art teacher

fashion designer

curator

camp counselor

studio manager

4Cats Arts Studio

This is an extremely difficult company to work for. A previous review claimed that 4Cats is a “falsely positive place to work” which is more than entirely accurate. In my one year of working there I saw 5 employees that I trained with suddenly quit, which says a lot since I quit as well. The pay is incredibly low, considering that you’re supervising and teaching large groups of young children, and the opportunities for bonuses/raises/career development/acknowledgement of any kind are extremely rare. 

The bonus is a mere $1/hr for a month in reward  for quote “working hard and selling product” even though I myself or nobody I worked with ever received this. On top of that, if you need to commute to your shift every day you will not be subsidized and there are no benefits provided. It cost me $300+ per month to get to and from work, yet 4Cats could only provide me with less than 40hrs per week - and if you come early/stay late this is frowned upon. Work/life balance is non-existent since you’re only permitted one weekend off per 3-4 months and weekend availability is mandatory.

All three of my supervisors quit on the spot without notice within 6 months. When my they asked for raises they were told “we pay what we pay” and “find a second job”, and when I was forced into this position and asked for a raise, I was offered a simple 50 cents. I quit because of this but was then told BY MY SUPERVISOR that I had opportunities to work at other locations or within head office, which the owner would speak to me about. When this did not happen I reached out to the owner myself, who had no clue what I was taking about. If this doesn’t scream “SUSPICIOUS” then I don’t know what does.

I also realized this company will hire just a about anybody off the street. 4Cats is advertised as a “Montessori” classroom, yet I myself and nobody else I worked with had Montessori training or even knew what the term meant. I was also the only staff member who had academic training in the arts. In the last few months of my employment, I was the only person out of 3 staff who knew how to stretch paintings, fire clay, or use a pottery wheel, which are all daily duties that need to be performed several times a week. You are constantly being told that physical training will be provided in these topics, but when the time comes it’s either through self training on the internet or it doesn’t happen at all. 

The management is consistently unavailable and is only reachable by Skype. They physically come to the studios around once a week or less to make sure everything is in order, but if you respond with anything remotely concerning they feed you their typical corporate nonsense as if everything is fine and suggest you try harder. In the year I worked there the program entirely changed 5 times, as well as the booking systems and websites 3 times, which is confusing not only to staff but to parents and children as well. This is so sad, since 4Cats’ motto is to keep everything super consistent and organized for the kids. On top of that, the children can ONLY produce the advertised artwork - any creativity or room for imagination is expected to be killed by the instructor (and you’re supposed to be good at this).

When I applied and was hired, I was so incredibly excited to work for a business like this one. Unfortunately, 4Cats has taught me that hard work and positivity DO NOT pay off and their vision of happiness, consistency, and well/being of the company doesn’t even barely extend to their staff. Their priorities are with money and with autonomous workers who will do whatever they say and agree with everything.

I don’t write this lightly, but I feel a deep responsibility to speak out — especially to new grads, emerging artists, and passionate creatives who might be lured by the promise of working in a fun, art-filled environment. I worked at 4Cats Arts Studio, and I left not just burned out, but emotionally broken.

When I first joined, I was hopeful. The idea of working with kids, making art, and being in a “creative” setting seemed like a dream. But that dream quickly turned into something I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

I regularly worked 50+ hour weeks — with no overtime compensation. When I asked to be paid fairly for my time, I was denied. It was made clear that overwork was expected and unappreciated.

Upper management treated staff like disposable tools. There was no genuine support, no empathy, no recognition of our humanity. Many of them — including some studio managers — were more interested in micromanaging and appeasing head office than fostering any real connection with their teams. Some were downright cruel. I felt constantly belittled, disrespected, and ultimately, worthless.

This job severely impacted my mental health. I became depressed, deeply so. I lost the joy I once had for art. I questioned my worth not just as a worker, but as a person. And the saddest part? I wasn’t alone. Many of my colleagues were going through the same thing — some stayed silent, some eventually left, but all of us were suffering.

You are told to follow strict lesson plans. There is little room for actual creativity, either for you or the students. We were sometimes even instructed to "fix" kids’ art to make it look more on-brand — which, to me, completely defeats the purpose of fostering creativity in children.

