Prices are rough (welcome to the art world, yes) but the staff here is always kind. I love their papers and greeting cards, and usually leave with ribbon. Parking can be a bit rough, but its a nice store. Recommended.

Flax is one of the last real art stores in the Bay Area. With a lengthy history on Market Street in SF, I feel lucky that they moved to Oakland to be closer to me. They carry a diverse collection of quality art supplies. Also bonus points for supporting many other local organizations.

Historic local business. They moved to Oakland a few years ago from their spot in SF and Im so glad they did. This space is amazing, the staff is great and their prices are amazing for a small business because of the length of their relationships. Cant recommend enough

Flax is a great place for art supplies! Prices for many items are competitive with online. People are extremely nice. They have parking. Why arent you there?

A workshop on a brand of acrylic paint products brought me to Flax this past Sunday and it marked for me a reintroduction of this retail establishment after a period of away on my part. The presenter was very knowledgeable about the products associated with the paint brand but she also responded skillfully - and with a touch of humor - to questions posed by those attending the workshop. In anticipation of the workshop, of course, the store offered discounts of the product and store employees were on hand to answer questions and offer recommendations on brushes and other related products. In addition to educational experiences like this workshop, Flax hosts other gatherings such as a Kidsfest, a free day dedicated to arts and crafts for kids and their families. For those of us who find joy browsing in the midst of brush pens, sketchbooks, water brushes and other art supplies Flax is an awesome place to roam.

Great place! If you want it, theyve got it. Friendly folk, too. PLUS, you can park in their parking lot! Gorgeous store. Its bright and easy to navigate. Highly recommend.

Great place for art supplies. They have a literal ton of art supplies in stock, and are willing to sell all of it for various amounts of dollars. Imagine that!

Really an amazing place. The first time you go, its almost overwhelming with all the cool things they have. They do have just about anything you would need for craft or art. And if you dont see it ask somebody and they can help you. The staff is very friendly.

I would rate FLAX 6 stars if possibe.Is a fantastic store.Wonderful assortment of many delightful items. I will be returning soon most definitely and for years to come.Jane is fabulous. More than a stellar associate. A true store and pen counter ambassador.I have nothing but superlatives to describe her and the establishment.

This is our only art supply store. We have been going to them for our 20 years (when they were in SF). Now that we are parents of a 14 and 12 yr old boys, we have passed it to a new generation.

Never a better place to get all your art supply - Support Your Local Businesses - these guys are great

FLAX art and design is my go to place for anything! You cant beat the sales especially when they go low at 75-90%!!!! All of my home decor is from here and I always get so many compliments.

They were super kind and helpful. I was able to find everything I needed.

Super cute local art store. Independently run so your supporting local businesses. This place is BIG for an independent shop.I went in because its one of the only fountain pen desks left in the bay area. If youre looking for fountain pens and want to talk to someone knowledgeable, call ahead and find out if Jane is working. Jane was so nice and knowledgeable. Not only that but they really know their stuff and it shows in the amount of information they are willing to share as well as the meticulous detail they have obviously been putting in to their counter.Aside for Jane and her amazing pens, this shop has a large selection to chose from traditional art supplies to hobbies as well as framing supplies. They also have a wonderful notebook and stationary section with every type of notebook you could want including blank, lined, grid, and dot. They also frequently have a test notebook out so that you can test your favorite pens on the paper so you know you wont be disappointed. This is a huge plus for those who bullet journal, sketch, use fountain pens, or paint with watercolor and want to test the paper. Highly recommend this place!

How did I not know of this place?! This knocks other shops (Blick, etc) out of the park. It is well organized, bright and airy, and has everything an artist could need. I particularly loved drooling over their nice selection of fountain pens, which are hard to find in brick and mortar shops. I cant wait to return!

Another great art store to get supplies and everything else you need for all different types and people of all ages. In store shopping available GREAT DEALS on paint brushes and staff is very helpful. Highly recommended

Really cool space. You could find a lot of what you’d like here, but I personally couldn’t find quite what I wanted to unfortunately. I was looking for oblique pen holders that weren’t Speedball. Kind, helpful staff though.

