From single art studio to nationwide network: How Eden Prairie’s Kidcreate has grown

Kidcreate Studio started as a single 1,200-square-foot art studio in Eden Prairie in 2007. Now, the business has expanded to 32 locations in 14 states, with a vision of opening 100 locations nationwide.

Art studios for children ages two to 12 are at the core of Kidcreate. The business offers weekly classes, camps, birthday parties, and a mobile studio experience for schools and other community programs. Kidcreate’s parent company, Wonderplay Brands, was born as part of the business’s expansion. In addition to the Kidcreate classes, studios can now offer programming from Wonderplay’s other four brands: KidScientific, Little Hands Discovery, Extreme Art Studio and Craft Academy. Though a lot has changed, the company’s core mission of inspiring learning through art remains the same.

A new avenue for art education

Lara Olson, founder and chief creative officer of Kidcreate Studio, launched the business after seeing her son struggle in early elementary school. Dyslexia made reading and spelling frustrating for him, but he excelled in art class. Seeing the pride he had in his art projects, she sought out other art classes for him.

“I just realized he needed more of it, and I couldn’t find what I wanted,” Olson said. “So I built it.”

She knows what it’s like to share his struggles with dyslexia. Growing up, she was lucky to have an artsy mom who gave her plenty of opportunities to use creativity as an outlet. She also had art class every day in school, which taught her the value of quality art education offered in a kid-friendly environment.

“I can look back at my elementary years in particular, and I can remember every single art teacher. I can remember every single art room. It was my happy place,” Olson said. “Now, the kids are getting art once every four days for 45 minutes. It’s such a bummer.”

The guidance she got in school and from her mother helped her create a place she never would’ve wanted to leave as a child. Advice from her mom also helped her form the vision for the business. Olson’s parents were entrepreneurs who lived by the philosophy that you keep moving forward until you find a reason to stop. 

Olson never found that reason, so she made her dream into reality by creating an art studio for kids in her community. The dream has grown exponentially since then. She originally considered opening one or two more locations in the metro area, which ultimately turned into a full network of franchises across the country. 

The growth has been possible thanks to her team, which, in a full-circle moment, includes her kids. Once they reached adulthood, her son and daughter decided to work alongside her, doing marketing and other work at the corporate level. Olson said it’s been exciting to have her children experience the business firsthand after watching her work so hard over the years.

“One studio turned into two studios turned into franchising. One brand turned into five brands. Our corporate team went from three people to 15 people,” she said. “I’ve been so fortunate that it’s gone so well that we’ve been able to just keep building on our success.”

The path from one to 100 studios

The company began franchising in 2016, and Olson said it’s been a challenging but worthwhile venture. The impact of the expansion fully hits her when she sees a project she created 18 years ago getting made by children in another state. 

She tries to visit each franchise at least once a year. While many of the studios have the same look and feel, they each offer a different combination of classes and events. 

“Our potential franchisees can use our brands to build their dream business,” she said. “They can choose if they want the mobile option or the studio option, and then they can choose which brands they want to incorporate into their business. It’s really fun to see them light up with the opportunity that we’re putting before them.”

The mobile option means franchisees operate their business out of their home or a small office without the need for a permanent studio space. They focus on bringing art education directly to daycares, schools, park and recreation programs, and more. The studio option is a two-in-one approach where franchisees run a physical studio location, along with the mobile side of the business.

Mark Nicpon, president of Wonderplay Brands, oversees the franchising process from initial sales to studio operation. Another franchise location in California just signed on, marking their sixth new franchise this year. He’s confident that Kidcreate will meet its goal of 100 franchises. 

The company’s growth potential is one of the things that attracted him to his current role. He also wanted to find a position with a purpose, and he found it in art education through Kidcreate and Wonderplay. So much youth enrichment revolves around sports or more “marketable” skills like math, he said, and Kidcreate provides a place for kids who don’t fit those molds. 

“We really feel that a strong art education is important,” Nicpon said. “It builds the creative side of the brain, which is a necessary complement to the analytical side of the brain.”

