For People Who Sell Art Supplies
July 2021
Cheers!
Vanessa America toasts her new store in Queens.
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e r s p e c t i v e
by Kevin Fahy
On and On
It’s beginning to feel as if the pandemic will never end. It will just continue to morph from one set of unusual protocols to another until we all leave the stage. In the meantime, our perception of the threat posed by COVID changes along with those protocols, and we worry about a different set of problems than we did before. A year ago, for example, we at this company worried that people would be afraid to read magazines because it might be possible that the virus could be carried through the mail on paper surfaces. That idea seems ludicrous now (as I’m sure some of our current concerns will seem a year from now). At this point we consider the virus to be an airborne agent, which means that the spraying of bleach all over everything was basically a waste of time. We now have two options. We can stay away from each other, or we can get vaccinated. I have a feeling that the staying away from each other strategy pretty much ran its course. We evolved as a social species, like wolves, and we can only deny our nature for so long before we gravitate back to the pack, consequences be damned. So that leaves us with vaccines, and in that respect Americans should consider themselves extremely fortunate. In an effort that was truly historic, several of our major pharmaceutical companies developed highly effective vaccines in record times. Compared to most of the rest of the world, we’ve also proven to be remarkably efficient at the distribution and administration of those vaccines. There is a catch, though. On April 13, the same day that the Food and Drug Administration put a “pause” on use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the number of people getting vaccinated stopped rising and began to decline. On that day, more than 3 million people got a shot. On the day I’m writing this, it will be fewer than 2 million. The idea of so-called “herd immunity,” where so many people are vaccinated that the virus stops circulating, now seems out of reach. They call it “vaccine hesitancy,” although that is a highly misleading term. There are many reasons why a large share of the population is slow to get vaccinated, or
refuses altogether. Hesitant doesn’t begin to cover it. Ironically, the failure to get everyone vaccinated makes those who are vaccinated even more important. They are the people who can go to ballgames and concerts, who can eat at restaurants and travel to foreign countries. They are also the people who can work in stores. As owners or managers of small businesses, we obviously want our employees to be vaccinated. We don’t want people out sick, or quarantined, and we don’t want them infecting each other or our customers. As human beings, we don’t want people we care about to be at risk of contracting a virus that can be lethal. So, what do we do about it? Well, we could require them to get vaccinated. Last year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued guidance indicating that employers could make vaccination a prerequisite for returning to work after the shutdown. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled long ago that schools may require vaccination of students, and it appears many of them will do so. In a survey conducted by Arizona State University in February, 44 percent of executives said that they were planning to mandate vaccination for their employees. A month later, a smaller survey conducted by Willis, Towers, Watson indicated that only 23 percent had such a plan. Part of that difference may be the margin of error in the surveys, but they would seem to indicate that enthusiasm for vaccine mandates among business leaders is lessening over time. There are very few major companies actually enforcing any sort of requirement, including those companies which had announced earlier that they intended to. United Airlines, for example, announced in January that it would order all of its nearly 100,000 employees to be vaccinated. Now it says it’s “considering” the situation. There are a lot of details to consider. What would you do if a third of your employees refuse, fire them all? You couldn’t very well fire some and not others. Then there is the possibility that a key person, say your best store manager, declines the vaccine. continued on page 5
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For People Who Sell Art Supplies
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Perspective
On and On by Kevin Fahy
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Coast to Coast
July 2021
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Two art-supply stores in two very different communities on opposite side of the country have more in common than you may think.
Artful Behavior
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100 Days is Not Forever. But it’s a lot.
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Retailers Recommend Fabulous Products
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Endcap
Face Time The loss of in-person instruction in U.S. schools impacted students in every subject, including art. Some wonder if catching up in STEM will mean losing more art.
Departments
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Industry News Business Notes New & True Index of Advertisers Art Materials Retailer Welcomes Two New Advertisers
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“Perspective” from page 3
If you decide to go ahead with a mandate in spite of those potential problems, you will also need to figure out the exceptions to your rule. Religious objections would be one, but you will have to define what those are, and whether or not they need to be part of an organized faith. Medical conditions would be another, but you again run into issues when it comes to definition. Is anxiety a medical condition? With both of those exceptions, you also have a sticky situation regarding confidentiality. Employees may not be willing to share their religious convictions or medical histories with their employer, and I for one don’t wish to ask them. Even more worrisome is the question of liability. If a business orders people to get vaccinated, the business might expose itself to legal liability for any side effects from the shots, which could possibly show up years down the road. Rather than deal with all those issues, companies that feel strongly about vaccinating their workforce are trying to find ways to incentivize voluntary vaccinations. The most obvious method is simply to offer cash, which varies from a few dollars into the hundreds. Some companies get more creative, like offering to buy employees a drink (a shot and a beer) or tickets to a ballgame. Others have gone with free food or time off from work. It appears that around 25 percent of the vaccine hesitant might be induced through the use of such incentives. As the owner of a small business, though, I can’t help but think that there are better ways to incentivize employees. How about a plan that actually benefits workers in their careers, and the company as well? The point of getting vaccinated is not just to protect one’s own health, but to keep from spreading the virus to other people as well. One group that any company would logically wish to protect from infection would be its customers. I’m not a lawyer, but I can’t imagine that there is any reason a business couldn’t reward vaccinated employees with more opportunities to interact with customers. I don’t just mean waiting on store shoppers, but being involved with workshops and demonstrations, sales calls, traveling to trade shows, and whatever else you can come up with. If I were one of your employees, that’s the sort of shot I would want.
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July 2021 • ArtMaterialsRetailer.com
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COAST TO COAST
A lover of color, Vanessa America painted a display wall a shade of blue that makes products-for-sale pop. She created fixtures out of furniture she found discarded on the street.
