Written by Paul Worrall
Sunderland is a city that tends to be defined by what it lost — the shipyards, the coal mines, the industrial base that made it one of the most productive places in the world at its Victorian peak — rather than what it’s building now. Which undersells it. The National Glass Centre alone would make Sunderland worth visiting for any artist interested in material culture and craft at the highest level. The creative arts scene described in the Sunderland Echo in late 2025 as “buzzing” — with artists transforming empty city centre shops into gallery spaces, collective after collective activating spaces that industrial decline left behind — tells a more interesting story than the headlines usually allow. I’ve never been to Sunderland myself — another city on a list that keeps growing — but researching this guide made me want to change that.
I run Discount Art Supplies — a price comparison platform used by over 36,000 UK artists every week — and I’ve spent sixteen years in the UK art supplies industry. Here’s the honest picture of what Sunderland offers artists right now. If you’re planning visits to nearby cities, also check out our guide to the best art supply shops in Newcastle and the best art supply shops in Middlesbrough.
1. National Glass Centre — St Peter’s
Not an art supplies shop — but genuinly one of the most distinctive creative institutions in any of these guides and impossible to leave out of any honest account of art in Sunderland. The National Glass Centre at St Peter’s on the Wearside riverside opened in 1998 and combines a working glass studio, an exhibition space showing international contemporary glass art, and a programme of hot glass demonstrations and workshops open to the public. The building itself is worth the visit — a striking contemporary structure overlooking the river that manages to feel both industrial and elegant simultaneously.
Sunderland has a six hundred year history of glass making, and the National Glass Centre sits at the end of that tradition while also pointing it forward — the studio produces genuinly extraordinary work, the exhibitions bring international glass art to the North East that you’d otherwise have to travel to London to see, and the workshops offer hands-on experience with a medium that most artists never get the chance to work with seriously. Free entry to the gallery. Open daily.
Visit the National Glass Centre online →
2. Gray’s Gallery & Framing — Fulwell
Gray’s Gallery & Framing on Sea Road in Fulwell is a family business selling prints and original artwork from artists across the North East of England, alongside a wide choice of wood frames and mounts and a scanning and printing service for artists wanting to reproduce their work as high quality giclée prints. The combination of original art, framing and print reproduction under one roof makes it a genuinly useful destination for both artists and buyers — a local framer and print studio with a gallery attached rather than a pure retail operation. Reviews specifically praise Mark’s helpfulness and design eye when it comes to mounting and framing work.
Visit Gray’s Gallery & Framing online →
3. Hobbycraft Sunderland
The honest version of Hobbycraft, consistent with every guide: not specialist, not deep in professional-grade range, but genuinly reliable for everyday art and craft consumables — canvases, basic paints, sketchbooks, seasonal kits and kids’ craft supplies at fair prices. Check our Hobbycraft discount code guide before visiting.
4. The Works — Sunderland
The honest version of The Works, consistent with every guide: starter sets, sketchpads, pencils and craft kits at prices that make experimenting genuinly risk-free. In-person only since The Works stopped selling online nationally in March. For parents, teachers and complete beginners it earns its place.
A Note on Art Supplies in Sunderland
Sunderland’s art supplies scene is compact but more interesting than first appearances suggest. Gray’s Gallery adds a local North East art and print dimension, and the National Glass Centre is a genuinly world-class creative institution that most UK artists outside the North East don’t know exists. The city’s creative community is evidently active — the 2025 Sunderland Echo coverage of artists activating empty city centre spaces as galleries suggests a scene doing something real rather than just aspiring to. For professional-grade materials and the best current UK prices, Discount Art Supplies compares prices in real time across all major UK art retailers.