In addition to the emotional toll, there are ethical issues too: I witnessed an alarming disregard for environmental responsibility — waste materials like paper, clay, and plastic were often thrown away carelessly. That kind of behavior in an art studio — a place that should model care, sustainability, and intention — was deeply disappointing.

To upper management — if you ever read this: You are not building a community. You are tampering with people’s lives. You’re draining the very people you rely on to keep your business running. No amount of branding or curated lesson plans will fix what you’re doing to your staff. Treating human beings like they’re disposable is not a sustainable business model.

To anyone considering working here: please, think twice. I know what it feels like to be passionate, to want to work with kids, to think that your dream job might finally be in reach. But this place will take advantage of that passion. It will strip you to the bone and leave you questioning everything that once brought you joy.

You deserve better. You deserve to feel human at work. To feel respected. To be fairly paid. And to thrive, not just survive.

Please, take care of yourself — and don’t work here.

4Cats is a business that "teaches" art to kids. Thats what the company looks like on the surface with its cute branding. However staff turnover is extremely high . There is a few reasons for this, but I believe the expectations that corporate place on staff is a huge one, along with the complete disconnect from management and lower staff. You are expected to have a superhuman level of fast cleaning abilities- remember  the exact location of everything, and how its supposed to look in said location, remember the numerous tasks required of you throughout the day on top of cleaning and "teaching", all with a big smile on your face because you are supposed to not express any other emotion other than to be thrilled to work at 4Cats despite the huge amount of stress you're under.  You only have 1/2 an hour at the end of the day to clean the entire studio top to bottom as well as do every extra task the head office decides to  tack on to your to do list. 

4Cats has decided over the past while to  not teach kids how to draw or paint things, because it "doesn't look good" instead they have instructors trace out images onto canvas beforehand so that the kids just colour it in(add that to your list of duties; the kids have no choice or decision in how it will be painted or what colours to use. If you have experience as any other form of artist or art educator you are now being used to help replicate one woman's specific style / colour of cat.  You literally see the light leave kids eyes when they find out they cant experiment or do anything to make the work their own.  


The rules change every three to four months. You must immediately remember all of the changes that corporate makes otherwise you will be harshly spoken to with no sympathy or empathy. There is no room for human errors AT ALL- and it is often viewed as "Unacceptable" by corporate. Management is often unsupportive and responds to questions as though wondering why they were even asked, Everyone in this company is working out of fear of being reprimanded by the person above them. The company owner is nice, but niceness cant make up for the fact that Ive seen instructors cry and have panic attacks after talking to management.

The upside is if you like working with kids, great. 
But other than that the job is stressful to its definition

The management is very inconsiderate, extreamly arrogant, and toxic to their employees. There is absolutly no room to make mistakes if you are working with this company, they will fire you in an instant, no questions asked. It is a very fast-paced environment and sometimes you come across situations that require exceptions to be made, but no matter what the situation, this company expects you to follow the rulebook, even if it doesn't make sense or is just not reasonable. They have very high expectations and very precise guidelines which are sometimes just unachievable considering the salary, and amount of training provided. I cannot stress how badly the management treats you, which is very unfortunate. I was made to feel insulted in front of children, and guests on several occasions for very miniscule and techincal mistakes. Not only do they expect you to be an easy going, intelligent and friendly instructor, but they also expect you to be a professional clown to entertain children’s birthday parties and put on a show every time following very specific guidelines that again, do not work for every guest. It is also very unfortunate that the instructor must make sure that the children registered for classes are creating the advertised project and do not deviate from the given instructions whatsoever. Basically, the instructor’s job is to kill the creativity in the children, and convince them to create artwork that does not interest them, and it is expected that the instructor be good at this. Another issue with this company is communication. The management is too busy to have a meaningful face to face conversation with their employees to discuss the issues the staff may be experiencing. If you have a question or suggestion, you must resort to the use of emails, skype calls or texts which will not be answered on time or provide a reassuring answer. Overall, this company created an extreamly disorganized, dissatisfying, and stressful environment that constantly made me feel like I was not good enough even while putting my heart and soul into this job. Complete waste of my time and energy.

