The creation of Jack Farley’s Art Supplies was inspired by business founders James Mancini and Michael Heath’s need to source art supplies for their commissioned projects. Having no local art supply store in their town got them thinking. “We’d travel 1-2 hours each month to pick up and purchase our art supplies. We knew as artists that other local artists might have a similar predicament sourcing
their supplies”, says Michael. “We didn’t know why someone else in our town had not ventured into the local independent art supply business, but we were not going to wait around for anyone else to do it”, explains James. Ordering online was an option for them but waiting a few days and paying hefty delivery charges for the large canvases they needed was costly in time and in money. When it came time to come up with a name for the business they wanted that name to represent their commitment to the exploration of art, humanity and community. The name Jack Farley is of their dog, a Terrier-mix who for some time was a regular playful pup at James and Michael’s Palm Springs, California art studio, running in, out and between wet canvases, leaving paw prints in his wake. The story behind the name: James and Michael had their minds set on adopting a dog and wanting to name him Farley. Along came a rescue named Jack and so by combining the names, a star was born. The rest is history in the making. They opened their first Jack Farley’s Art Supplies store in 2012. As of 2015 there were four stores in Southern California. Our goal as an independent art supply retailer is to bring art supplies to under-served communities, provide support to local art organizations and become a community staple that artists can rely upon for all of their art supply needs.
