere.

Patch sat down with Sokolowski to find out a little more about her new business. 

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Mari Sokolowski and my husbands’ name is Mark Sokolowski. My family is from the Midwest and after attending high school and college in Texas, I made a bee line up to Chicago to ‘get back to my roots’ and start my career. Chicago was always the place I was supposed to end up! I have deep ties with Pinot’s Palette as well, having worked with the HQ team for the past 2 years as marketing and development director and helping to bring the concept to cities all over the country. My husband’s family lives all up and down the north shore so I started investigating locations knowing that we’d probably migrate that way in a few years (we live in Wicker Park right now)… I’m not surprised that our Pinot’s studio ended up at The Glen, the missions statements of our two organizations, “make life eventful,” are synonymous. I’ve really enjoyed getting involved in the community already and can’t wait to hit a stride with our impact. I saw somewhere or someone told me that “Glenview is where I love to live” and I totally get it - there’s really awesome people here and that’s what makes up a great community. 

What is the concept for Pinot's Palette?

Date night, girls night out, or any other reason for adults (young, old, male, female, single, married, etc!) to get together and have a great time. The whole idea of the evening centers around painting and sipping wine and hanging out. The interactive art experience elevates the evening to a whole new level – it’s a sophisticated, energizing and fun evening. Who doesn’t like a little wine and a little art? It’s an inclusive experience and everyone ends up having a great time – some even surprise themselves, which really gets me excited. How many times do we as adults get to learn something new about ourselves. #bestfeelingever.

Will you hold a grand opening? 

Yes of course! Details of the soirée are still underway, but it’s sure to be a great celebration. The first chance to hang out with us will be at the Halloween Festival this weekend at The Glen (10/27). We’ll be signing up people for our grand opening invite list, painting “Pumpkin Spice” and giving away $5 gift cards.

Why should Glenview residents come to Pinot's Palette?

Why not make the most out of life?! Every year around January 1, we all make a promise to ourselves to try something new, venture into a new project, etc. This is a little adventure close to home you can have every month/week/day if you want to. You experience something new every time you come in – different teacher, different wine, different painting style, different guests and friends. It’s a chance for adults to escape, have a glass of wine or beer, relax, enjoy your friends, family and yourself. What’s really cool about this Pinot’s Palette is that we’ve just been approved for a liquor license and we’re working with local restaurants to bring in food to round out the tasting menu. We’re really excited to bring in some craft wine and beer tasting to our art sampling events.