Artisan Santa Fe — Attraction in Santa Fe

As a professional artist and former North Carolina resident who regularly visited Jerry's Artarama in person, I am absolutely impressed with Artisan Santa Fe and now see it as my art supply Mecca! Virtually every facet of art process is addressed at this store! They also offer EVERY item offered by GOLDEN art products!!!!! (MY favorite acrylic paint is GOLDEN Heavy Body, and they have EVERY type of GOLDEN paint and medium here.) They also offer a mother lode of superior paints and supplies. I was floored to see the entire rack of Old Holland oil paints (my favorite and hard to find), Holbein (every type of Holbein medium!!!!), and more! They also offer a plethora of superior marbled and textured papers, framing supplies, brushes, paper pads, and more. They have a member rewards program, so I signed up for that!

They also offer a nice variety of classes in the store, and the space is very bright and roomy. Their website has a calendar of events and classes, and you can sign up for and pay for the classes online very conveniently.

My artist friend and I had the pleasure of meeting the owners, and they are SO friendly and encouraging! So down to earth AND creative, they hold the spirit of the artistic heart and are always thinking of ways to encourage the art community in Santa Fe...

This is such an exciting store. This is my go-to store when I can't find what I'm looking for anywhere else. Things cost a little bit more, but this place is definitely an artist's Nirvana. There are so many different brushes with different textures (if you haven't experimented with different texture brushes, you're in for a big surprise if you do), paint pens with a lot of different colors that make your mind dream, fabrics, yes, fabrics, that help you create a whole new worlds, a large variety of canvases that really do let you stretch your imagination for how you want to work your painting, and so much more! On your first trip, you should just walk around and see everything the store has to offer. My personal recommendation, feel the different textures of the brushes, and then purchase some for experimentation. Different textures yield different results. But also, try out some of the paint pens; they have some at the checkout area that you can try for free. Then check out the different canvases, and from there, let your mind wander with infinite possibilities to...

This is as well stocked an art store as you can find in New York, LA or any other major art center.

That said, my old feelings of happiness and excitement when I enter Artisan, my confidence that this is a good, welcoming place for an artist to be, have been almost completely erased. For years, Artisan has been … defiled? disfigured? defaced? … with a giant, creepy display of dead, mounted, huge insects in tall glass-fronted cases. Entering Artisan, I have to brace myself every time for the feelings of fear and disgust these big tropical monsters set off in me.

The person who assembled this display has died, and their estate has not decided what to do with it now. Please, in heaven’s name, send it somewhere away from your customers and the art workshops I used to enjoy at Artisan. Why should we, your loyal clients, have to avert our eyes every time from these monstrous displays just to browse the paintbrushes or find a new can of fixative?

IMPORTANT 2025 NOTE: The awful mounted insect displays are gone, gone, gone....