The Art Center

The best place for local art supplies in the greater Humboldt bay area.
The Art Center has all the supplies you need for pursuing your artistic endeavors — for the artist, both pro and beginner alike. As well as all levels in between. This business has strong ties with the local arts community and all of the areas schools, which makes shopping for art supplies pretty easy.
Always a great place to shop, this small eclectic store surprisingly holds a good selection of the supplies needed for most every art form known. As well as a knowledgeable staff that are willing to help you find what you are looking for even if they do not happen to have it in stock. They have ordered specialty tools, over-​sized components and bulk supplies for me and have always delivered every custom order as expected and within the agreed time frame.
I have always been able to find pretty much all the supplies I need at a competitive price, with local support and commitment that is second to none. The Art Center is my choice for all my supplies — the staff are friendly and accommodating and though the place can be hectic at times, I have always found everything or been able to order pretty much anything needed for my art.
The Art Center is another great business is Arcata and one more thing that makes living behind the Redwood Curtain the cool places that it is…
A Solid 4.5 stars — rounded up for great local support.
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This store is only in business because artists, mainly students, visit it and spend HUNDREDS of dollars there per semester. I would assume that the employees would recognize this and make an effort to be kind and helpful, but I have often encountered the opposite. In terms of the supplies they have, I would give this store a 5 out of 5! I wish that I could say the same for the service. I feel torn, because I want to help this local business, but I generally try to avoid this store because I don’t like shopping in an environment which makes me feel belittled and discouraged for asking a question or wanting help.

As a student, I try to split my trips between here (Art Center) and Ellis Art/​Engineering. Both have amazing staff that are always extremely helpful. Usually at Art Center they get so many students in, I don’t have to know what I’m doing-​just to tell them what teacher I have and every time (for me) they have known exactly what I need. I don’t know left from right in that store so it’s 100% awesome! :) I’m not saying this will be everyones experience, but for this beginner they have my business! Thanks guys!!!

This is now a destination when hubby and I visit the area. First of all, they let us bring our dog in (awesome!). More importantly, their selection of products is second to none. It is a small-​ish store but they have so many fun goodies! I always get inspired there. Hubby loves it too. The customer service gals remembered us (and our pup) and hubby had some great conversation about our upcoming Halloween projects. Great place, great service. Awesome!

I needed some odds and ends and happened to be visiting in Humboldt. I thought I would try the Art Center in Arcata. The woman who helped me was so helpful and nice. They had EVERYTHING on my list even though the store is small. She gave me a couple tips on a new medium I am working with and verified that I was on the right track as far as materials. She also gave me their card and said I could call and order and they would package and send just for the cost of postage (no huge handling fees). I was impressed because I used to go to the Art Center in Eureka when I was a student at HSU and they were not so helpful. This was definitely a positive experience and excellent all the way around.

The Art Center is stocked with everything you’ll need in the event that you’re running low on supplies. Their prices are reasonable; but their staff is well trained, and very knowledgeable.
Location: 4 stars
Atmosphere: 4 stars
Service: 4 stars
Selection: 5 stars
Return-​factor: 4 stars
Last impression: 4.5 stars

I had to go in here a lot for my art classes to get certain special supplies and it was very convenient. Not too far from the school and the staff knew what you needed. Highly recommended and the prices weren’t too inflated.