Kidcreate is at the core of each location, and franchisees choose which of the other four brands to include. KidScientific follows a similar format to Kidcreate, with a focus on science and STEM instead of visual arts. Extreme Art Studio offers messy and immersive art projects, like throwing paint on walls and creating jumbo spin art. 

In addition to expanding the programming, the next two brands also expanded the participants’ age range. Little Hands Discovery is intended for kids one to six years old to experience and demolish sensory stations aimed at sparking their curiosity. Finally, Craft Academy is geared toward more advanced crafts for tweens, teens and adults. 

“The genesis for adding the brands… is that we wanted to be more than just a kids’ art studio,” Nippon said. “We really wanted to be able to provide art education and entertainment for the entire lifespan.”

Franchise owners can bundle the various brands and offer them in different formats. Extreme Art Studio is a particularly popular option for birthday parties, while the mobile Craft Academy offers the chance to do classes in breweries, coffee shops or senior living facilities. 

Wonderplay also offers a sixth brand on the side. WonderSpark Co. is a subscription service that ships monthly kits with art, science and other activities to customers. They come in single boxes shipped to customers’ homes as well as classroom packs of 10 for people hosting classes or parties.

“WonderSpark is an offering that’s available to customers that may not have a Kidcreate in their city or in their state,” Nicpon said. “We’re really able to extend that love of art education and art projects nationwide, wherever you might live.”

Back to home base: Eden Prairie’s flagship location

As the business has grown and changed, the flagship location in Eden Prairie has also gone through a transformation. The company moved into a new 10,000-square-foot building on Market Place Drive in May last year. Half of the building is dedicated to the corporate offices, while the other half serves as the studio space.

“I’m sitting here in my office right now, and I hear the little kids next door having a great time in the studio,” Nicpon said. “Also, it’s really helped in the fact that it’s our test bed for a lot of things, so if we have a new curriculum or just changes to the operations, it’s a lot easier to observe them firsthand because the studio is right next door.”

When they first opened with a single classroom, they could only offer a morning camp and an afternoon camp. On the weekends, they were maxed out at four or five parties. Now, with five classrooms, they can offer four camps a day and three parties at a time, layered with other activities. The Eden Prairie Kidcreate Studio location features all five brands plus a few special touches. 

The studio has a resident fairy named Twinkle, who sends mail back to the kids who leave her postcards. They have pet parakeets, Arty and Crafty, that act as mascots for the studio. Many of the details they include to dazzle the kids reach back to the early days of the business when Olson spent every day in the studio.

“When we first started, I did everything: empty the garbage can, take care of the birds, teach classes when needed, write lesson plans. That’s how you are as a new entrepreneur,” Olson said. “But as your business builds, you can build your team, you can start taking things off your plate.”

She’s back to spending every day at the Eden Prairie location, but now, she’s on the other side of the wall in the corporate offices. For years, the office was separate from the studio, so she hardly ever got to visit. She’s happy to have the chance to check in with the staff and once again see kids having fun day after day.

Many of her employees started as students at the studio before joining the team. She’s seen people go from customer to assistant teacher to key holder, all while moving through school, getting married and starting families. It’s been similarly rewarding to watch her customers’ families grow over the years.

“You really get attached to the families that you get to see at the studio, and you get to know them,” she said. “You see new babies coming and the kids growing up, so we’re so lucky to have a business that has a lot of repeat customers that become friends.”

She knew it would mean the world to her to see the studio benefit her own children, but it’s been surprisingly gratifying to see the good it’s done for other families. She feels lucky to have Eden Prairie as the home base for her business and encourages locals to come by for free activities, like their upcoming Doggie Adoption Day, as well as classes and events.

“We’re not the old Kidcreate anymore,” Olson said. “If they think of us as just an art studio for kids, that’s not who we are anymore. Of course, that’s a big part of our business, but I invite them in to come take a look at our new location [and]learn more about our different brands.”