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ArtMaterialsRetailer.com • July 2021
by Tina Manzer
This is a story about two artmaterials stores in two very different communities on opposite sides of the country. Because creating art is an activity enjoyed by everyone, their businesses have more in common than you might think. We’ll start in New York. In April, a new art-supply store opened in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens. Appropriately named Tiny Arts Supply, “it’s 250 square feet on a good day,” says owner Vanessa America, “but I have 9-foot ceilings so I can maximize the vertical space.” The Ohio transplant and collage artist has lived in Ridgewood for 12 years. She worked as a bartender at several locations before the pandemic closed them down. During the months she was out of work, Vanessa volunteered full time at local food pantries and for Hungry Monk Rescue Truck, a New York City-based homeless outreach and community response vehicle. She dreamed about the many directions her career could take when the crisis was over. “I really wanted to open a bar, a worker-cooperative bar
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Janet O’Sullivan was born and raised near Seattle and her family hails from Korea. “Tokki” is “rabbit” in Korean – Janet has two pet rabbits at home. “They have great personalities and are a good representation of my business,” she says. The store moved across the Columbia River from Bingen, Washington, last July. Its look is sleek and spare.
where everyone had a stake in its success, but New York State doesn’t have that. I said if I couldn’t do that I’d open an art store, so I did.” Ridgewood is an ethnically diverse community built around 1910. Its two-family brick houses and six-family walkups originally housed folks who worked at the breweries in Bushwick, mostly Germans. Over the years they’ve been joined by immigrants from the Balkans, Sicily, Poland and Ireland; and then Romania, Slovenia and Yugoslavia. More recently, Chinese, Dominicans,
Koreans, Ecuadoreans and Egyptions have joined the mix. With 3,000 of its buildings designated state and federal landmarks, Ridgewood has the look that movie location scouts love. Its streets have appeared in Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” and the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire.” “A scout stopped here yesterday looking for a place to film a UPS commercial,” reports Vanessa. “They ended up going with a local record store, which is what they wanted in the first place.” Ridgewood’s last art supply store closed six years ago. “I love my neighborhood, but it needed an art store,” Vanessa says, and shared a story about a friend who hiked to Michaels in Rego Park, two or three neighborhoods away, to buy watercolors and a crochet hook. “That’s just crazy!” She knew that starting a retail business now is a risk, but she also knew she could make it succeed. “I’m surrounded by amazing business owners and I turn to them often for advice.” One of them really liked the idea of an art store, and offered Vanessa space “for a crazy amazing price, and gave me two months rent-free to complete the build out.” Person to person Later, good advice and moral support came from the other side of the country: retailer Janet O’Sullivan from Tokki Art Supply, a not-quite-two-year-old store in Hood River, Oregon. “I reached out to Vanessa when I spotted Tiny Arts Supply on Instagram,” Janet explains. “I lived in New York for a long time and I saw what happened to the independent art stores from 2004 to 2015. It was so sad to see so many of the mainstays, like New York Central, simply go out of business.” As a set designer and prop maker for stop-motion animation, Janet did a lot of shopping for supplies. “I got to go to all of those great stores and experience what they offered. I was really disheartened to watch them close. The New York art community was losing such amazing resources. “That’s why I was so happy to see someone taking the initiative there,” she continued. “I told Vanessa I’d be glad
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to talk about my experience with those stores; maybe help her discover what products would be just right for hers. I offered to answer any questions she might have, and help her reach out to different distributors for products.” Janet describes Hood River as “an idyllic little town” along the Columbia River Gorge, about an hour from Portland. It offers mountain biking, hiking and skiing, and is considered the windsurfing capital of the world. “It’s an agricultural community, known for breweries, distilleries, wineries and farm-to-table food,” says Janet. “The historic downtown, about eight blocks long, is walkable and super-cute. A lot of people from Portland and Seattle come here now because it’s smaller and safer. We also have a robust local population of about 8,000.” More alike than different You might think that Janet’s and Vanessa’s stores don’t have much in common, but they do, Janet believes. “Because we both operate on such a small scale, it’s important to distill our mix to have just the products our customers are most interested in. We also have to be community minded. It helps us connect with customers on a personal level so they become friends.” The front half of Janet’s 1,200 square foot space is devoted to retail. She stocks a variety of paint and markers, including the complete paint lines of Oregon-based M. Graham. Young adults come in for Posca markers (“It’s a really popular Instagram product,” she notes), and for kids there are Zebra’s ClickArt marker pens, something she spotted at NAMTA’s Art Materials World. “The thing I hear most from parents is, ‘My kids don’t put the caps back on their markers and they just dry out.’ Now I can offer them a solution to that problem.” Micron and Gelly Roll pens are perennial favorites, “and Strathmore’s recycled sketchbooks just fly off the shelves.” More and more people are coming in now for watercolors, she notes. “It’s
July 2021 • ArtMaterialsRetailer.com
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During the height of the pandemic, both women actively played a role in ensuring the wellbeing of others in their communities. Vanessa volunteered to help with the homeless; Janet worked with local art teachers to get more than 400 art supply kits to students’ homes.
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The back half of the store is reserved for storage and a classroom. She’s just started scheduling small in-person workshops again; coming up are sessions on how to build a terrarium and how to create kokedama, a Japanese form of garden art. “I’m not selling gardening supplies, but these classes are fun and different. I know the instructor; she’s the only one in this area teaching them. More than anything, I want to throw things against the wall now and see what sticks to figure out what people would like to learn.” Making art accessible Back in New York, Vanessa just received a box from MacPherson’s that contains embroidery floss, and Windsor & Newton paints and brushes. “I want to make sure that everyone has access to art supplies no matter their age, interest or talent level,” she says. “I am stocking a wide range of items, from Williamsburg Paints to student-grade Art Alternatives. A customer asked for enamels for painting models, so I’m bringing them in, too.” Ridgewood is an up-and-coming neighborhood, and there is strong community support to preserve and maintain its early 20th century feel. “I wanted to open a business that would enhance the neighborhood, and not take away from existing businesses,” Vanessa says. “There’s a great fabric store here, and an art-and-crafts store. I don’t want to carry the products they do, but I will carry tools that support their products, like lefthanded shears. “When I arrived, there were no cool bars or coffee shops, and now the neighborhood has this real artisanal feel. As business owners, we work together to keep our prices low, and try hard not to gentrify it.” Vanessa hopes to host free workshops and other community events at Tiny Arts Supply once she settles in.
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more approachable, has a smaller footprint, and is easier for art-on-the-go. They want a watercolor pallet they can throw in their backpack when they go hiking.” Janet also stocks a curated selection of Japanese stationery products including fine writing paper and envelopes. “It’s something unique that sets me apart from other art stores,” she explains.
