Jerry’s Artarama: Where Austin Artists Shop
My daughter and I discovered Jerry’s Artarama in Austin a few months ago. My daughter is a studio art major at Texas State University and needs a lot of art supplies for her classes. Many of the items she needs are not things you would routinely find at a national craft store, such as Michael’s or Hobby Lobby.
When her professor gave her a list of local art shops to check out, we went to Jerry’s first. In Austin, it is located at 6010 N IH 35 (take exit 238A). They do have other locations across the United States, including locations in Houston and San Antonio.
The Austin store is a work of art all by itself and fits in perfectly with the “Keep Austin Weird” vibe. When you arrive, the first thing you see is “Lil Jerry” on a revolving sign at the front of the store. We parked at the back of the store, and this is what it looks like. Really fun! And the cake makes me hungry…
This is the end of the same container(?) at the back of the store. This looks a lot like an old train car, but I really don’t know what it is used for. It definitely looks like something that changes over time. This looks like one person painted the face, and then someone else came along and added some changes.
This image was my personal favorite because it reminds me so much of a book that I read to my son when he was small. The book is Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney. I think the artist likely found inspiration in this gem of a book. By the way, if you have young children or grandkids, you NEED this book. My son still has the small board book version, but Amazon also sells a larger board book.
My daughter spent at least an hour and a half exploring the wide selection of art supplies. We found supplies that we had been struggling to find, and she was really happy to know where to look in the future. Several times, people asked us if we needed any help finding anything, but they were not pushy, just friendly.
When we got ready to check out, they signed her up for a discount card and even gave her a free t-shirt. They didn’t have any left in her size, but the one she got is large enough to sleep in or wear over her clothing when she paints. They do have frequent sales and send out notices so that we know about it.
We did notice these prints for sale. Not sure if local artists created these, but it seems likely.
We haven’t personally bought anything from their website yet, but it’s a great place to become familiar with the range of art supplies that they carry. They seem to run a lot of sales and special discounts online.
If you are on the site, don’t forget to check out the Artist’s Showcase section. It’s down near the bottom of the home page in a slide show format. It will show you a text profile of the artist when you move your mouse over it. As the mom of an aspiring young artist, I really love and appreciate that feature.
Jerry’s also supports the local art community with art exhibitions with fun themes. Let’s Taco ‘Bout Art back in 2015 featured 15 local artists who created tacos in drawing, painting, and sculpture. In February 2017 they hosted the David Bowie Tribute Art Show to benefit cancer research. To promote the show, artist Anissa Bryant posted a video on youtube showing how to paint a portrait watercolor of David Bowie.
To find out about more local events, check out their Austin store webpage and blog. It has an events calendar down toward the bottom and some really helpful posts. They sponsor an annual self-portrait contest and are about to announce the winner for 2019.
And now a just-for-fun fact: they once had a brain in a tree that became inhabited by (the world’s smartest, after all they lived in a brain) honey bees. What I’m trying to get across is that you never know what you might find at this store. So go. You won’t be sorry.