if you source out art class...

[ProudGrandma]

for upper elementary, middle school or early HS....what do you play for art supplies per year?  We have a wonderful lady who teaches art to our kids....she has for several years.  But she goes a little crazy sometimes and wants the kids to use so many different things that it's getting expensive.

 

I don't know what we have spent in the past....because it's a little here...a little there...and I never thought to keep track.

 

So we want to put her on a budget for next year.  I have 3 kids...so even at $50 a kid...that's $150 on just art.  So I am curious what you guys all think.

 

thanks.

[OneStepAtATime]

Definitely talk with her.  If she can give you a list ahead of time, you can look for sales.  For instance, Hobby Lobby sometimes has 80% off sales.  Also, Blick has great sales sometimes (on-line art supply company).  Certainly Target and Wal-Mart sometimes have sales.  We have an art supply cabinet.  As things go on sale, we buy and stock pile until needed.

 

And I absolutely can understand wanting to put her on a budget for your kids but prices can vary widely for materials so it would be hard, I would think, as an instructor, to really know exactly what you would be able to get with the money you are limiting her to.  If she can get you a list, and agree that if certain things are just not available at the price you are willing to pay, then hopefully she is amenable to doing something else, using an alternate type of material or whatever....

[Erica in OR]

My 9th grader is enrolled in 2D art at the local high school. They have a $15 class fee per semester. It's the same fee for other classes that require supplies like that: ceramics, woodworking, photography, automotive, and other art-type classes.

 

Erica in OR

[Plink]

$50 is inexpensive for an entire year's worth of supplies.

To decrease cost I'd ask whether your kids can share supplies for things like acrylics or pastels. Also, after many years of attending you should have a decent stockpile of basic brushes etc. so I'd expect that you'll be able to pick over the list and not always need new materials.

[mamaraby]

I'd second the above. Also, if you have a JoAnn's near by, you can stack their teacher's discount with their other coupons.

[pehp]

My son takes drawing classes. They use prismacolor pencils and a few specific types of drawing pencils plus of course the sketchbook. He's still using everything I bought from last year, so my supply cost this year has been $0.  Last year I estimate that I spent about $50 on everything he needed.  Our art teacher is very good about directing us to exactly what we need, the cheapest place to find it, etc. 

[nukeswife]

My question is, how much is the class?  When we lived in VA my daughter took a class from a local artist and it was $35 a class but included supplies.  It was a 2.5-3 hr class and she went every other week.  I felt it was super cheap.  She only asked to buy our own supplies once but it was because my daughter was doing a huge 4 panel painting (4 canvases that were 10X30")  Now that we live in TN my the class is weekly for 1 hour each time and costs $35 for the month plus supplies.  So far my daughter is working on her drawing and the kit they sell for that cost $22.50 and was a sketch pad  (10x13") and various drawing pencils and erasers.  I've bought supplies for my daughter to do work at home and quality supplies are expensive.  We loved Blick but were lucky enough in VA to have a Jerry's Artarama B&M store and liked them even better.  Here we go to the local art store which is pricier but she likes that the people who work there really know their stuff. 

 

All that to say, I wouldn't bat an eye at $50 for the year per kid on supplies.  That big painting I talked about it cost us $120 just for the supplies for that, she of course has some paint left over, but used about half a tube of each color she bought. 

[MomatHWTK]

I would say that excluding high school courses, art supplies are by far my biggest homeschool expenditure.  DD just spent $15 yesterday on several large tubes of acrylic paint and some canvas. 

[SereneHome]

I pay $20 per class, supplies included.  I wish I could pay less and buy my own supplies as I could probably get them dirt cheap with all kinds of coupons and deals

[The Girls' Mom]

$50 per kid actually sounds pretty good to me!  Art supplies can be kind of expensive for quality items.  I've spent far more than that on supplies just for my 1 semester Drawing class at college.

I would just tell her how much you can reasonably spend, and see if she can work the projects around that.

[Kuovonne]

I totally lucked out with our art teacher.

Most classes focus on drawing, but they have done some painting.

All supplies are included in the class: paper, colored pencils, drawing pencils, paint, canvas, etc.

The class was about $500 for the year for a weekly two hour class.

It works out to about $7.50 per hour or $15 per class.

We got a 40% discount for paying for the entire year upfront.

I expect that the price will go up next year.

My daughter is in 6th grade, but the price is the same for all ages.

[Curlymom]

Arts supplies are expensive. Even with the regular 40% coupon from Hobby Lobby or Michael's it gets pricey for our personal supplies - watercolors, acrylics, watercolor paper, brushes, drawing pencils, canvases. Especially with older children, you'll want them working with decent materials.

 

My son takes a neighborhood art class held in the teacher's home. It is ridiculously cheap, but he really only does simple painting and drawing. The yearly supply fee is $12 and I was honestly surprised that it was that inexpensive. But as I said, they only draw and do simple painting on paper. No canvases or fancy paints or extra supplies.

[Bluegoat]

Art supplies really are expensive.  With classes, we've always had supplies included, and generally speaking I think that is a better plan becauae some supplies you might not be inclined to keep at home otherwise. 

 

I might look into some bulk purchasing that could be shared among students if I was looking to cut costs.

[RootAnn]

DD#2 takes an oil painting class with a local artist. I don't know how much I've spent on supplies, but except for making sure she has enough canvases (DD actually prefers gessoboard), we don't have much in terms of on-going supply costs. It was a huge upfront cost ($150?) to get her the tubes, brushes, and stuff to get started, but very little cost since then. Our teacher actually called up to the store where she buys most of her stuff & got them to put most of the stuff on the list aside for us. Then, DD had an extra list with stuff she could pick out based on our budget (2-3 brands to pick from - whichever was cheaper/on sale when we visited). I don't even know what all the stuff was/is.  [DD#2 did the painting that is my avatar.]

 

I budget about $50/kid for other art supplies per year - including one set of Prismacolor colored pencils per kid. DD#2 ends up costing me a bit more because she goes through sketch books at a fairly brisk pace, but I buy those 3-4 at a time from Amazon when I can get a good deal & just stash them away.

[wallingjan]

Art is hands down our biggest expense. We probably spend thousands for our 3 kids. But the classes are there favorite social activity and they live and breathe art. We cut expenses elsewhere.