“Again, another info-packed presentation. “Again, another info-packed presentation. I have writer’s cramp from all the notes I took! I have cramp from the notes I took!flowing Engaging andwriter’s interesting - got myallcreative thoughts Engaging and interesting gotour mysocial creative thoughts flowing about potential content -for media channels… aboutCheers potential content for our channels… to NAMTA suchsocial greatmedia resources.” Cheers NAMTA for sucha recent greatNamta resources.” – a Namtato Member who attended Connect
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DavidMember Pyle session on ZOOM AprilNamta 27, 2021 – a Namta who attended a recent Connect David Pyle session on ZOOM April 27, 2021
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The The Gallery Gallery The Gallery is an excellent resource where The Gallery is ask an excellent where members can questionsresource and share members can askcollaborating questions and share ideasultimately and ideas- ultimately collaborating and generating a thread of information. generating a thread of information.
The Theater is for virtual education and The Theater is for virtual education and product demonstrations. Our education product demonstrations. education topics cover an expansive Our range of relevant topics an topics expansive of relevant and upcover to date suchrange as brand and up tocontent date topics such as brand building, planning, online selling, building, content planning, social media strategies and online more. selling, social media strategies and more.
The Café is a more casual opportunity for Themembers Café is a more casual opportunity for our to exchange ideas or provide our members exchange ideassessions or provide feedback and to opinions through feedback and opinions through sessions like roundtables or once-a-month happy like roundtables or cocktail once-a-month happy hours themed with kits, trivia, hours speakers themed with kits, trivia, guest andcocktail more fun. guest speakers and more fun.
Be sure to check out the vast library of recordings of Namta Connect sessions. These recordings can offer you new ideas and are Be excellent sure to check outfor the vasttraining. library of recordings of Namta These recordings canCheck offer you new ideas and an source staff The Gallery, Theater andConnect Café aresessions. all free for Namta members. www.namta.org forare an excellent for staff training. The Gallery, Theater and Caféatare all free for Namta members. Check www.namta.org the schedulesource and recordings. Suppliers can contact Rick Munisteri rmunisteri@namta.org to schedule your demonstration.for the schedule and recordings. Suppliers can contact Rick Munisteri at rmunisteri@namta.org to schedule your demonstration.
FOR MORE INFO: namta.org FOR MORE INFO: namta.org info@namta.org | 704.892.6244 info@namta.org | 704.892.6244 PO Box 3314 | Huntersville, NC 28070 PO Box 3314 | Huntersville, NC 28070
Due to the uncertainties of the pandemic and Due to the uncertainties of the pandemic and in an effort to keep our members healthy in an effort to keep our members healthy and safe, International Art Materials and safe, International Art Materials Association made the difficult decision to Association made the difficult decision to cancel ART MATERIALS WORLD 2021 cancel ART MATERIALS WORLD 2021 in Chicago, but it’s going VIRTUAL! in Chicago, but it’s going VIRTUAL!
July 2021 • ArtMaterialsRetailer.com
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Artful Behavior 100 Days is Not Forever But it’s a lot by Tina Manzer
During The 100 Days Project, artist Margaret Molinari saw a jump in the sales of items she makes using her hand-printed fabric.
Measuring accomplishments within a 100-day timeframe is a common practice among world leaders. I think they will tell you that it has pros and cons. To learn how widely a tide can turn in just 3.28767 months, check the records of the U.S. presidents since FDR, and Napoleon Bonaparte. In 111 days, the popular military genius and former Emperor of France escaped from exile, ran off the Bourbon king, reinstated himself as the head of state, and lost it all in the Battle of Waterloo. OR, you could participate in the annual, free, global social media event, The 100 Day Project (#the100dayproject and other hashtag variations). Even better, invite your customers to take part. It’s a win-win. Like other challenges, The 100 Day Project gives art stores the opportunity to get customers energized, creating, and shopping for supplies. The commitment to perform the same action every day – crochet one bracelet, create a small self-portrait, paint 1/100th of a blank canvas – can be a battle. But when you do it and prove it on Instagram, it feels like you’ve won a war. Designer roots The project began as a course for students at the Yale School of Art. “For years, Michael Bierut, a designer and writer, led graduate graphic-design students in a workshop that he called The 100 Day Project. The premise was simple: each student chose one action to repeat every day for 100 days,” explains artist Elle Luna, part of the group who launched the social media version in 2014. “One student made a poster in under a minute each day, another danced in public every day and made a video; another student, Rachel Berger, picked a paint chip out of a bag and responded to it in writing for 100 days.” Legend has it that the lecturer himself would choose
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a photograph from The New York Times each day and draw something based on that image. “To be clear, you don’t have to be a visual artist to participate,” notes artist EB Hawkes, aka “Boomer,” on her website artfulpursuits.com. “Bierut famously said if you brush your teeth daily, you’ve participated in The 100 Day Project without realizing it.” Elle Luna says that the challenge provides lessons in something everyone needs: discipline. “The great surrender is the process; showing up day after day is the goal,” she told The Great Discontent, a media company that celebrates the untold stories of artists. “It’s for anyone who is hungry to jump-start their creative practice, for people who are curious about being part of a community that celebrates process, and for those who are busy with work and family commitments but search for a bite-sized way to play, creatively.” At the time of the 2015 interview, Elle was about to take the one-year-old project to the next level by bringing in different promotional partners: The Great Discontent community, for instance; museums around the world, and networker extraordinaire Lindsay Jean Thompson. The founder of Women Catalysts, a management consulting company in San Francisco, Lindsay Jean and her staff plan events nationwide that bring people together. “Think TEDx + Oprah + conscious guided networking,” explains a regular attendee. “It’s very challenging to make a commitment to yourself,” Lindsay Jean said to business strategist Ellen Fondiler. “We have limited time, space and resources – many of us – and unlimited pulls on our attention. The first day of The 100 Day Project you’re kind of scared, but you’re really excited. It’s like the first day of school. Then you miss a day or two, and enthusiasm ebbs. It’s hard to pick it back up when you’ve missed a day. We learn to be gentle with ourselves. We learn to let ourselves be human.”
