Hello! I am an art student and always find what I need in Bennington. Bennington College itself has an awesome bookstore right on campus! One of the doors to it is pictured above (and yes, that is me in the reflection…) It sells a lot of art supplies, from brushes to photo paper to canvas to plates for etching. At the very least they always have absolutely everything that is needed for the current art classes being taught, but the stock goes beyond that as well. In addition to all of this, there are snacks for long VAPA (our art building) work days, Bennington apparel, free coffee if you bring your own mug, books by current professors, and these adorable little tooth erasers (although I was just told that we are sold out of those now because they went on sale yesterday).

Took this photo above to give you a little idea of what the inside looks like! Also just wanted to point out Sean-Patrick, one of the many friendly and awesome students who work in the bookstore; also wanted to make sure you see his cool brain patterned hat.

As far as getting specific supplies beyond what classes might need, the bookstore is always here to help. If they don’t carry Pentel Brush Pens, there is no reason why you couldn’t ask them to order a few for you. Last term, I was working on a photo project that required a specific type of film (120 Fuji film, to be exact) and they order a bulk amount for me and then put the rest in the bookstore for everyone to purchase. They can get things at a lower price because they are a bookstore and then sell them for a bit less, so it takes some of the cost off of you.

On top of our bookstore, there is also Jay’s Art Shop in town, a great art store that even has a directory you could search through to find supplies. It’s pretty huge and has a lot of different things to offer.

-India K, ‘12