Everything an artist can dream of. Folks are nice, helpful and patient with questions. The mural, in the parking lot, by Natty Rebel, represents Oakland. Easy to order online and quick store pick up.

This art supply store has everything for artists, from children just starting out learning to those who have been in the game for decades. Their supplies are quality products. This store has your creativity covered, if Flax doesnt have what you need I bet they could get it! Staff is very friendly and helpful. I highly recommend them.

Great selection. Free parking. Well presented. Good layout. Helpful staff

Best Art Store in the Bay Area, Hands Down.Sadly they had to move from San Francisco where their store was a haven Art Lovers.This new location in Oakland is a fraction of the the previous store but still carries an extraordinary selection of products and services that will take you many hours to go through.You would be not disappointed!

The salespeople are always courteous and knowledgeable,and helpful when needed. I always enjoy shopping at Flax. Thank you

Well to tell you the truth, I love art and I am an artist in an unartistic kinda way. Ive been an artist delivering blank canvasses to artists who need blank canvasses in a metaphorical kinda way for awhile now. I feel like Im visiting the Valley Life Sciences building on the U.C. Berkeley campus when I buy from FLAX. Everyone who works hard here is awesome. Thanks! You!

This! Place! There are so many art supplies for so many ages, you really can’t go wrong. You could just walk in the store not looking for something and be inspired to be artistic. It is very well organized and very clean. Bathrooms are on-site if needed. They also have parking which is a bonus for being downtown! They host a children’s art festival every year which is the highlight for my three-year-old daughter. This is such a special place in Oakland.

So kind and helpful. It was my first visit and it wont be my last

I always get inspired when I go there!The staff has been awesome, the prices are fair and the sales are even better.I encourage my out-of-town friends to make time to swing by when they visit: they dont have THIS in your town I tell them

Really great art store in Oakland. I don’t live nearby but happened to be in the area for work, and wanted to look at some papers for bookend sheets. They’ve got parking in the back, but I didn’t realize this until I had already parked on the street out front. Luckily I had found a meter that was already paid for!Very bright and large art store that looks to have anything you would need for an art project! I was greeted by an employee as soon as I walked in the door and pointed in the direction of what I was looking for.Like I mentioned, I needed high quality papers for possible bookend sheets, and boy did they have a selection! Attached are some pictures I took. I didn’t buy any because I was just scoping, but I’ll certainly be back when I decide on a color scheme.

Great Art Supply store. Customer Service is out standing. Friendly staff, cool, relaxed shopping experience. Great prices, and good sales. Spend your money there. Its a must have and needed stay for Oakland, Ca. Excellent location: Parking & Bike racks. 2 Thumbs Up for me.

The staff are super helpful

My go to art shop in downtown Oakland! Source of inspiration!

This store is real cool. Art stuff on top of art stuff ! Get you some It’s a whole warehouse of it.

Best Art Store hands down. Friendly staff and a great selection, plus awesome art on the building!

Great selection of paper, inks and don’t forget to check the clearance section!

They gave all the paper you could dream up and all the cool like art supplies here at one store

One of my favorite art supply stores here in the Bay Area. I come here when I’m looking for more watercolor paints as well as paper and brushes. They also carry a wide selection of other supplies and I love browsing their beautiful papers they have of different designs and motifs.

Dont miss the parking lot on 15th! Very friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable staff--ive talked to multiple people at different times and am always a little happier after. This store is well stocked, and has very fair prices. It seems quite multidisciplinary, too, so if you do something niche theres a fair chance theyll have something for you. Yeah, I love this store.

Great place to look at supplies and if your budget allows you to pay full retail for nearly everything I imagine it is a nice place to purchase supplies. Im personally not that into paying full retail and even more sometimes, so I stay away. Staff is not very friendly if they have sized you up as someone theyd rather not bother with, and I cant blame them for that.

