Adam Dumper, manager of Wet Paint Art Supply, stands behind the counter he has operated for 11 years. The local art supply store will close Nov. 22. (Photo by Jenn Allen)Local artists and students will have to find another art supply store after Wet Paint Artist Supply shuts its doors next month.
The family-owned store, located on University Drive and Ash Avenue, was supposed to close in June and be reopened as a new art store under different leadership.
When the buyers backed out at the last minute, owner Jessica Jordan kept the store open for the remainder of Wet Paint’s lease period, which ends Nov. 30.
Wet Paint opened in August 2001. As the business’s lease drew to an end, Jordan said her family had to sit down and decide whether they wanted to renew the lease and keep the store going for another five years.
“It came to being no,” she said. “We need to move on and do something different.”
All Wet Paint merchandise is on sale for 20 to 60 percent off until the store officially closes Nov. 22.
She said she was confident the store would get rid of almost everything left before it closes.
Jordan added she did not plan on owning an art store for her whole life.
She said she is attending community college now for horticulture, but eventually plans to move to the Polytechnic campus to study sustainable ways to grow crops in the desert.
Artist Adam Dumper works at Wet Paint and sells his own paintings.
He said the store was originally located on Forest Avenue and 7th Street but moved to its current location three years ago because it had cheaper rent.
“We really took a hit when Utrecht Art Supplies moved in closer to campus,” Dumper said.
Utrecht, located on Rural Road and University Drive, is a corporate art store.
Utrecht buys and sells its products in bulk, whereas Wet Paint used to make an effort to sell local products made in the U.S.
He said the University works with Utrecht, and art students tend to buy their materials in bulk there.
Dumper plans to continue painting but said he is sad to see the business leave.
“It’s bumming me out,” he said.
Sculpture senior Chet Lawton said he shopped almost daily for art supplies at Wet Paint for six years. He started working there three years ago.
Lawton said it is a shame they have to close.
“It was a hub for creativity,” he said.
Lawton said people came to Wet Paint from all over Arizona because of what it sold.
He said Wet Paint was a more focused art supply store because it sold products the employees used personally.
“We know what works and what works well,” Lawton said.
Reach the reporter at hblawren@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @hannah_lawr
