Atlanta’s art supply retail market serves a diverse creative community that includes professional visual artists, graphic designers, students at the city’s multiple art schools and universities, interior design professionals, and the large population of serious hobbyist artists who pursue painting, drawing, printmaking, and mixed media work as dedicated avocations. The city’s creative economy, which encompasses advertising agencies, design studios, architecture firms, and the film and television production industry that has made Atlanta a major production center, creates substantial professional demand for art materials alongside the student and hobbyist markets that have historically sustained art supply retail. Georgia State University, the Atlanta College of Art, and the art programs at Emory and other metro area institutions generate consistent student demand for professional-grade art supplies, sustaining retailer investment in the specialized product knowledge and inventory depth that art educators require from their local supply source. Atlanta’s art supply market is served by both the national Blick Art Materials chain, which has built its reputation as a comprehensive professional art supply source, and by long-established local retailers including Binders Art Supplies that have served three generations of Atlanta artists since the mid-twentieth century. The creative reuse segment represented by organizations like Scraplanta also contributes to Atlanta’s art supply ecosystem by providing affordable materials access that makes art more economically accessible to artists at all stages and income levels.
When selecting an art supply store in Atlanta, look for retailers who carry professional-grade materials from established art supply manufacturers rather than only consumer-grade products that may not perform to the standards professional and serious hobbyist artists require for specific techniques. Reputable Atlanta art supply retailers employ staff who are artists or art educators themselves and can provide technically informed advice about material compatibility, archival quality, and technique-specific product selection rather than simply directing buyers to the most popular or most profitable items. Red flags include stores that cannot explain the lightfastness ratings of the paints and inks they sell, that stock only a single price tier of any major supply category, or that do not offer professional-grade alternatives to the consumer products that dominate entry-level art supply retail. For professional work where archival quality is relevant, understanding the lightfastness, pH neutrality, and museum standard compliance of materials before purchase protects the long-term integrity of completed work in ways that are difficult to address retroactively. Atlanta’s significant graphic design and digital art community has also expanded the definition of art supply retail to include professional printing papers, specialty substrates, and digital design tools that bridge the traditional and digital creative domains.
Top Art Supply Store Companies in Atlanta
1. Binders Art Supplies and Frames
Address: 3330 Piedmont Road NE, Suite 18, Atlanta, GA 30305
Phone: (404) 237-6331
Website: https://www.bindersart.com
Hours: Monday – Saturday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM, Sunday 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Services:
- Fine art supplies across all media including painting, drawing, and printmaking
- Canvas, stretchers, and framing materials
- Custom picture framing
- Specialty papers and boards
- Screenprinting and mixed media supplies
- Clay and sculpture materials
About: Binders Art Supplies and Frames has been part of Atlanta’s art community since 1955, with the family-owned operation spanning three generations of commitment to serving professional artists, collectors, and interior design professionals with the fine art supplies and custom framing services that distinguish a specialized art retailer from a general craft store. The Buckhead Piedmont Road location in the newly renovated Buckhead Landing shopping center serves the art and design professional community concentrated in Buckhead and the surrounding north Atlanta residential and commercial corridors with professional-grade materials across all major fine art disciplines. The custom framing studio adjacent to the retail floor creates a comprehensive destination for Atlanta artists who need both supplies for creation and professional framing for the presentation and protection of completed work, eliminating the separate vendor relationships that this combination would otherwise require. Seven decades of Atlanta art supply retail represent an institutional knowledge of the Atlanta artist community, its specific material needs, and the product quality standards that serious creative practice demands, built through three generations of family ownership that has prioritized art community relationships over the pure efficiency of large-format retail.
2. Blick Art Materials – Midtown
Address: 878 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
Phone: (404) 347-9119
Website: https://www.dickblick.com
Hours: Monday – Saturday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM, Sunday 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Services:
- Professional and student-grade art supplies
- Paints, brushes, and drawing materials across all media
- Specialty papers and printmaking supplies
- Canvas, boards, and substrates
- Custom printing and framing
- Graphic design and digital creative tools
- Online ordering with in-store pickup
About: Blick Art Materials’ Midtown Atlanta location on Peachtree Street serves the city’s most concentrated community of professional artists, designers, and art students with one of the most comprehensive professional art supply inventories available in the Southeast, offering materials for every fine art and commercial art discipline from oil and acrylic painting through printmaking, illustration, and graphic design. The Midtown location’s accessibility to Georgia State University, SCAD Atlanta, and the surrounding Midtown commercial design district creates a natural student and professional customer base that sustains the depth of specialized inventory that a serious art supply retailer requires to serve professional creative needs. Blick’s combination of student-grade and professional-grade materials across every major supply category allows Atlanta buyers at every experience and budget level to find appropriate materials for their specific discipline, with staff capable of explaining the practical differences between product tiers in terms that inform upgrade decisions rather than simply selling up. The custom printing and framing services complement the art supply retail function, providing Atlanta creatives with a broader range of production support services than pure retail supply shops typically maintain.