The legendary art supply business has a location in downtown Oakland.Visit it if you are artsy or not so artsy.The staff is very helpful.I didnt purchase anything there so I cant really say if the prices are competitive.But Oaklands our community deserves to have as many outlets at which to purchase supplies so lets keep this one in business.

I definitely miss the SF FLAX but your Oakland location is fantastic. great space, superb in stock selection, and an extremely knowledgeable and helpful staff. super special shout-out to Jane in the pens section who spent a ridiculous amount of time with me teaching me about fountain pens without making me feel like the n00b I am (gift for a friend, Im a fountain pen virgin)

Good selection of art supplies and locally made goods. Nice customer service.

You can only reach the parking lot from 15th and Castro; one-way streets everywhere.Excellent selection of supplies for artwork in many styles; good selection of instructional books.

Staff is always happy to help, and the store has a great variety of supplies. I got some Tombow Fudenosuke brush pens there but they dont carry the Tombow mono erasers I was looking for - many comparable brands though! One thing about the store is that its not the best neighborhood but its accessible from downtown Oakland.

Man if u need anything artsy this is the place is little prissy but worth every penny an wow the staff they know there stuff thanks u guys

I really enjoyed this art store! Easy to navigate, thorough and just a nice place to be in. Found exactly what I needed and was out in less than 15 minutes!

This place was great! They had a wonderful selection of colored pens and their prices were very reasonable.

Great store. Found just what I needed. So glad they are in Oakland.

Great art spot and go-to place for supplies.// Navigating ParkingFor GPS, navigate towards the 15th and Castro intersection instead of default Maps location. 15th is a one way street and leads you to the Flax private parking lot and main store entrance in the back. Unless you find street parking, navigating to the default Martin Luther King location in Maps is not a great choice.

Wide open and high ceiling gives great sense of choices and the orderliness helps you want to improve your studio space! Parking is available and its a good place to just go get ideas due to rich stock.

This is what art supply stores used to be like.Tons of selection and staffed by friendly people. I always walk out with more than I intended.The prices are good too. I was charged $25 for a beginners pottery toolkit through my class In Walnut Creek. Flax has a similar kit with better quality tools for $10.Just purchased my first fountain pen at Flax. The staff member, Jane, was delightful. She explained everything, walked me through the inks and gave me great advice on the care of my new pen. This is why you go to actual stores. The people make it worth the effort.

You want art supplies they got the goods. Plus the staff are artist with an awesome amount of knowledge. Take the time and chat with one of their awesome peoples!

Great service,friendly staff

Great ambiance, with good selection of tools and paper.Lots of professional grade products in a variety of mediums

Terrible unhelpful staff. 6+ employees standing around doing nothing and 0 customers. Poor product selection (might be why). A waste of a huge beautiful space.

One of the most comprehensive art, craft and hobby supply stores you can go to. Came here looking for artist calipers s, but they only had the kind for potters. Nevertheless they have an amazing assortment of quality loose leaf papers and paint/drawing surfaces. The building itself is also quite nice and features some unique art, and has a rare amount of parking space available in the back, which is nice for east bay since parking anywhere here is usually a pain in the neck (even with our handy placard.)

This place is beautiful, open, bright and feels fun! I enjoyed shopping there - really friendly associates, large selection, easy to navigate, interesting items - and my daughter said she wished it could attach to our house. :)

This place has everything you need if you are a hobbyist/art for fun. Which is a lot better than almost every other physical storefront. If you are into fun project ideas, there are a ton just waiting to be found inside FLAX. Just be prepared to browse, the setup is quite random. Watercolors are by the entrance, paper is in the middle, brushes are someplace else, and so on. A fun trip any time, I even brought my two boys (2-4years old) and had a great time.

Good prices good selection

Love this store. Loved it when it was in SF, love it even more because I don’t have to fight traffic and parking to get to it (when it was in SF).There’s a $1 sale going on right now (according to them, until the stock is gone) of great paper that can be used for wrapping, crafts, whatever.

