Sometimes people ask me who buys my art supplies for me, and I laugh. Part of being an art teacher involves budgeting, sourcing, and buying materials for an art program.

This can be a fair bit of work. I have noticed that the usual sources of art supplies profit a lot from the daunting scale of the task. This is true both for retail and bulk educational sources.

Artmaking can range from incredibly cheap (pencils and paper) to incredibly expensive. I teach in a public school, so I have a responsibility to use public funds to strike the best balance between the cost and effectiveness of the materials I buy for my students. I track prices from many sources to make sure my students have the best learning experience they can have. Sometimes this means making my own materials (like our light tables, or watercolour paint) or sourcing supplies from China. Often I can also use a institutional discount from Deserres to get a dicount better than elsewhere.

You might notice that Micheals does not show up on this list. I can use my institutional discount or find sources in China to get a better deal than I can get at Michaels, even with the 50% off coupons. As well, I should caution that Michaels' Artists Loft brand is often such poor quality as to frustrate real learning.

Here is a list of the typical materials I buy, including local alternates.