UK’s Cass Art opens retail store in Doha Fire Station

UK’s leading independent art supplies retailer, Cass Art, has opened one of their famous retail stores in the Doha Fire Station, home to Qatar Museums’ (QM) Artist in Residence programme.

Cass Art sells top quality art supplies from the world’s leading brands like Winsor & Newton, Faber-Castell and Daler Rowney. From oil paint to watercolor, acrylic paint, pens, pencils and sketchbooks, they stock a full range of artist supplies that are suitable for all ages. As with all Cass Art stores, the interior was designed by leading design agency Pentagram.

The Fire Station: Artist in Residence programme, which started in September 2015, sits at the heart of Doha’s thriving art community. The residency programme is open to locals and residents of Qatar, and runs in nine-month cycles.

Artists across all disciplines receive production support, mentorships and curatorial advice, enabling them to develop their artistic talent. Accomplishments are celebrated in an end of residency exhibition held at the Garage Gallery in the Fire Station, which showcases selected works from each of the artists.

Philip Lawrie, Chief Commercial Officer at Qatar Museums, said: “At QM, we are committed to our promise of inspiring an indigenous culture of creativity and innovation, as well as nurturing young artists. This includes providing artists and the general public in Qatar with world-class art supplies that will support their creative inspirations, which is also part of our longstanding commitment to enrich the lives of all those who live in and visit Qatar. We hope that this initiative helps to support a vibrant local art scene and gives young and emerging artists the necessary supplies to experiment, create, grow and flourish.”

“When we were approached by Qatar Museums about opening a Cass Art at the Fire Station, we were deeply impressed by their vision to develop art and artists in their local community and beyond,” said Mark Cass, CEO and Founder of Cass Art. “Our ethos has always been to encourage creativity at every level, wherever it may be, and to inspire people to discover the power of art. We look forward to helping local talent grow.”