Hardly got any training before they threw you into teaching classes (had a learn-by-doing motto). Plus, I had to go to a whole other location just to get trained. The location I ended up working at had no management at all and so it was two new hires running the whole place. I basically got a manager's position for a basic instructors pay. Our roles were so beyond what we were hired to do. On top of being an instructor, we were in charge of cleaning, upkeep of the website and studio supplies, receptionists, glorified babysitters, basically just imagine you're running your own small business entirely. 

Our communications systems were changed at least three times in the 6 months I worked there so by the time you finally got the hang of it, you had to start learning the new one they put into place. 

Despite the fact that we had no actual management present, corporate somehow still found a way to micromanage with their expectations of the studio and assigned tasks. 

The projects are taught through uninspiring slideshows and they want all the kids to produce the same results so there's basically no room for creativity. 

Due to Covid, there were a lot of parents looking for refunds from previously cancelled classes and they were essentially told that they could only have credit for future classes since there is a no refund policy. This just resulted in understandably frustrated parents who could only direct their anger at two low-level employees since it was impossible to reach anyone higher up. 

Their booking system was also a disaster with last-minute workshops being scheduled that left us scrambling to prepare for and over-laying workshops that we were too understaffed to handle properly. At one point, there were more kids signed up for a summer class than we had chairs available in the studio and my coworker had to personally bring folding chairs from home just so we could seat them all.  When we asked for more seats, we were ignored so we promptly had to begin monitoring our class sizes everyday to make sure that never happened again. 

Overall, would not recommend unless you really like kids and can stand the whole "we're a family" kind of workplace culture. 

As an employee between junior instructor and location manager, you are expected to take on several roles at once, including: trained arts educator, retail associate, janitor, receptionist and professional child care, for a sliver of the pay (because their service is considered "workshops," not childcare) and continuously improper training.

We had several kids with destructive behavioural problems that we could not handle alone (1 staff per class of 15-16 kids, but often went over, and other staff busy with their own classes/tasks), and were told to grin and bear it by upper management despite continuous safety incidents, which wasn't fair to anyone involved. 

I asked multiple times for training in certain aspects of my job role and never received it, while being expected to run and build up a busy location and oversee other staff with a policy that was punitive and oddly competitive. 

Upper Management often micromanages while not passing on key information or clearly answering any of your questions.

If on salary, when you work over your hours, you were expected to find time in the schedule that week to take the time off (an impossibility for me as we were chronically short-staffed and the tasks of the day wouldn't be completed otherwise).

This is not an accessible space for kids or adults with any physical or cognitive impairments. 

Work schedule was different every day, so planning appointments or time was a near impossibility. Inconsistent direction/training/expectations were common.

It's the only arts job in the area, and they know they'll have a constant stream of talented folks lining up for the chance to be paid peanuts for a job that consumes your life. I worked with incredible staff who were being paid less than entry-level fast food employees down the street, while carrying out job duties that get $20-$25+ per hour literally anywhere else. 

In my experience, working at 4 Cats Environment involved a high workload relative to compensation. The role required applying a wide range of skills, often beyond a single job function, with limited formal recognition.
Management indicated availability for support; however, in practice, responses were not always timely or consistent when concerns were raised. When absent due to illness, employees were expected to arrange their own coverage. Time-off requests submitted in advance were not always acknowledged or confirmed, which created uncertainty around scheduling.
Staffing levels frequently appeared insufficient for the volume of programming offered. During shifts, employees were often responsible for managing multiple tasks concurrently. Strong-performing staff were relied upon heavily to maintain daily operations, contributing to a demanding and sustained workload.
With respect to programming involving children, there were occasions where one instructor supervised approximately 15 children, and during certain full-day programs, more than 30 children were supervised by two instructors. Breaks and additional on-site support were not always clearly scheduled or available, which may present challenges for both staff sustainability and program management.
The organization communicates a focus on quality; however, time constraints, staffing levels, and available resources did not consistently support this objective. Many tasks were required to be completed under time pressure, including those related to art instruction.
This role may provide learning and skill development opportunities. Prospective applicants may wish to carefully review existing employee feedback and assess whether the working conditions, expectations, and compensation align with their personal and professional standards.

