Arizona Art Supply: The Southwest's Premier Independent Art Store

Arizona Art Supply is the largest independent fine art supply store in Arizona and one of the most respected independent art retailers in the American Southwest. Located on North Central Avenue in Phoenix, the store has served the region's artistic community since 1978, building a reputation over more than four decades for maintaining an exceptional inventory of professional-grade materials, employing genuinely knowledgeable staff, and understanding the specific needs of artists working in the unique climate and landscape of the desert Southwest.

In an era when independent art supply stores are increasingly rare—squeezed between national chains with massive buying power and online retailers with unlimited virtual shelf space—Arizona Art Supply has not only survived but thrived by doing what independent stores do best: providing expert curation, personalized service, regional expertise, and a depth of professional materials that generic retailers cannot match. For artists throughout Arizona and the broader Southwest, the store is not just a place to buy supplies but an essential institution in the regional art ecosystem.

The Independent Store Advantage

Arizona Art Supply's independence is its greatest strategic asset. As a locally owned and operated business, the store is not constrained by corporate purchasing decisions made in distant headquarters or driven by the need to maximize shareholder returns at the expense of product quality or customer service. Instead, every decision about what to stock, how to price it, and how to serve customers is made by people who are embedded in the local art community and who understand its specific needs.

This independence translates into a product selection that is curated for quality rather than optimized for margin. The store prioritizes professional-grade materials from respected manufacturers—brands that working artists trust for consistency, permanence, and performance. You won't find shelves filled with cheap, inferior products designed to attract impulse buyers; instead, you'll find a carefully assembled inventory where every item has been selected because it delivers genuine value to serious artists.

The staff at Arizona Art Supply are knowledgeable art materials specialists, many of whom are practicing artists themselves. They can discuss the technical properties of different paint formulations, recommend papers suited for specific techniques, advise on brush selection for particular applications, and help troubleshoot problems that artists encounter in their studio practice. This level of expertise is increasingly rare in retail and represents one of the most compelling reasons to shop at an independent store rather than a chain or online retailer.

One of the Southwest's Largest Art Supply Inventories

Arizona Art Supply maintains one of the most extensive inventories of professional art supplies in the entire Southwest region. The store stocks a comprehensive range of materials across all major fine art media, including oils, acrylics, watercolors, gouache, pastels, colored pencils, graphite, charcoal, inks, and specialty media. The selection of surfaces includes canvases, panels, watercolor papers, printmaking papers, drawing papers, and specialty surfaces from manufacturers worldwide.

The brush department is particularly impressive, offering selections from premium manufacturers in natural and synthetic fibers across every shape and size. The store also carries a strong selection of mediums, varnishes, solvents, and additives that allow artists to customize the handling properties and finish of their paints—the kind of specialized products that general craft stores rarely stock.

For artists who need specific materials—a particular pigment, a specific paper weight, a brush in an unusual size—Arizona Art Supply's deep inventory means that the item is likely in stock and available immediately. This reliability is invaluable for professional artists working on deadlines or for anyone who has experienced the frustration of driving to a store only to find that the specific product they need is unavailable.

Desert and Southwest Expertise

One of Arizona Art Supply's most distinctive strengths is its deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities of creating art in the desert Southwest. The store's staff and product selection reflect decades of experience serving artists who work in one of the most extreme climates in the United States—a region where temperatures routinely exceed 110°F, humidity can drop below 10%, and intense UV radiation accelerates the degradation of materials not designed for such conditions.

The store carries UV-resistant papers and surfaces that withstand the intense Arizona sun, heat-stable paints and mediums that perform reliably in extreme temperatures, and archival materials specifically selected for longevity in hot, dry conditions. For plein air painters—a significant community in Arizona, given the spectacular desert landscapes—the staff can recommend materials and techniques that hold up during outdoor painting sessions in extreme heat, including fast-drying mediums, heat-resistant palettes, and papers that resist warping in low humidity.

This regional expertise extends to understanding the aesthetic traditions of Southwest art—the palette of desert landscapes, the light quality unique to the Arizona sky, the cultural influences of Native American and Mexican artistic traditions, and the specific materials and techniques that Southwest artists favor. For artists relocating to Arizona from other regions, this knowledge is particularly valuable in helping them adapt their practice to a new environment.

Supporting Art Education

Arizona Art Supply is deeply committed to supporting art education throughout the state. The store offers school accounts with institutional pricing, bulk supply programs for classrooms, and student discounts that make professional-quality materials accessible to learners at all levels. Many Arizona art teachers, from elementary schools through university programs, have established relationships with the store and rely on it as their primary source for classroom supplies.

The store also hosts workshops, demonstrations, and community events that extend its role beyond retail into education and community building. These programs provide opportunities for artists to learn new techniques, discover new materials, and connect with other creative practitioners in the Phoenix area. For a region where the art community is geographically dispersed across a vast metropolitan area, Arizona Art Supply serves as a valuable gathering point and community anchor.

The Bottom Line

Arizona Art Supply represents the best of what independent art retail can offer: an expertly curated inventory of professional materials, knowledgeable staff who are genuine art materials specialists, deep regional expertise that no national chain can replicate, and a commitment to the local art community that extends beyond transactions to education and community building. For artists throughout Arizona and the Southwest seeking quality materials, informed guidance, and a store that genuinely understands their needs, Arizona Art Supply is an indispensable resource.