CASSOPOLIS — A new activity is coming to Cassopolis this Friday, where people can come and learn how to paint, plus have pizza, wine, cookies or some other dish or beverage they might enjoy.

The class is called Paint Party Plus, but, unlike some other painting classes, this one does not require any artistic abilities — just a willingness to learn and have fun.

The class will be taught by Betty Jean Nichols, who has more than 50 years experience as an artist and painter. The class is managed by the Prestley Management Corporation.

“It’s a social event,” said Tyler Prestly, who owns Prestly Management Corporation. “Then the instructor walks you through painting and people have a good time. It’s a creative thing where people can come and have a good time. It’s not necessarily focused on being a good artist. You don’t have to know anything about art at all.”

The class costs $40 to attend, and tickets can be purchased online. It will be hosted at the Vape Lounge at 802 E. State St in Cassopolis.

The idea behind Paint Party Plus is to have activities associated with painting, similar to traditional wine and canvases, Prestly said. Except instead of wine, it could be painting plus pizza or some other dish, as not everyone who likes to paint enjoys wine. In the future, he hopes to be able to offer the class to children, who can paint while also having milk and cookies.

“We want to open it up to anyone who wants to come, especially since there’s not much to do in Cassopolis,” he said. “That’s why we put it there on Friday nights to give people somewhere to go and something to do. That way they don’t have to leave town.”

Prestly is a 2013 graduate of Ross Beatty Jr.-Sr. High School, who, according to his LinkedIn page, graduated from Notre Dame last year. The goal of his company, as a business consulting firm, is to focus “primarily on business development and problem-solving.” He helped start Paint Party Plus after Nichols approached him wanting to grow her business, Nichols Creative Enterprises.

“She’s an artist and has been doing art for a long time,” he said “She just wanted to do something with her art career.”

The next class is tomorrow at 6:30 p.m, with another class scheduled for the same time on Friday, Aug. 31.

“We’re in Cassopolis is on Fridays, Niles is on Wednesdays and Bangor is on Tuesdays,” Prestly said.

A single person or a large group can sign up for a class. He said he also want to open it up so that if someone has a large enough group that person can book Paint Party Plus on a day its not typically open.

“The whole thing behind the plus is you can do anything at the party that you want, within reason, of course,” he said. “But if you have a big party you can have a special request.”

For more information or to sign up for the event, visit facebook.com/events/317733758969255/.