Went into this job with high hopes/expectations, being someone who enjoys art thoroughly and working with kids.  At first, everything was novel and fun. Working in a Montessori - inspired environment is quite calming and enjoyable to be around. 
After being promoted, there was no structured training so everything was 'on the job' (which can work, I'm sure). However, due to many corporate changes, the aesthetic and organizational standards were hard to keep up with. 
Not all studios are met with the same regards to health & safety or company standards, as it depends on how much revenue is made whether you'll have support from upper management. Ie., Sourcing things that are needed for the studio to be up to par depends on how high on the list your studio is. 
Teaching is fun, until you find you are doing most of the work of 'touch ups ' on kid's artwork yourself. The idea is that the artwork itself is a product, not necessarily the experience of being in the studio (for both clients and staff. 

More so an art activity space, not so much an art studio where students/visitors are given free reign. 
It's "freedom" within structure, whether this appeals to you or not. 

In terms of workshops, the recent change to iPad videos instead of in person instruction was met with mixed reviews from staff and clients. While I can see both sides, I would say in person interaction needs to make a comeback in the world. Especially for any newcomers, or folks wanting to have an immersive experience (not just following a video they could find an equivalent of on YouTube or Pinterest). 

Do not expect to get paid more per hour than a Starbucks shift manager as a studio lead. Bonus system is in place, but I had not heard of anyone consistently making their goal at the time of my departure. 

Best of luck to anyone who applies or is interested. It is definitely fun during camps, and without the pressure of being "managed", the job is a good time. I would not expect a long career runway. 

It's unfortunate that 4Cats is the only studio of its kind kind in Victoria because it's a great concept, but it's tragically managed.

Perpetually disorganized, understaffed, undertrained and underpaid. This job stifles any creativity art-lovers have. Staff are thrown into large classes and parties with no guidance and then harshly critized afterwards for making minor mistakes. Art that students create is required to 'look good' or else it's viewed as worthless. All staff are treated as disposable and are given a million and one tasks to accomplish throughout the day, all while not being allowed to sit down and feeling like they'll get in trouble for asking questions. They're also all horribly underpaid considering the workload. I have had to do the work of at least 3 different positions while being hired for one specific thing, yet I received no additional pay for this or even any recognition. 

On top of everything, upper management are somehow micromanging everything while barely being available to help - it's truly a wonder what they do. 

Not to mention the lack of accessibility in the studio. 0 space for wheelchair users, 0 accommodation for those with mental or physical disabilities. 

Finally, it's not childcare and yet so much of the job is childcare. In the summer, instructors are expected to teach Art Camps for 6 hours AKA be stuck in a room with 30 kids for almost a full work day with 0 support and 0 benefits of childcare.

The literal ONLY good thing about this job are the coworkers, who are all artistic, interesting and kind people. It's a shame we're taken advantage of.

All in all, it's embarrassing how poorly this company is run, yet somehow it's managed to stay afloat. 


This was an okay job that I got hired for a couple years ago. I only worked less than a week and decided to quit since I didn't feel like the right fit for the company. Reason being was 1) I didn't have enough experience working with children at the time, so I wasn't confident enough working on my own, and 2) the work expectations were unusual, especially considering that the pay was almost minimum wage. 

I wasn't yet used to working 8 hour shifts at the time, and I knew it was going to take some time to adapt to such work hours (I had just turned into an adult and didn't have much work experience), but there was this expectation to be happy, excited, and outgoing the entire shift, which just mentally drained me out. I'm not the type of person to feel that way the entire day, and I doubt that anyone else can act like that, so I wasn't sure if I could keep up with those expectations.

I remember making a comment about this to my manager - something along the lines of, "I'm not used to working 8 hours and I feel so tired, but I know I'll get used to it overtime". They just looked at me like I said something out of line or innapropriate, which left me feeling uncomfortable. 

After that, I knew I wasn't the right fit and decided to leave. 

As for the company itself, I like their vision. They've expanded quite a bit, which means they're doing something right. I would try working at this company again if the pay was better and the work expectations were different (more realistic). I really enjoy working with kids now, and I love art, so hypothetically, this would be a great job for someone like myself.

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