I came here to purchase a fountain pen and have come back to purchase two more over the past month. Most employees here are extremely knowledgeable in their area of expertise and if they arent they usually can find someone who will. The store is quite massive and has a huge, well organized selection with items ranging from premium fountain and other ink pens as well as high quality pencils, to every day supplies like journals, notebooks, and other writing material. Art supplies range from a large selection of paint and different paint varieties, brushes, and canvas/water color books as well as wooden boxes for decoration and other crafting supplies (think glue, wood, tools, fabric, leather, etc).There are even art, craft, and other classes that take place and are held here.As for its location it is quite easy to find, far from other shops and outlets and not positioned particularly ideally for public transit.All this taken into consideration I really enjoy the trips I take to Flax no matter the reason for my visit. I always leave happy and satisfied and always spend more than I intend to - impulse purchases are hard to avoid in a store like this! There will be something for yourself and most likely something for a family member, loved one, or friend.

Flax employee s were helpful. They actually ask if they can help you find something,! One hardly see that in a store anymore. I liked shopping at Flax and would recommend it to other artists

OMG!! Thanks for everything..The customer service was excellent and allowed me have an amazing evening.

HUGE assortment of arts and crafts supply, and the customer service was good as well. Also love their decorations.

Very good place and it has a lot of supplies

Still best place for professional art supplies and knowledgeable advice on on material.

This art store is a hidden gem. Tucked between downtown Oakland and the 880 freeway, this store boasts art items for novices and fine art enthusiasts alike. The pen section is particularly impressive, stocking a wide range of fountain, rollerball and dip pens. The staff, across the board, is knowledgeable and eager to assist customers. Thanks for the opportunity to share my feedback.

Great place for art supplies. The staff was helpful. I was impressed with the selection.

They have all the art and art adjacent supplies that you need

Such a great selection, very tidy store and friendly staff! Couldnt recommend it more!

We love FLAX and the new location is great. Its a bit smaller but the staff is amazing. They went above and beyond helping me with projects and getting me in touch with a local ink jet printer on a Sunday at 5 pm. Couldnt ask for more!

Ausm place! Lots of tools and materials for ART! They have the spray paint and. marker pens dat I like too! I also bought a backpack made especially to hold cans and keep em quiet. Thank yall so much!!!#MontanaBlack#MTN94#SKUTR#uniPosca

Very helpful employees,... very friendly and knowledgeable. I was pleasantly surprised when I did price comparisons with that big online retailer in Seattle that FLAX had lower prices on everything that I looked up on todays visit. They have a parking lot behind the building. The entrance is on 15th Street.

This place has a great selection of art and craft supplies, including a good-sized kids section. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. I love that its locally owned. Prices seem reasonable, but I dont shop for art supplies often so Im not sure. Its in a somewhat out-of-the-way location in downtown Oakland, but they have a parking lot. I recommend making the switch from the chain art store to Flax.

This store is so big it can get overwhelming! I still love it. Any kind of art supply you need, they have. And even if youre not doing a heavy duty project or even if youre not a capital A Artist, there is plenty for you here as well.I came just to browse and ended up buying a whole bunch of markers to use in my adult coloring book (I know, I know). They also have a pretty wide selection of those! I got to test all of the markets and colored pencils before I bought them to make sure they were the shade and depth I wanted. Always appreciate such things.They also have super high end markers for Artists. Fancy!Their selection of journals and sketchbooks is so very vast. Im pretty picky about my journals, yet I still found two different ones that I liked out of the dozens available.This isnt even mentioning the paper room and the adhesives section and on and on. Trust m, this place has everything. And the employees are friendly and helpful. And I just love it here.

Good quality collection if supplies. Love the staff here friendly and have expertise in subject matter.

I love Flax! Everyone is kind and helpful and I always find things I never knew I wanted. A great place for gifts, too! I love their paper selection. Best art store in the Bay.

