In 2020, an art venture specialized in social art events, Art n Dine, was launched in the midst of a pandemic. Reflecting on the timing, marketing professional and founder of Art n Dine, Dana Kanso’s first reaction was that ‘it’s a blessing in disguise’. With everyone forced to stay at home, Dana finally had the time from her demanding job to focus her attention to an idea that had been long-brewing in her mind.

Back in 2013, Dana’s husband attended a guided painting event at a pub in Canada, and returned back excited about it. With no background in art, he still enjoyed the experience so much so, that to this day, his artwork proudly hangs in their bathroom. Since then, the couple began nurturing a dream to have their own guided painting events someday. That’s how Dana, a digital strategist with over 15 years of experience, founded Art n Dine, and christened herself an Artepreneur—art enthusiast + entrepreneur—a term she uses to describe herself.

Dana moved to Kuwait from Canada with her family and have been calling Kuwait their home for the last 6 years. In 2020, she quit her job as business director at multinational agency JWT, and decided to become an entrepreneur. The timing of her decision scared her initially—with the onset of Covid-19—but, then she saw it as an opportunity to do some additional research and take time to study her target market.
“After conducting significant research on Kuwait market and consumer habits, an opportunity was identified to enter the market with a new modified painting event model; blending food, beverages, music, step-by-step guided painting and lots of fun to connect people in a unique, and relaxing atmosphere for couple of hours at local elegant venues,” explains, Dana. Art n Dine was finally launched in early 2021.
The pandemic also brought along a lot of frustrations. At the start of her project, Dana had her shares of rejections, but she is glad she did not stop to listen. She used the time wisely and enrolled into a Harvard entrepreneurial course to fine tune her skills.

Dana also admitted that when she first shared her plans with a few close friends, they were skeptical of the concept and whether it would work in the Kuwaiti market or not. Many said that the art scene in Kuwait wasn’t supported and that the target audience to possibly attract is very niche. Fortunately, these very people later participated in Art n Dine events and kept coming for more despite them not having any previous interest in art. “Pandemic made everyone turn towards some artistic activity,” says Dana, voicing a fact. In February 2020, they soft launched Art n Dine with few small events, keeping in with health safety protocols at the time. When restrictions were lifted in summer, they were ready to fully launch the show.

Dana likes to call it an experience for everyone, even if you have never held a brush before, you can paint when given the right guidance and tools. She believes, “Everyone has an artist in them and that’s what Art n Dine is about, having fun with paint without being judged.” In spite of the timing, or perhaps because of it, when their very first event was announced, it sold out in less than a week and Dana was pressured to increase the number of events to meet people’s demand.

Apart from their content on social media, and their event videos trending on tiktok, the oldest form of advertisement worked best for them. Word of mouth worked wonders for Art n Dine and the response has been more than Dana had expected. In fact, she says, “Between repeated customers and new ones hearing about Art n Dine from friends and family, we are growing a lot faster than we anticipated. All our events are sold out and we constantly get requests to add more events to our existing calendar just to give everyone an opportunity.”
Besides providing a creative and entertaining venue for people stressed by months of restrictions and health scares, Dana’s initiative has also provided support to local restaurants and cafes, with whom they team up for their events, providing them a much-needed boost to pick up the slack after several months of closure and losses.

In addition to the public events, Art n Dine also provides private and corporate events. With the weather turning beautiful, they have added outdoor events. The universal appeal and fluidity of the concept can practically be integrated into any celebratory or functional event.

So, if you are looking for a creative, judgement-free outlet, or wanting to discover a new hobby, or to socialize and meet other art lovers, Dana invites you to give Art n Dine a try.

To sign-up for Art n Dine events or to know more, follow them on Instagram at @artndinekw or visit their website www.artndine.com.