Art Supply Café

Coming soon to Outer Cape Cod!

ASC will be a fully stocked art supply store, providing everything a serious artist needs to work, and everything an aspiring artist needs to begin.

Add comfy seating, warm beverages, helpful & friendly staff, and a calendar of events and offerings. Like your favorite bookstore café, but with art supplies.

See it in your mind? Us too. And we need your input, so read on.

The
Vision

  • A full line of products for artists at all levels

  • Local delivery, including same day delivery

  • Tables and comfortable seating so you can work or socialize before or after shopping

  • Snacks and beverages

  • Sample areas so you can test out products before buying

  • Optional annual memberships that include exclusive discounts, sales, and other goodies

  • A supply swap section, where you can exchange what you aren’t using for what you need

  • Locally sourced whenever possible

  • Eco-concious, minimal packaging/plastics whenever possible

  • Demos, talks, gatherings, workshops, fun events of all sorts

How
to Help

  • Fill out this survey and let us know what your ideal art supply store would look like. This will give us a sense of what products we should carry.

  • Know of a space in Wellfleet, Truro or Eastham that would make a great art supply store? Drop us a line.

  • Scroll all the way to the bottom to sign up for our mailing list, to get updates in your inbox.

Notes & Updates

2.25.25. It’s no small feat to open a business like this on the Cape. Real estate is expensive, winter is slow for retail. Things feel really tenuous on local and national levels, financially and politically. All the more reason to nurture this business that, at its core, is very much about community.

I imagine this as a space where folks will feel welcome, will want to linger, will run into friends and neighbors and have those “water cooler moments” that most artists miss out on, because we often work in isolation. Sometimes you need guidance on which products to buy, sometimes you need to browse the aisles looking for inspiration through the tactile experience of holding paper in your hand, or seeing the intensity of pigment in person.

I want ASC to be a place where we can exchange ideas, commiserate, talk about upcoming projects, support & advise each other, and go home with all the materials we need to keep working, without having to order from off-Cape. ASC feels like a real opportunity to provide the elements for creativity and community. And hopefully some good coffee and pastries too.

I’m going to post progress updates here. I might start sending out a weekly or bi-weekly newsletter too. Here’s where I am in the process of making ASC a reality:

  • I am working with guidance from 2 amazing SCORE mentors, both with different backgrounds that align with different components of the business plan. I’m also getting guidance from Community Development Partnership.

  • I have formally established the business under an LLC and have my EIN so I can begin negotiating with vendors.

  • I created the survey that’s linked above, so I can get a sense of what folks need most, anticipating that my space will be limited.

  • My business plan is nearly complete and ready to submit for funding, as soon as I locate a space for the business.

  • We have done some preliminary research into retail space, this will definitely take some time.

So when will we actually open for business? I am hoping it will be before the end of 2025. That’s the best estimate I can give right now. If we find a space sooner than expected, I am ready to throw all my time and energy at this and be open as soon as is humanly possible. And I’m an Aries, so, you know...

One possibility is that we open with a fully functioning website for ordering, and a delivery van that can also do pop-ups, while we continue to look for a retail space.

In any case, I’ll make announcements here and through my email list.

That’s all for now.

Kelly


About Us

Kelly Knight is a mixed media artist who earned her MFA at MassArt in 2018. She shows her work widely, including at Farm Projects in Wellfleet. She is the Director of the Low Residency MFA program at MassArt, where she is also an an assistant professor. She worked for many years in arts administration and education in Boston area non-profits and community programs.

Kelly grew up spending summers in the mid-Cape towns, and moved to Nantucket year-round in 1994, where she remained for 16 years. Since then she has lived in Dennis, Boston and Providence, and began staying part-time in Wellfleet in the fall of 2024. She loves art supplies and supporting people as they work on their creative projects. You can see her work here.

Andy Payne is an acupuncturist, artist, musician and father of 2 grown sons. He is an essential creative consultant, idea guy, builder, fixer and enthusiastic supporter of the Art Supply Café.

Morty and Violet are old dogs who dream of being shop dogs one day. They look forward to welcoming you at ASC soon.

Art  Supply Café

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