Catskill Art & Office Supply

Very helpful folks who know their business.

I wasn’t an art major or student of any sort, but I occasionally had a project I needed fancy things for, or just a craving for fancy art and office supplies that I had to satisfy. Catskill Art & Office Supply was the perfect place for both of these things. I especially enjoyed the specialty papers/​stationary/​envelopes section they had. It was rather comprehensive and more than fulfilled my letter-​writing needs (because yes, I do still send paper-​and-​pen, sent-​through-​the-​United-​States-​Postal-​Service letters to an honest-​to-​god pen pal!). Once, I liked a paper so much (it was called «Fiesta» but was by a company whose name I can no longer remember), they ordered and extra ream for me and called me when it arrived. Super cool!
But as much as I loved CAOS, I’m docking ‘em a star for having a somewhat limited selection otherwise and for being a little too pricey (but the 10% student discount helped!)

I just paid a visit to the new chain store that opened on Rt. 9, and all I could think was that despite the chain store’s hideously large floor space, there was nothing there that I couldn’t get at Catskill. And that’s mainly because I like to buy high-​quality art supplies for my projects, and whenever I’ve wanted paints, glue, or paper for my projects, I’ve found it at Catskill. And bonus: the staff is friendly, helpful, and the money I spend there stays in the area. Also, they’re open on Sundays. Hooray!

As a studio art major, I have a love-​hate relationship with Catskill Art & Office Supply — but its not their fault! All my friends groaned at how much their textbooks cost and enviously eyed my sparse bookshelf, and yet they had no idea just how much I was spending on my art supplies. And you can’t sell back art supplies!
In a way, Catskill is a godsend for the Poughkeepsie area college student — but then again, its the only art supply place I know of around here! They are medium-​sized with a fairly extensive array of supplies for all your drawing/​painting/​printmaking/​arts and crafts needs, including a framing studio and copy center. There isn’t too much variety though in terms of brands for each media, so you don’t have too much choice when it comes down to price.
However, the staff has always been friendly and helpful whenever I have to go get more supplies (considering how much they get out of me, they should be nice!). The layout is pretty good, everything is arranged together and marked off with signs, but the aisles are angled kind of weirdly so navigating with your huge pad of paper can be tricky. And it is nice that for Vassar students at least its within walking distance of campus AND they offer a student discount on supplies, which eases the pain slightly when you see the total amount that you owe.

This is one of those places, that makes being in a college town pretty awesome. My housemate and I spent many an hours getting supplies for whatever we were working on, at Catskill. Be they class related (the year I thought taking beginning drawing would be a great way to relieve the thesis stress… HA), personal projects (when I decided to reupholster the couch), or extracurricularly related (when we had a play or event to work on).
The people who own/​run this store are amazing with students, and if you are a regular like we were, they are even nicer. I love this place, small (in business manner) independently run, fabulous.