Two years ago Mercer student Pepper Smith decided to switch her major to photography. She thought that she would be able to avoid having to take other fine arts classes that to her didn’t have anything to do with her major.
Smith said, “Lo and behold I saw basic drawing and 2 dimensional design on my requirement sheet. But then I saw the supplies list and I was like oh my god this is…this is kind of a nightmare.”
As a part time worker she says that she could only barely afford the cost of the materials and that even after “cutting corners” she was paying 100 dollars per class for arts supplies.
“It’s a bit of a shock when you actually end up in like Michaels or Jerry’s and look at how much you have to pay for these things. Just like damn, that’s half my paycheck gone,” Smith said.
For students struggling to afford those costs, the Arts Supply Pantry offers an alternative.
In the first week of September, the Arts Supply Pantry made its first disbursement of materials for Mercer students. The Visual Arts Supply Pantry is a project originally thought of by Dean of Arts and Communication Lucas Kelly which aims to provide mercer students taking art classes with art supplies who otherwise cannot afford them.
Kelly says it has been made possible through ‘The buy-in from the faculty’ and funding from donors negotiated by the Director of Development and Alumni Relations, Tatiana Dodge.
The pantry becomes a useful resource as art students face broader financial pressures.
In the Art Basel and UBS 2026 Art Market Report by Arts economic they say, “policy unpredictability associated with the Trump administration in 2025 – particularly in relation to tariffs – was a significant concern for the art trade in the US and globally.”
To initially endow the pantry, the coordinator of Fine Arts, Michael Welliver, along with Dodge used approximately 20 year old funds of 10000 dollars leftover from a fundraising event allocated to replace dilapidated kilns.
Michael Welliver said, “When is the next time we’re going to need new kilns? In the meantime we have a real need to serve our art students. For now it’s the right thing to do.”
For some faculty members, helping students afford supplies is not a new practice.
Fine arts professor Kyle Stevenson said, “I’ve often lent students supplies out of my own stash if I feel like a student needs it, granted the idea they provide it back later. With the pantry that won’t be the case.”
For students, the cost of expensive materials can add another financial burden to their already expensive courses.
Julia Colonna, a 3rd year photography major, was surprised that she had to pay for supplies on top of paying for the course. She says “The fact that this school is developing an art pantry to make these supplies accessible for people that it is a larger financial burden, I think that that’s amazing.”
The Arts Supply pantry is made accessible through an online anonymous submission form which many professors are now adding the link to in their syllabi.
Dean Kelly stressed the importance of discretion in the process saying, “when you ask there is going to be that feeling that you’re not able to provide for yourself. That’s not their job. Their job is to be a student.”
