‘Fluid art’ studio franchise bringing extra splash of color to Regency

Hawaii Fluid Art’s programming includes sessions in which participants pour paint onto canvases and then move them to create colorful patterns and designs. (Photos courtesy of Hawaii Fluid Art)

A Dallas-based art studios chain is planning to be among the latest experience-based tenants to open at Regency.

Hawaii Fluid Art is targeting early March to be up and running at the western Henrico mall, which is in the midst of a redevelopment by bringing in untraditional mall tenants.

Central to the franchise company’s programming is fluid art classes, where participants pour specially formulated paints onto a canvas, and then tilt the canvas to allow the paint to spread and create patterns and color combinations.

Cathy Buckenmaier

“It’s really just mixing different acrylic paints and pouring it onto a canvas,” said Cathy Buckenmaier, who is the local franchisee for Hawaii Fluid Art. “The idea behind fluid art is that everyone can be an artist.”

Hawaii Fluid Art also offers classes that involve glass painting, as well as sessions for mosaic and resin creations. The studios also have fluid-art classes where participants decorate plastic animals or charcuterie boards.

The art studio markets itself as a spot for birthday parties, dates, corporate events and other social gatherings. It offers both private and group sessions for its classes for children and adults. The Regency location’s classes for adults are expected to start at $65 for a one-hour session. The same type of class for kids is expected to start at $35.

It costs between $184,000 and $300,000 to start a Hawaii Fluid Art franchise, according to company founder Maya Ratcliff. Franchisees can operator both brick-and-mortar studios as well as mobile, van-based studios.

Buckenmaier said she plans to hire three to four people for the Regency studio, which will also feature a retail area with gifts and artworks. She plans to get a mobile studio at some point.

Hawaii Fluid Art has more than 50 locations across multiple states, and nearly all of them are franchised, said Ratcliff, who opened the first location in 2021 in Hawaii. The Regency location would join one other Virginia franchise in Bedford County.

Hawaii Fluid Art locations offer several different art classes and caters to birthday parties and other social events.

Buckenmaier said she decided on Regency because of its ongoing redevelopment and because she thinks the mall has a central and accessible location.

Buckenmaier has worked as a graphic designer, as director of Ashland Theatre, and most recently as events manager at Leadership Metro Richmond. She said she has long been interested in owning a business, and decided to buy into a Hawaii Fluid Art franchise because the chain not only combined her interest in the arts, but seemed to value making ties with local communities.

“I was interested in those mission-oriented causes,” Buckenmaier said. “They’re really trying to connect with their communities and engage with local artists and bring the experience to people of all artistic ability levels.”

Buckenmaier’s Regency studio is taking over a space formerly occupied by YogaSix near the mall’s Quioccasin-side entrance. It joins the center as it shifts away from an emphasis on retail and toward a mixed-use development with residences and experience-based anchor tenants, such as Surge Adventure Park and Performance Pickleball.

A second phase of apartments recently broke ground at Regency, and virtual reality venue Pelagos VR opened there late last year. Also at Regency, restaurant Twin Hickory has opened in the space formerly home to Sloop John B.