About Us

Dear Artist Friends,

Art Xpress is family business. When the late Dorothy Thomas was given the choice of a vacation in Hawaii or opening a craft shop, she followed her heart. She didn't like to fly! So in 1969 she started an arts and crafts business known as The Dutch Door.

Two of her daughters, Wendyth Thomas Wells and Heather Thomas Noe and business partner Randy Hanna own and operate the businesses now known as Art Xpress and City Art which grew out of the arts and crafts store Dorothy started.

In 1989, Art Xpress was founded by Wendyth, Randy and Heather as an effort to reach out beyond South Carolina to serve artists across the country. We mailed printed catalogs for over a decade began an internet business in 1998 offering a great selection of high quality art supplies to artists around the world. Through this new website we seek to provide the best in quality and service. We are offering a vast product line and a terrific web store that we hope you will use again and again. We are again proud to offer Holbein fine artist materials as our featured line. Sign up for our newsletter to receive updates and special offers.

Locally, the retail sector of our business is called City Art, an upscale art gallery and art supply store nestled in the historic warehouse and gallery district of Columbia, South Carolina. Visit our gallery website at www.cityartonline.com to learn more about us and the artists we represent.

Wendyth and Heather are two of four daughters originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Randy is a native of South Carolina. The three have been working together since 1983. All three are artists themselves.

Wendyth is an active painter being a member of excellence in the South Carolina Watercolor Society and a recipient of that organization's Special Recognition Award for her outstanding contributions to the arts in South Carolina. She has exhibited regionally and nationally, won numerous awards and is collected both publicly and privately. She is a past member of the Board of the Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties in South Carolina working with Art in the Home, Art in Business and Sculpture in Public Places groups sponsored by the Council. Wendyth a past member of the advisory board of the University of South Carolina's Art Department.

Heather has a BFA in Studio Art from the University of South Carolina and is a fine artist and terrific designer. She is a member of excellence in the SC Watercolor Society and has exhibited regionally and has been included in private and institutional collections. Heather has 3 children and her son, Zachary Noe, now works in the business in many areas. Zachary graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Media Arts degree. Heather continues to paint and create art in many different mediums. She shows her work at City Art Gallery in Columbia.

Randy has a degree in Theatre and Speech and has worked as a director and lighting designer in South Carolina theatres. He was an active member of the Trustus Theatre Company for many years and was a member of its board of directors. He has been active in local arts and theatre since the early 1980's. Randy paints expressive works in watercolor, acrylics and mixed media.

Each of the partners has extensive knowledge of art supplies and is passionate about art and the art business. We are painters, gallery owners, art collectors and art advocates. Many of our employees are artists or art students as well. Our employees are the best in the business and we are proud of their skills and their work.

Feel free to call us any time. You might catch us in on Saturday, but we're most likely in the gallery or in the retail store. Please leave a message if you don't get somebody on the first try. We'll get back in touch.

Wendyth, Randy & Heather

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