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Word spreads While it’s difficult to measure the number of people who take part in what she calls “an experiment,” Lindsay Jean reports that there are more than 1 million posts on Instagram with the hashtag #The100DayProject, not counting the posts hashtagged with other variations. Artist Margaret Molinari (margarts.com) participated for the third time this year. In 2017, the former fashion industry surface designer demonstrated her sewing and printmaking skills by creating a quilt
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made from her handmade block-printed and screenprinted fabric. The next year, she used her sewing machine to free-motion-stitch a monster a day. “Before this year’s challenge began, I was already printing with fruit, vegetables and found objects, and thought, ‘Oh this would make a perfect 100-day challenge!’” she says. Each day she posted a time-lapse video showing how she created her fabric design by inking up half a lemon, perhaps – or the cap of a glue
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stick, the bottom of a cut-glass plate, an artichoke chopped in half vertically, a cassette tape, a serving fork, a piece of plastic she found on a walk with her dog, feathers, the bottom of a water bottle, and 91 one other easily accessible items. The results are amazing. Who knew you could create a sophisticated pattern using only a broken twig? From those fabrics, Margaret sewed pouches, eye pillows, needle books, eyeglass cases and more
from left: Baby Bok Choy creates a beautiful fabric pattern on this completed pouch (it’s even lined!), as does a half of a sweet pepper. Margaret outlined her process step by step, including a materials list and tips, in this PDF booklet she sells online.
work, The 100 Day Project is just the ticket. Margaret recommends choosing a theme that’s unique. “It’s the reason I had so much success with my project this year, I think. It had never been done before. When people love your art, they enjoy seeing the process that made it. That’s why my videos are such a hit. It’s also important to engage as much as possible by answering questions, responding to comments, and checking out the feeds of people who take the time to comment.”
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that she sold on her website. “During the project, my sales increased a lot because my following increased tremendously,” she says. “In fact, I got so many questions about my process and the supplies I used that I created a PDF booklet about it and sold that as well.” Her video setup is simple: just a tabletop ring tripod and her phone. “I don’t have special lighting; just a floor lamp with daylight bulbs.” For artists who want to draw attention to their
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Retailers Recommend
Fabulous Products by Tina Manzer
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Ann Ebert Central Art Supply, Medford, Oregon “The EMOTT Fineliner Marker Pens (1) from Uni-ball – we get them from MacPherson’s – are a fun, new-to-us addition to our store. They’ve been around for a year, a year-and-half. Customers buy them for coloring, drawing, and for everyday writing. The tip is very sturdy so the line stays fine. “We recently expanded our offering of stencils from The Crafters Workshop. We sell TCW stencils every day – I just sold four of them! We brought in their Letters (2) after we saw them at Art Materials World. “We devote a lot of space – 24 feet – to pastels. I think that’s unusual compared to other art stores. Pastels have a huge following here and we credit that to our very strong instructors. They continue to grow the number of people who enjoy creating with pastels. Central Art Supply carries several brands, including some you don’t always find in typical art materials stores. We sell them in sets and as open stock. Terry Ludwig Pastels (3) are handmade by a family-owned business in Colorado, and Unison handmade Soft Pastels (4) come from the U.K. We love Richeson’s tiny little pastels (5) [the Handmade Half-Stick Medium-Soft Pastels]. Great American ART WORKS Pastels (6) come in 468 different colors! They are made by hand in Cincinnati.”
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Erin Keating Catskill Art & Office Supply in Kingston, New York “I’m a fan of anything shiny, so I think the Molotow Liquid Chrome Markers (7) we brought in are going to take off. When you use them on nonporous paper you can actually see your reflection. “Jacquard Cyanotype Mural Fabric (8) is a personal favorite right now. The pretreated cotton sateen is light-sensitive and ready to use right out of the package. It makes it so easy to do sun-printing with kids, and introduces them to the concept of light and shadow. “Any product that entertains kids has been selling well since the start of the pandemic. Have you heard of the company Studio Roof? They make 3-D wall décor (9) that depicts beetles, lobsters, exotic birds, animal heads and more in cardboard. Each one comes packed flat in a kit, and then you pop out the pieces and put them together. They’re fun for kids but cool enough for adults. “Micador jR makes great children’s products, and their Easy Carry Art Studio (10) is pretty clever. The carrying case converts to a portable easel and there are drawers for storing the art supplies that come with it.”
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Shadebuddy® #309SB60B NAMTA’s first virtual tradeshow held in conjunction with AFCI’s Creativation, was applauded by participants in both the fine art and craft industries. The following numbers provide a snapshot of its success. • 1,552 meetings were set up among attendees. • More than 6,700 connections/contacts were made. • 1,000+ video calls/meetings were made, with the average meeting lasting 35 minutes. • Nearly 2,000 new products were bookmarked /added to wish lists by attendees and speakers. • More than 4,000 products were bookmarked from the Buyers Guide attendees and speakers. Among the comments posted on namta.org by participants were these:
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“Am I the only one who is pleasantly surprised at how great a virtual event can be?”; “Had NINE one-on-one meetings yesterday.”; “Thanks so much! The show has been great for us to network and understand the market,” and “I thought virtual NAMTA was a huge success. The participation rate was nearly the same as the traditional format, at least for accounts in the West. Engagement was high, Swapcard worked well despite its quirks and limitations, and much of the value that comes from a tradeshow translated through the virtual platform … and the cost savings is real.”
Last April, NPD Group reported a 70-percent increase in arts and crafts sales. Consumer interest in creative pursuits continued throughout 2020, and Michaels recorded $1.9 billion in net sales in the fourth quarter of 2020 – a 12 percent year-over-year increase, reports Modern Retail. Resin, crafting technology, and kids’ art and education were among its top categories in 2020. This year, to keep its new customers engaged, Michaels is expanding its social media presence, especially on YouTube, and investing in more targeted, digital marketing. On March 3, the $5 billion acquisition of Michaels by private equity firm Apollo Global Management was completed. The move officially made Michaels a privately-held subsidiary of Apollo, and Michaels’ stock ceased to trade on the stock exchange. Meanwhile, Joann made its Wall Street debut on March 12. It reported a 24.3 percent boost in revenue in the first three quarters of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, notes Modern Retail. New customers accounted for some of the growth, as did the resurgence in sewing. Blick, with a more fine-art materials mix, broke even last year. The growth it experienced in online sales (which accounted for 40 percent of its business pre-pandemic) was offset with sales declines in art-teacher supplies and brick-and-mortar sales. “I think we ended the year pretty flat in sales on a consolidated basis,” CEO Robert Buchbaum told Modern Retail. One important trend he noticed was that more parents bought art supplies for their kids online for the first time. He wonders whether these new consumers “may not need our depth in this specific area of fine art that is kind of the differential between us and, say, Michael’s.”