3. Sam Flax Art & Design Store
Address: 1495 Northside Drive NW, Suite B, Atlanta, GA 30318
Phone: (404) 352-7200
Website: https://www.samflaxatlanta.com
Hours: Monday – Friday 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM, Saturday 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Services:
- Fine art supplies and materials
- Graphic design and commercial art supplies
- Drafting and architectural supplies
- Office and presentation materials
- Specialty papers and boards
- Portfolio and storage products
About: Sam Flax Art & Design Store has served Atlanta’s creative community since 1973 as a comprehensive source for both fine art and graphic design supplies, maintaining a dual focus on the traditional studio artist and the commercial creative professional that reflects Atlanta’s combined fine arts and design industry base. The Northside Drive location in West Midtown serves Atlanta’s active design studio community while remaining accessible to the broader art supply market from the surrounding residential and commercial neighborhoods that have grown significantly around the Howell Mill and Northside Drive corridor. The extended weekday hours until 7:00 PM make Sam Flax accessible to working design professionals who cannot shop during standard retail hours, providing a practical option for designers who need specific materials for projects extending into the evening hours. More than five decades of Atlanta art supply operation have allowed Sam Flax to develop the specific product depth in graphic design, architectural, and drafting supplies that differentiates it from fine art-focused retailers, serving the commercial creative market segment with category expertise that specialist retailers in other disciplines may not match.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the difference between student-grade and professional-grade art supplies in Atlanta stores?
A: Professional-grade art supplies, available at Blick, Binders, and Sam Flax, use higher pigment concentrations, lightfast pigments rated for archival quality, and purer binding media than student-grade alternatives, producing more saturated color, better lightfastness, and more consistent behavior that professional artists depend upon for predictable results. Student-grade materials use lower pigment loads, sometimes non-lightfast pigments, and lower-quality binders that reduce manufacturing cost but also reduce performance relative to professional alternatives, making them appropriate for learning and practice but not for work intended to last or be sold. The cost difference between student and professional grades at Atlanta art supply stores is meaningful but is often offset by the greater pigment concentration in professional paints, which require less material to achieve the same coverage as student grades, making the cost-per-coverage comparison more favorable than the per-tube price differential suggests. For Atlanta artists who are uncertain which tier is appropriate for their work, staff at Binders and Blick can explain the specific advantages of professional-grade materials for the particular technique and context in question.
Q: Where can I find specialty papers and printmaking supplies in Atlanta?
A: Blick Art Materials’ Midtown location maintains one of the most comprehensive specialty paper and printmaking supply inventories in Atlanta, covering intaglio, relief printing, lithography, and screen printing materials alongside the range of specialty drawing and watercolor papers that serious paper selection requires. Binders Art Supplies in Buckhead stocks printmaking supplies and specialty papers with the professional-grade product knowledge that a 70-year fine art retailer develops through sustained engagement with the serious Atlanta printmaking community. Sam Flax’s selection of specialty papers spans the fine art and commercial design range, with particular strength in the presentation papers, vellum, and large-format printing substrates that graphic designers and architects require. For screenprinting specifically, both Sam Flax and Binders carry the emulsions, inks, and screen-preparation materials that this technically demanding print medium requires, with staff able to advise on the specific product choices that affect print quality and longevity.
Q: What is the price range for art supplies at Atlanta stores?
A: Student-grade paint sets and beginning art supply kits at Blick and Michaels typically start under $30 and provide an accessible entry point for new art students exploring a medium before committing to professional-grade materials. Individual professional-grade paint tubes at Blick and Binders range from approximately $8 to $40 depending on the medium, pigment, and manufacturer, with specialty pigments and artist-grade lines at the higher end of this range. Professional brushes for oil and watercolor painting range from $10 to $100 or more for high-quality sable and synthetic brushes at professional art supply stores, where the investment in quality brush maintenance is explicitly recommended because professional brushes treated well last significantly longer than student-grade alternatives. Custom framing at Binders’ framing studio uses professional archival framing standards for materials that merit long-term preservation, with pricing depending on frame selection, mat materials, and glass type but typically ranging from $100 to $400 for standard-size works with conservation-quality materials.
Conclusion
Atlanta’s art supply retail market serves the city’s diverse creative community through Binders Art Supplies and Frames’ 70-year Buckhead family institution at Piedmont Road offering fine art supplies and custom framing since 1955, Blick Art Materials’ Midtown Peachtree Street location providing comprehensive professional and student art supplies with a custom printing and framing department, and Sam Flax Art & Design Store’s 50-plus-year Northside Drive operation serving Atlanta’s fine art and commercial design community with extended weekday hours until 7:00 PM. Visiting any of these Atlanta art supply specialists directly allows you to assess product quality and receive the expert guidance that serious creative practice deserves.