Get creative! And find where Flax has moved to

Great Family owned Art supply company. Most of the sales people are Artists themselves. I think next year will be their 80 th year anniversary. We need to keep private family owned companies like this alive and kept from large corporate takeovers.

My favorite art store and the only place I feel happy about paying more than online. Howard is a really genuine business owner who gives back to the community and the people who work at this store care about your experience. Its bright and open and has everything you need for arts and crafts.

This is what started my love of art and my love of being myself.

As an artist, Im always seeking out a good art store anywhere I go. I was thrilled when FLAX moved to the east bay because its such a centralized location! Only a 5 min walk from BART and you arrive to a wonderland of art supplies but most importantly to some real expertise. These people are fellow ARTISTS, they KNOW whats up. The staff is always engaging, friendly and art knowledgeable. Calvin is one of my favorite dudes to talk to whenever Im there. Pick his brain about paints and you might end up talking about experiments in paper, acrylic, mediums and etc. Their prices are fair and the selection is great and it feels good to support the local economy. Its sad that they lost their space in SF....but its a definite WIN for Oakland. ♡♡♡

The space is really nice. A lot of art stores are poorly lit and cramped, something Id never really thought about until I came here. It has really high ceilings and natural light, it gives a feeling like creative energy can really expand and explore.I was looking at paper and cardstock and was on a tight schedule when I visited, so I couldnt explore much but there seemed to be a good variety of products. I was a little frustrated by the organization of the paper; lots of things were in the wrong place, mislabeled, or just kind of confusing. I didnt find what I really wanted, but I did find something that worked and I would definitely go back, especially if I had more time to explore. I dont know why I ever think its a good idea to go to an art supplies store with less than an hour to spend there.

Great place to stock up on journaling supplies, imaginative toys for kids and all manner of art supplies.

My favorite place to go when retail therapy is in order. High-quality art supplies and a knowledgeable staff of practicing artists, not bent on up-selling you. A bit pricey, but show me an art supply store with this quality of supplies that isnt!

The coolest art store Ive ever been to. My 16 year old daughter was in heaven

I really like this store. Its huge, has tons of supplies. The staff is very friendly and helpful. We bring our two year old and he loves running around and playing with all the great supplies. They have printing, painting, spray paints, pencils, paper, and so much... really a great art store in downtown oakland.

Great selection of enamel paint and abundance supplies of paper. Really nice selection of writing journals.

For the paper-lover, you can get lost here, but not break the bank

Everyone here is so nice. Staff go above and beyond when helping you. Love the fountain pens and great selection of bottled inks. Love to just walk around and see what my next project will be. A fun store if youre artsy/crafty or if you like writing implements.

Best Art and design store, I find pretty much all of the things I need for painting here, they also have really nice art projects for kids

The store was nice and well organized. They seem to make sure they had everything in stock and the person that assist me was very helpful and nice. Overall it was quite great service.

A literal huge warehouse of art supplies for everything from scrapbooking to sketching. Painting supplies for every level and style of painter. Reasonable prices and great employees (like Calvin!) make Flax the go to place for all your creative needs.

Amazing service and very helpful

Awesome art store with huge selection of papers, drawing, painting and crafting stuff. So glad they ended up moving to Oakland!

Love the place. Hidden treasures

Love this store. The staff is so helpful. And my gosh...all those gorgeous papers!

Not sure about the racial profiling experience of the other reviewer. Of course, I cant know what he experienced. And of course, racial profiling happens all the time. All I can say is that when I (a white woman) went to Flax recently, I was approached by at LEAST half a dozen employees to see if I needed any help. It seemed as though at every turn, someone was there to see if I needed anything. It was almost comical. Its a great place with really good prices.

Best art supplies in the bay area.

A great place to work!

Great selection, beautiful space inside, staff who go the extra mile

Beautiful minimalist graffiiti on one side and a huge graffiti tREX on the other. Decent photoshoot location.