In his June 2021 customer enewsletter, retailer Ron Whitmore at Artisan Santa Fe reports that custom canvas stretching “has been going gangbusters” at his store. “My partner Paul Bell runs that department, and we have set records with the amount artists are ordering in sizes that are not standardly offered,” Ron wrote. He interprets the increase as a sign of renewed optimism on the part of artists now that COVID numbers have decreased. Ron is hosting a new video series called “Artisan Artist” that features interviews with artists as they work in their studios. It replaces the “Art Fusion” radio program Ron has hosted for the past three years. The new series and Artisan’s regular newsletter are just some of the ways the business reaches out to educate its customers. Effective customer newsletters like Ron’s are informational, not sales-driven. “Web users of every ilk are regularly bombarded with offers, sales, and promotions,” according to SaaS platform provider Big Commerce (bigcommerce.com). “To get customers to open and read an email, the content needs to be genuinely interesting beyond an attempt to sell them merchandise or services,” says bigcommerce.com. They recommend a 90/10 rule – 90 percent information and 20 percent sales material. “With the right balance, less is more. The educational material will lead to more sales than product copy.”
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For our full range of art books go to: searchpressusa.com/art-instruction
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NRF: Debunk the RetailApocalypse Myth with Better Data The National Retail Federation is backing a recommendation that federal agencies create a “satellite account” to better assess the performance of the retail industry. It says that traditional statistical measurements do not accurately reflect the industry’s contribution to the economy amid the increase in online shopping and other changes. “In recent years, critics have claimed the retail industry is facing an existential crisis, that retail is not growing and that we are entering – if not already in – a retail apocalypse,” said Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist at the National Retail Federation. “This is not an accurate picture, and the analysis driving this conclusion is incomplete. But why has this become the conventional wisdom? The lack of government data that accurately reflects the retail industry is at least partially to blame.” The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Census all currently track or analyze different retail statistics. Last year, BLS requested that the Committee on National Statistics of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine assess retail
o t e s
employment and productivity measurements, and examine the creation of a satellite account. Doing so would pull together data in one place in order to provide a better picture of economic sectors that cross traditional statistical lines. In April 2021, the creation of the account moved forward. Kleinhenz said government standards that only consider employees who work in stores as “retail” fail to capture the hundreds of thousands of warehouse and distribution center jobs retailers have created in recent years to support the increase in ecommerce. Similarly, monthly reports on retail sales don’t break out ecommerce sales, making it difficult to count a retailer’s online sales of clothing, for example, as part of total clothing sales through all retail channels. “We are hopeful that work on creation of a retail satellite account will begin immediately, and we are prepared to bring industry perspective to assist in the launching of this essential and timely initiative,” concluded Kleinhenz.
Raw Materials Shortages Impact Art Material Production In a letter to its distributors, dealers and partners in June, TARA Materials/FREDRIX announced that the prices of its wood-only products – FREDRIX stretcher bars, TARA stretcher bars and all braces, specifically – would temporarily increase by 18 percent because of the high price of lumber and plywood in the U.S. Home builders across the country report that skyrocketing wood prices are also contributing to the housing shortage. The demand for wood began to increase last summer, explains businessfocused economist and Forbes contributor Bill Conerly. Instead of going on vacation, homeowners added decks, playhouses, and “she sheds” to their property. Last fall, construction ramped up even more, and by December, low
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mortgage rates brought single family housing starts to their highest level since 2006. “Wood products prices typically fluctuate more than most goods, because homebuilding can move up or down much faster than sawmill capacity can,” Conerly wrote. “Wood products have other uses that are more stable, such as non-residential construction, crates and pallets, but new housing is the largest usage, followed by home repairs and remodeling, and both of those activities are highly cyclical.” While TARA Materials had implemented a minimal price increase in February, “prices remain high and we can no longer continue to absorb the difference,” says its letter. The cost of producing the company’s stretched canvases has also been affected, but their prices will not increase as of now. “If raw material prices continue to remain at these very high levels, we will revisit this issue,” states the letter. (For more information, contact Ashley Lee at alee@taramaterials.com or Mickael Morel mmorel@ taramaterials.com.) In his Forbes article, Conerly wrote that he expects building materials prices to retreat in 2022 and return to prepandemic levels by 2023. The lack of other raw materials – from people to pigments to polymers – continue to affect the price and availability of acrylic paints, wrote artist Lisa Takahashi in April, on the blog of Jackson’s Art Supplies in London, England. Opened in 2000, the art-supply shop offers a vast range of materials to artists all over the world. “Pigments, drying oils, resins, polymer binders and gums, in addition to linens, cottons, wood and so on, all require people power to get them sourced and processed so that they are ready to be used in the manufacture of art materials,” Lisa reported. “As we are all aware, the extent and timing of how
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the pandemic might affect us has been very hard to predict, causing staff shortages and impacting productivity, especially in industries where working from home is not an option.” Ingredients used to make art supplies are also used for products
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in other industries; auto making, for instance, where pigment is used to manufacture car-body paint. “When the supply of cheap pigments required for other industries was depleted, the demand for more expensive pigments rose, affecting pigment supply even further for fine-art paint makers,” Lisa explained. “Where supply is low, stockpiling materials begins to rise. It leads to shortages, price increases, and further delays.” Broken supply chains caused by the pandemic are mostly to blame, but there are other reasons for shortages. A fire at a chemical company in Germany contributed to the rising prices of acrylic paint manufactured with the monomers and resins the company made. When production sites in Texas closed in February because of cold weather, paint manufacturers were among those impacted. In some cases, delays occur because of packaging issues, not product problems. “Recently, there have been known shortages of lids for acrylic pots as well as
bottles for masking fluid, which causes frustrating but unavoidable temporary delays,” wrote Lisa. Among the many manufacturers affected by this in 2020 and early 2021 was Gamblin. The massive and sustained demand for hand sanitizer packaging made it difficult for the company to source bottles and caps for its mediums and solvents. In the case of Jackson’s Art Supplies, recent changes to shipping charges and administration delayed shipping in and out of the UK. “Within the EU, Brexit caused delays at customs, which caused the cost of shipping into the UK to rise,” Lisa explained. “It’s worth bearing in mind that a shortage of specific products or materials may not be industry wide,” she added. “It depends on whether a manufacturer has been able to source raw materials and whether they are able to stockpile them. It also depends on how close the factory is to the raw-materials source.”
