TAUSHA DICKINSON
Life can be messy.
When Jackie Laurian Long was experiencing an especially trying season of life, she longed for a physical way to release all the emotional stress she was carrying. She decided to make a mess of her own by throwing paint to rid herself of those feelings. It was an outlet that turned out to be so cathartic in her personal life that she decided to turn it into a business: TheraPaint Studio.
“The idea for TheraPaint Studio was born over a few years when a series of life events left me with a feeling that was so cumbersome and messy that I just wanted to throw it out of my body. I realized that the words for these feelings didn’t seem to match up with what they really felt like. I craved a visual representation of my anguish so that I could better process and understand it, and the only thing that felt like it would reach that messy feeling, I told my husband Jake, was to throw paint,” explains Jackie Laurian Long, founder, co-owner, and CEO of TheraPaint Studio. “After a quick trip to NYC, I came home to find that he had set up a makeshift studio for me in the garage to bring the idea to life. I still remember my first throwing session so clearly. Life had thrown so much at me, it felt so good to throw it back.”
What began as something Long did privately in her garage turned into something friends who were dealing with their own hurdles wanted to join in on. They soon outgrew the garage, and Long realized this was something that could help many more people. When the right space came available, a charming 1920s-era bungalow on Music Row, Long and her husband, former NFL player Jake Long, decided the time was right to bring TheraPaint Studio to life as co-owners.
“When we first acquired the house, we invited more than 40 people to come try out our wild idea over the course of a few months to see what the response was. Everyone loved it. Somehow it just hit differently, met people right where they were, different from talk therapy and exercise. We knew that we had to give it a shot. The goal has always been to help people and share this new method that we found so helpful ourselves,” Long says.
TAUSHA DICKINSON
The recently opened 2,225-square-foot studio is equipped with four private, generously sized, single occupancy and sound-dampened throw rooms where guests dressed head-to-toe in protective gear throw milk- based paint on a compostable canvas during 45-minute focused sessions. Afterwards, guests can freshen up in private dressing rooms and reflect in the studio’s zen den, filled with insightful books and a calming color palette perfect for recentering, or head out to the gorgeous meditative garden grown with compost made from each canvas. Before leaving, each guest is given a Polaroid photograph of their artwork to remember the experience.
Open Tuesday through Saturday by appointment only, TheraPaint Studio aims to offer a non-clinical approach to releasing and processing emotions in a visual and cathartic way. Upon arrival, you’ll be greeted by a team member and offered refreshments while your supplies are being set up. Choose your colors of compostable milk-based paint and suit up in your protective throwing suit to begin your session in your private throwing room.
“Once in the room, you are invited to focus on whatever doesn’t serve you or whatever feeling you’d like to let go of and then dip the brush in the paint and throw that feeling at the wall, allowing it to fly out of you via paint onto the canvas,” says Long. “You have to let go of any ideals of perfectionism or any expectations and just let it all fly out of you, knowing that the end result will be composted to be used as fuel in our on-site garden. Pairing the visual result with the physical aspect of throwing feels cathartic, productive, and proactive.”
Careful attention was also paid to the design of the studio itself, and no detail was overlooked in creating an environment that makes guests feel welcome and safe to release their emotions.
“I was instantly inspired by the original architectural details of the home. The curve of the stone on the fireplace, as well as the curves in the porch area informed many of the decisions throughout. From the moment I conceived the idea for TheraPaint Studio years before we found the house, I knew what it was going to look and feel like. I knew I wanted to play with natural elements and also keep it elevated and stylish. I’d say the overall feel of the studio is high vibe, lovingly curated, connected to nature, and luxe. It’s like getting a hug from your super stylish and cool grandma who has some worldly life experience and knows exactly what you need to hear at that moment, but might swear a little,” Long laughs.
Sustainability was also a top priority for Long, which is evident from the materials each guest uses all the way through to the meditation garden made from composted materials from each session. Long and her team choose compostable or eco-friendly materials as often as possible and continuously look through the lens of sustainability.
“I didn’t want to smash things and leave more brokenness behind. I didn’t want to create more trash to pile up in landfills. I didn’t want to have people making underwhelming art that they probably would never hang up. I knew that if we were going to do this, being environmentally conscious and connected with nature was non-negotiable,” she says.
All of these conscientious components work in harmony to create a space where people feel empowered to release their emotions by making a mess. It’s a concept that can feel a bit taboo at first, but quickly turns therapeutic from the first throw of paint.
“The TheraPaint approach is important because it provides a physical representation of what the most important lesson in therapy is: It is often from the most difficult times in life that the most wisdom, understanding, gratitude, and beauty are grown,” Long says. “I also think that there is an element of discovery. Each client walks into their own spotless room and they have to cross that threshold within themselves to get it messy. It’s as though the blocked energy moves (or is thrown out) to make space for more clarity, understanding, and freedom as the session continues and the room goes from pristine to the exact opposite. We spend so much of our time trying to stay organized, put things away, clean up, and keep things in order. This is a space where you get to forget all of that and step into your messiest feelings on purpose and then leave it all behind knowing that something beautiful is going to grow from it.”
(1613 17th Ave. S., 615-249-1579; therapaintstudio.com)