Art Stores
A list of the coolest art shops around.
Kobo
International District - Seattle, WA United StatesReader Suggested: I like this store because it features modern goods with a strong love of nature and design, which is the way of the Japanese aesthetic. With two locations in Seattle, one in Capitol Hill and a larger historic store in the International District (known as the I.D. and aka Chinatown), I like...
König.Taschen
Berlin West - Berlin, GermanyBegun as a humble comic book store, Taschen has become an unrivaled publisher and seller or art and design books. Taschen's lavishly illustrated titles display a blatant disregard for how much the final product will cost and that's what makes them such worthy indulgences. The...
Lost Art Salon
Deco Ghetto - San Francisco, CA United StatesIt's a good bet you might get lost once or twice on your way to Lost Art Salon. But that's somewhat appropriate considering you're going to a gallery that celebrates unheralded artists of the early to mid 20th-century. The living...
Lotus Bleu
Hayes Valley - San Francisco, CA United StatesLotus suggests Asia, Bleu suggests France and in the case of Lotus Bleu both suggestions are accurate. Lotus Bleu brings together art, textiles and home accents from Southeast Asia and France. The interior designer owned shop is a treasure trove...
Made
Dundas West - Toronto, ON CanadaReader Suggested: Great furniture store featuring local design stars, including one-of-a-kind and custom pieces.
Magic Pony
West Queen West - Toronto, ON CanadaThere was a time when being an artist meant canvas and oils, marble and chisels. That was then. Magic Pony is now. The store and gallery is a showcase of young, creative people and the work they do. They create impossibly clever and intricate vinyl toys. They publish poignant stories...
MOCA Store
Downtown - Los Angeles, CA United StatesLA isn't exactly known as a museum town but is known as a shopping town. So it makes sense that the Museum of Contemporary Art's (MOCA) store would be tack sharp. Next to prints and books highlighting the museums collections are an especially savvy collection of design and fashion...
Needles & Pens
The Mission - San Francisco, CA United StatesNeedles & Pens shows us you don't need a book deal to publish, nor a sales rep and a studio to make clothes. This is creativity at a more personal, DIY level. Needles is led by co-owner Breezy Culbertson. Alongside T-shirts and such...
New Museum
Lower East Side - New York, NY United StatesWithout the space of more well-to-do cultural institutions, the New Museum shop aims for maximum impact. The main attraction is naturally the wall of art books and magazines. The cosmopolitan, thought-provoking selection is worth a long,...
Nucleus
Alhambra - Alhambra, CA United StatesReader Suggested: I think it should be added because it has amazing prints and art books as well as bags, t-shirts, and other items promoting independent Asian artists. It is also one of the few art stores in its area.
OkOk
Ballard - Seattle, WA United StatesWalking into OKOK is like discovering a new culture--well, more like a sub-culture. This is the wonderful world of a group of creative, productive independent artists and designers. The gallery space hosts monthly shows featuring artists working in a variety of mediums. The retail space hosts...
Paper Boat Boutique & Gallery
Bayview - Milwaukee, WI United StatesReader Suggested: The Paper Boat brings Milwaukee shoppers the best of independent artists, crafters and designers including sublime stitching, happy owl glass, molly mast, blind hen, polaire, small things designs, dotty speck, flying fish design and much much more. This is the first of its kind in the state of...
ReForm School
Silverlake - Los Angeles, CA United StatesThe cottage that houses ReForm School could easily pass as an old-time school house and it is bland, mundane homes that are the pupils. An almost daunting selection of creative output is on display, the collective work of dozens of promising...
Retropia
Hollywood - Los Angeles, CA United StatesReader Suggested: I believe that our store would make a nice addition to your store guide based on the other stores that you have listed. Retropia offers a wide variety of antique and mid century furniture, lighting, decorative objects and fine art. What sets us apart from most vintage furniture stores is The...
Roq La Rue
Belltown - Seattle, WA United StatesIt has the bright lighting and the white walls, but that's pretty much all Roq La Rue has in common with a typical art gallery. The space focuses on the type of underground art that by and large could not find its way into a gallery previously. Here you'll find everything from...
Rose
Abbot Kinney - Venice, CA United StatesIf you fancy an object at Rose, may we suggest you buy it right there, because chances are you're not going to see it anywhere else. This is one shop that is curated in the truest sense of the word. Owner Mark Rose searches far and wide for...
Rotofugi
Ukrainian Village - Chicago, IL United StatesThe toys at Rotofugi certainly wont propagate body image issues, unless little girls wishing they looked more like red troglodytes becomes a problem. The designer toys gallery collects some of wackiest, weirdest collection of plush and plastic...
Schmancy
Downtown - Seattle, WA United StatesThe cousin of Seattle jewelry and accessories store Fancy, Schmancy carries items that are fancy in their own way. Intricate, clever urban vinyl toys are the star of the show, but there are also peculiar plushes, art books and comics, accessories...
Show Pony
Echo Park - Los Angeles, CA United StatesAn unpretentious hipster closet is how we think of Show Pony. In a walk-in closet of a space are clothing, accessories and artwork from an intrepid group of local artists and designers. Racks overflow with jersey dresses, frilly tops made from...
Soap Plant/Wacko
Los Feliz - Los Angeles, CA United StatesSoap Plant/Wacko is the only kind of art gallery fit for La-La Land. Sure there are a few demure rooms of hardwood-floored, white-walled gallery space. But that is among a huge store of schizophrenic randomness. There are long, sprawling...