Next Up? Hurricanes. 2021 is shaping up to be another active year for hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, reports Business Insider. The season that began June 1 and officially ends November 30 will be “above average,” according to forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), but will probably not be as busy as last year’s. “It just was a relentless season,” Ken Graham, director of the National Hurricane Center, told Business Insider. “Thirty named storms. That’s the most we’ve recorded in 170 years of record-keeping.” Also set was a record for the most storms to hit the continental U.S. in one season – 12. Since 1892, the finest name in modeling clay When the designated list Chavant, Inc. manufactures a wide variety of professional grade, oil / wax based, sculpting plastelines, industrial styling clays and high quality modeling tools. of names (21) was exhausted in Please order our sample kit and evaluate these distinctive products. 2020, NOAA started using letters of the Greek alphabet to name CHAVANT, Inc. • 5043 Industrial Road • Farmingdale, NJ 07727 the storms that kept coming. 732-751-0003 • 800-CHAVANT • FAX: 732-751-1982 The economic impact of the Visit our web site at: www.chavant.com
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ArtMaterialsRetailer.com • July 2021
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last hurricane season, which included six category 3 or higher storms, was between $60 and $65 billion in damages and losses, says the article. So far in 2021, a string of factors has caused shortages in everything from gasoline to tampons – backed-up ports, a truck-driver shortage, Texas’s February freeze, the Ever Giver’s blockage of the Suez Canal and, of course, the pandemic. Minnesota-based analytics firm DTN predicts that supply chains will be further tested by hurricanes, especially on the East Coast. The Business Insider article featured insight from a number of weather experts, including Chris Wolfe, CEO of logistics company PowerFleet, who said: “If we had a months-long backup at ports on the East Coast like we did on the West Coast for an extended period of time, it could phenomenally exacerbate power shortages.” The forestry industry could also be “deeply impacted,” says Remy Vendewege from DTN. “There’s been a shortage of building materials, and that could be enhanced even more if we’re seeing key manufacturing areas shut down around Louisiana and Alabama.” On the West Coast, where hard rain would be a welcome change from the current extremely dry conditions, another damaging wildfire season may be in store. “It’s a significant risk that all businesses need to be thinking about right now,” said Jonathon Porter,
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AccuWeather chief meteorologist. “What are their vulnerabilities and plans to mitigate? “People are getting negatively impacted almost on a daily basis by weather events,” he added. “For businesses, the biggest negative impact is on the supply chain.” The first storm of the year, Tropical Storm Ana, actually appeared in May but did not pose a threat to land before it dissipated in the Atlantic. Here are the other names for the 2021 season: Bill, Claudette, Danny, Elsa, Fred, Grace, Henri, Ida, Julian, Kate, Larry, Mindy, Nicholas, Odette, Peter, Rose, Sam, Teresa, Victor, and Wanda. Storms repeat names every six years, unless it’s particularly destructive (like Andrew, Sandy and Katrina). In that case, the name is retired. There are no storm names that begin with Q, U, X, Y or Z because of the lack of usable names that begin with those letters.
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new true The Historic Set from Kuretake Zig includes all you need to start watercolor. You can challenge the world’s masterpieces with only a small number of colors! Become inspired by the original artworks and, depending on your own ingenuity, create original bold arrangements of color. The set contains three ZIG Clean Color Real Brush colors, one water brush pen, two pre-printed sheets and two blank sheets. kuretakezig.com
EVO Synthetic from ETC Papers represents the evolution of paper. A great addition to any creative toolkit, this highgrade synthetic paper is perfect for abstract art, card making, and mixed-media creations. EVO is available in sheets and pads. It’s bright white, water and tear resistant, flexible, forgiving and tree-free. etcpapers.com
The durable, stylish, and affordable
Artograph Futura Light Table from Studio Designs combines the top-selling Futura Table design with the superior performance of Artograph light pads. The dimmable LED light pad offers 500 to 5500 lumens of brightness for up to 50K hours. It’s an excellent choice for tattoo artists, animators, and illustrators. studiodesigns.com sales@studiodesigns.com
L334-2 Intaglio Set B Etching from The
Edward C. Lyons includes six basic Intaglio tools for adding and deducting tones from different mediums, including copper, zinc, wood and plastic. The tools provide great control and versatility in etching and line engraving. We can also configure custom sets to your preference within our expansive tool line. eclyons.com
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ArtMaterialsRetailer.com • July 2021
Bob Ross books for little kids? YES! Now we’re talkin’! Lots to choose from; guaranteed to be cherished and adored for years to come. Wholesale inquiries contact Hatchette Book Group in Indiana. orders@hbgusa.com customer.service@hbgusa.com
The NEW disc-bound Mixed Media Journal from Grafix features 12 sheets of their most popular materials to use with inks, stamps, adhesives, pens, markers, embossing, scissors, punches, techniques, and die-cuts. With the ability to add and remove sheets, the creative possibilities are limitless! Available for shipping in June in two sizes – 6 by 6 inches and 6 by 9 inches. grafixarts.com
Jacquard’s Procion MX and Acid Dye 4-Color Sets have been refreshed with re-imagined packaging! Featuring eye-catching graphics and a comprehensive guide to color-mixing with dyes, the new packaging is robust enough for the most heavily trafficked stores. With these sets, retailers can provide everything required for nearly any dye project. jacquardproducts.com
15 Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks, Mixatives, and Alloys now available in a larger 2-oz bottle! Alcohol Inks are fast-drying, acid-free, fade-resistant dye inks Ranger Industries is introducing a selection of
specially formulated to create gorgeous backgrounds and vivid pops of color. rangerinc.com
Hahnemuehle’s new collection of 100-percent-premiumcotton watercolor paper is now available in 300gsm and 640gsm through MacPherson Art. Use it to create remarkable wet-on-wet paintings! The durable surface of the mould-made papers can accommodate the most demanding watercolor techniques. The fibers don’t lift, rub off, or loosen when applying multiple layers of color or using masking fluids and tapes. Hahnemühle is a vegan and sustainable energy mill! hahnemuehle.com
Tan-colored Clayette from Chavant, the finest name in modeling clay, is available in soft, medium and hard firmnesses. It’s smooth and non-sticky. Dark gray Monu-melt is meltable, smooth and non-sticky. It comes in soft, medium and hard firmnesses. Spray Touché: Meltable Le Beau Touché is gray-green. It has a medium firmness and is smooth and tacky. chavant.com
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new true The ABT PRO from Tombow is a dual-tipped art marker with brush and chisel tip in one. The flexible brush tip works like a paintbrush; the chisel tip provides broad coverage. It features a slender barrel for a comfortable grip. The permanent, fast-drying alcohol-based ink produces rich, vibrant colors – 108 in all. It’s ideal for artists, designers and crafters. 800-835-3232 ext. 511 tombowusa.com
Cos Tools from Logan Graphic Products are great for sizing and shaping various EVA foams and thermoplastics for cosplay costumes and accessories. Cos Tools let you cut circles, straight edges, beveled edges, and V grooves. Make freehand cuts or use the Cos Tools Channel Rail to guide tools for perfectly straight cuts. cos-tools.com
In Painting with System 3 from Search Press, renowned artist Charles Evans reveals the capabilities of the economical and hugely popular inks and paints from Daler-Rowney. The highly practical approach to System 3 includes 13 stepby-step projects with lessons on how to show movement, texture, and mood; and how to depict the natural world. searchpressusa.com
Aitoh’s new
Hand Paper Drill features a hardwood handle and a solid brass cutting mechanism. Its true hardened carbon steel bits cut easier, deeper, and cleaner, and last longer than standard steel nibs. It’s in stock and shipping now! 800-681-5533 origami@aitoh.com aitoh.com.
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Pro Gaff is a matte cloth tape with a rubber-based adhesive system. It is excellent for both indoor and outdoor installations. You can tear it by hand! It applies easily to many surfaces and removes cleanly. The pH neutral tape is made in the USA and is available in 20 colors. Contact Steve Espinal. sespinal@protapes.com protapes.com/pro-gaff-tape
The popular Linoleum & Relief Carving from
Designed for the precise needs of artists, Crescent Creative Art Boards offer a variety of substrates designed to unlock masterpieces in the studio or en plein air. Sold in three-packs of the most popular sizes, they are ideal to merchandise right with the corresponding media. The rigid professionalgrade surfaces offer sturdy portability and are ready to frame. Contact Rick Berman. 847-419-3412, rberman@crescentbrands.com
Flexcut offers exceptional quality and value. It features 1/8-inch and 5/16-inch sweeps, 1/4inch V-tool, and a 1mm micro V-tool. Razor-sharp blades easily cut surfaces, yet really hold their edge. An ergonomically designed handle, manual, sharpening strop, polishing compound and tool roll are included. Proudly made in USA. 800-524-9077 flexcut.com.
The revolutionary
Shadebuddy Umbrella from Guerrilla Painter is an easy and economical way to provide shade for you and your easel without putting your easel at risk of a wind gust. Setup is a snap, and the adjustable angle allows you to get maximum shade. It also can function as a windbreak. 970-493-0217 guerrillapainter.com
Coming soon from Environmental Medicine Inc.: the CUSTOS
Chemical Management Program,a database of your
The Lyptus & Steel Stools
from Richeson are now available with a round or square seat! Elegant and functional, they’re perfect for home, studio or classroom. The seat is renewable Lyptus wood and the black steel legs come in 18-, 24- or 30-inch heights. richesonart.com
ingredients researched and approved by EMI. This invaluable resource works as an extended member of your team; fulfilling your regulatory needs. We welcome the opportunity to meet you. Mention Promo Code EMI2021. 201-666-7929 ext. 25 envmed.com luisa@envmed.com
July 2021 • ArtMaterialsRetailer.com
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Tell our advertisers you saw their products in Art Materials Retailer magazine! Company Page Website
Company Page Website
AITOH 10 aitoh.com
Jack Richeson & Co.
5
richesonart.com
Bob Ross, Inc.
21
bobross.com
Jacquard Products
23
jacquardproducts.com
Chavant, Inc.
22
chavant.com
Kuretake ZIG
19
kuretakezig.com
Crescent Brands
2
crescentbrands.com
Logan Graphic Products
19
logangraphic.com
Edward C. Lyons Co.
8
eclyons.com
Enkaustikos Wax Art Supplies 20
encausticpaints.com
NAMTA 11 namta.org Pro Tapes & Specialties
13
protapes.com
Ranger Industries
14
rangerink.com royalbrush.com
Environmental Medicine
22
envmed.com
ETC Papers
9
etcpapers.com
Royal Brush Mfg
Back Cover
Flexcut Tool
6
flexcut.com
Sculpture House
29
sculpturehouse.com
Gagne
5 gagneinc.com
Search Press North America
20
searchpressusa.com
General Pencil Co.
29
generalpencil.com
Studio Designs
21
studiodesigns.com
Golden Artist Colors
31
goldenpaints.com
Tombow
7 tombowusa.com
Grafix
12 grafixarts.com
Toss Products
18
tossproducts.com
Guerrilla Painter
18
guerrillapainter.com
Xiem Tools USA
23
xiemtoolsusa.com
Hahnemuhle USA
15
hahnemuhle.com
Art Materials Retailer Welcomes Two New Advertisers For more than 50 years, Gagne Inc. has manufactured the Porta-Trace family of LED light boxes in the USA. With their clean aesthetics; bright, even lighting and rugged durability, the line is popular in a variety of industries, from art, engineering and photography to dental and medical. Famous for being reasonably priced and highly durable, Porta-Trace Light Boxes are the brightest LED light boxes on the market.
Et Cetera Papers from ARC Papers is a unique collection for creative people. Company founder Ty Tomak has an eye for the new and unusual – for decades, companies throughout the country have sought him out to identify upcoming trends in paper – in color and patterns, and textures and finishes. Et Cetera Papers was born from that special talent.
For People Who Sell Art Supplies Publisher J. Kevin Fahy kfahy@fwpi.com
Advertising Director Tim Braden tbraden@fwpi.com
Production Manager Mark Stash mstash@fwpi.com
Editorial Director Tina Manzer tmanzer@fwpi.com
Ad Sales Representative Amy Colburn amy@fwpi.com
Subscriptions accounts@fwpi.com
Graphic Artist Christopher Cornett Christopher@fwpi.com
Enewsletter & Online Advertising Manager Rick Kauder rkauder@fwpi.com
About Art Materials Retailer AMR has been meeting the unique needs of a creative industry since 1998. It combines the latest information on art supplies with profiles of manufacturers and stores, artist interviews, and business advice from experts, to keep storeowners on top of trends and emerging markets. Its targeted readership and high-quality presentation make it an effective marketing tool for manufacturers of materials and tools for artists.
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ArtMaterialsRetailer.com • July 2021
Around the Table a publication of the Game Manufacturers Association
Copyright © 2021
About Fahy-Williams Founded in 1984, Fahy-Williams Publishing specializes in magazines, directories, e-newsletters and other promotional material for a wide variety of niche markets. Here are just a few.
Toy Times a publication of the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association edplay dedicated to the specialty toy industry Educational Dealer for retailers who sell to teachers, parents and schools Life in the Finger Lakes Magazine a local lifestyle brand
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distance learning and what is the learning loss? There’s a fear among teachers of the arts, music and drama included, that as school systems try to make up for lost learning, they’ll choose to cut subjects that they somehow think are not important, like art. “Often, with these types of decisions, we do find the arts on the cutting block,” writes Heather Wolpert-Gawron on the blog of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. The coordinator of 21st century learning and professional development for San Gabriel Unified School District in California says she’s already seen cuts to art instruction at schools in her state. “But I would argue that this is a time when the arts are most critical,” she wrote. “Crisis breeds creativity – and these creative bursts aren’t always just about fun ways to pass the time. They can also lead to vital discoveries. Isaac Newton (pre-Sir) first mulled over the Law of Gravity when on his own, in selfisolation, during the bubonic plague. And did you know that Scotch tape was born of the Great Depression as a means to repair, rather than toss out, broken and torn goods? “Creativity is a vital ingredient in innovation. And that just might be the key that saves us all.” At Honeoye Central School this year, permission to be creative with school property helped give graduating seniors hope, relieved some stress, and let their personalities shine. Every year, each senior gets a designated parking spot in the school’s lot. This year, they were invited to decorate theirs with art.
Clay Modeling Stone and Wood Carving Ceramics Mold Making and Casting
Ph: 772-210-6124 SculptureHouse.com
July 2021 • ArtMaterialsRetailer.com
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Face Time
by Tina Manzer
The loss of in-person instruction in U.S. schools impacted students in every subject, including art. Some wonder if catching up in STEM will mean losing more art. In the fall of 2019, art students at the Honeoye Central School District in New York’s Finger Lakes Region spent a semester designing and creating totems. The studio art class of about 20 freshmen worked with a visiting artist, sculptor Kim Bellavia, who shared with them her methods and materials. A grant written by high school art teacher Tim Williams paid for her instruction, along with the cardboard, chicken wire, quick-hardening cement, acrylic paint and the polyurethane needed to seal them. “Oh no, absolutely not, we could never have done this project during COVID,” Tim told me on one of his last days at school. “We were teaching kids how to work with supplies they had never used before, and there were a lot of steps involved with this project. The students had to be here together, and with Kim, to get the quality results we achieved.” Last March, like other art teachers around the country, Tim packaged up individual bags of basic art supplies when he learned that his school would close due to COVID. He loaded them in his car and dropped them off to students at their homes. “There were certain supplies that they weren’t allowed to use unsupervised, so we had to modify some of the projects we had planned.” Later, at about this time last year, he and his colleagues realized that the ’20-’21 school year would not be back to normal. When they placed their orders for supplies, it included more brushes, pastels, paint, etc., for students who would work independently at home. This year, with school partially open, Tim taught some students live in the classroom. At the same time, 13 or 14 of them who were working from home tuned in via Zoom. “It was problematic because I couldn’t judge how they were doing just by looking at an image on my computer screen,” Tim explained. “And that was the hardest thing during COVID. As an art teacher, I had to step back, swallow hard, and admit that students working remotely were not going to produce the same quality of work that they would if they were all here in the classroom.” It’s a realization that has come to absolutely everyone in the education field. How effective is
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BACK-TO-SCHOOL 2021
STUDIO ELEMENTS IS A CATALYST FOR MAKING THE ESSENTIAL AFFORDABLE.
GOLDEN is helping retailers and artists everywhere rebound from the challenges of the pandemic with additional discounts and educational content supporting artist studio staples. Studio Elements products include select GOLDEN, Williamsburg, and QoR items available at an extra 15% off. (See list below) ■ Order Dates April 19 through September 3 ■ Ship Dates June 7 through September 10 ■ 40% MAP from July 26 through October 1 Social media events and new content will highlight the versatility of Studio Elements products beginning in August. Contact your GOLDEN sales representative now to participate in this exciting promotion.
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1040
HEAVY BODY CARBON BLACK
1380
HEAVY BODY TITANIUM WHITE
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3550
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3575
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3720
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3721
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3990
GAC 900
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SOFLAT BLACK
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6755
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6000101
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38.09
52.79
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6000104
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35.99 128.59
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COLD PRESS GROUND
15.99
Golden Artist Colors, Inc.
* Subject to raw material availability
188 Bell Road New Berlin, NY 13411-3616 USA 607-847-6154
© 2021 Golden Artist Colors, Inc.
goldenpaints.com
Brushes that leave an impression. Zen is a diverse brush collection that will equip your customers with the right brush for the medium of their choice. Whether it be oil, acrylic, watercolor, or mixed media, this collection of durable, easy to clean brushes is sure to impress. For more information, please contact your local Royal & Langnickel sales representative, your favorite distributor or contact us at: Email customerservice@royalbrush.com 800.247.2211
Now Available in an Endcap Footprint
royalbrush.com