Adventures in Art Supplies & Framing
Meet our founder
Bob Brisack
Bob Brisack started out as a delivery boy at J.K. Gill downtown Portland in 1947 and had moved his way up to assistant manager by the time he left seven years later. The more he learned about business, the more he wanted to go out on his own. He started Art Supply Center in 1955, which would eventually evolve into being combined with his later business, I've Been Framed. For many years he had one business adventure after another, with various business partners and an amazing array of business, mostly all art related. The art store remained present through it all and he bought out his partner and struck out alone by the early 1970's. He still had his hands in quite a few businesses, but his primary store remained solid.
We have grown from a tiny room to multiple stores, and have always uniquely offered services like buying used supplies, large wholesale lots of damaged salvage goods, and otherwise helping artists, distributors, and manufacturers move the items they no longer need. Bob's love of a good deal and fearless wheeling & dealing have brought us semi-trucks of assorted art supplies over the years. We are the only unique store out there buying in this manner and we have Bob to thank for his unique love of wheeling & dealing. People and companies from all over contact us to move product, many of them just know of Bob or have heard of us.
Bob sold the business to his son Mark in 2003 and still worked 20 hours a week for several years. The whole time pretending to be a stock boy and complain about the boss, haha. Bob passed away in 2018 after living a life full of creative business adventures. He blazed his own trail the art supply industry and left behind an immense legacy in the art store and frame shop that we all love. He built a business that maintains the core values that he built it on. "People over profit" was cool here long before it was a buzzword. Employees and customers alike have all been changed by knowing Bob. I hope to write a book about Bob someday there are so many fun and inspiring stories to be told about him.
We continue to serve artists of all ages & professions, schools, teachers, and even other businesses by buying large and saving money. We now have two locations and have offered a full custom frame shop along with the art supplies since 1996. We have knowledgeable staff who love to help others and love art.
Bob's personal business adventures could be a novel, and I hope to someday expand this article to include a much more accurate history of this family owned store we all love. A customer of ours interviewed him awhile back and published an article online from the interview. It is a wonderful write up of his story Read the interview with Bob here
Thank you Bob! For living a life that is inspiring and worth imitating. That is such a rare treasure to find these days.
We have grown from a tiny room to multiple stores, and have always uniquely offered services like buying used supplies, large wholesale lots of damaged salvage goods, and otherwise helping artists, distributors, and manufacturers move the items they no longer need. Bob's love of a good deal and fearless wheeling & dealing have brought us semi-trucks of assorted art supplies over the years. We are the only unique store out there buying in this manner and we have Bob to thank for his unique love of wheeling & dealing. People and companies from all over contact us to move product, many of them just know of Bob or have heard of us.
Bob sold the business to his son Mark in 2003 and still worked 20 hours a week for several years. The whole time pretending to be a stock boy and complain about the boss, haha. Bob passed away in 2018 after living a life full of creative business adventures. He blazed his own trail the art supply industry and left behind an immense legacy in the art store and frame shop that we all love. He built a business that maintains the core values that he built it on. "People over profit" was cool here long before it was a buzzword. Employees and customers alike have all been changed by knowing Bob. I hope to write a book about Bob someday there are so many fun and inspiring stories to be told about him.
We continue to serve artists of all ages & professions, schools, teachers, and even other businesses by buying large and saving money. We now have two locations and have offered a full custom frame shop along with the art supplies since 1996. We have knowledgeable staff who love to help others and love art.
Bob's personal business adventures could be a novel, and I hope to someday expand this article to include a much more accurate history of this family owned store we all love. A customer of ours interviewed him awhile back and published an article online from the interview. It is a wonderful write up of his story Read the interview with Bob here
Thank you Bob! For living a life that is inspiring and worth imitating. That is such a rare treasure to find these days.
Meet his Son, Mark Brisack
Mark bought the business from his dad in 2003 and grew to love the art business just like his dad. Growing up with Bob as his dad he always had a bit of the art supply world around him. Whether it was a garage full of stretcher bars, or a basement full of illustration board he couldn't escape art supplies if he tried. Mark enjoyed running the business and is thankful for the company his father built that he got the joy to own for many years. Mark retired in June 2020 after many fun adventures over the years. The plan to retire was in the works for a few years but in the early fall of 2019 he finalized agreements on selling the shops. The Covid-19 pandemic that struck in early 2020 did add an extra flair to his final months as owner that he was not expecting. He was more than relieved it was his time to retire, haha. He honored the wishes of his late father in selling the business to the manager of 26+ years. Prairie had ran the company for both father and son for so many years that she became part of the family. Mark knows it is in good hands with her and he looks forward to seeing Prairie further the business in his dad's honor.
Mark is looking forward to more time riding his bicycle and taking it a bit more easy. Having C19 be his final months as the owner was not easy, but he handled it all with amazing patience, grace, and honor in how he took care of all that came at us. He kept every single one of his employees and did not do any layoffs no matter how bleak things looked- which was incredibly remarkable during such difficult times in our history. He would have made his dad so proud during his final months as owner. I have no doubt Bob was smiling down on him through every step of the way. We have always been a business that values people over profits- even before that was a coined phrase. During the Covid-19 pandemic it was entirely crazy to keep the entire staff but it also seemed like the right thing to do. It was the only thing we really considered and we fought hard to make it happen. Mark made remarkable personal sacrifices during his last few months as owner and all of his employees will never forget how he took care of us all during the most bazaar and uncertain times in our lives. Mark still visits the shops from time to time as he is out on his new adventures in life.
Mark is looking forward to more time riding his bicycle and taking it a bit more easy. Having C19 be his final months as the owner was not easy, but he handled it all with amazing patience, grace, and honor in how he took care of all that came at us. He kept every single one of his employees and did not do any layoffs no matter how bleak things looked- which was incredibly remarkable during such difficult times in our history. He would have made his dad so proud during his final months as owner. I have no doubt Bob was smiling down on him through every step of the way. We have always been a business that values people over profits- even before that was a coined phrase. During the Covid-19 pandemic it was entirely crazy to keep the entire staff but it also seemed like the right thing to do. It was the only thing we really considered and we fought hard to make it happen. Mark made remarkable personal sacrifices during his last few months as owner and all of his employees will never forget how he took care of us all during the most bazaar and uncertain times in our lives. Mark still visits the shops from time to time as he is out on his new adventures in life.
Meet the Owner, Prairie Clark
Many of you know her already, she's worked here since early 1995 and often got asked if she's the owner. She usually replied "I'm the Bossy one, but not the Boss!" which is an old Bob line she stole awhile back. She's not sure what she will say now as that is the most clever line ever when asked that question. She is usually found hunting down the best deals or crazy close-outs on art supplies or taking care of the bookkeeping. Currently, she is actively reinventing the business to adapt, adjust, and overcome the strange days of C19. She has worked endless hours creating new ways of serving our community with curbside pickups, fought hard to keep all of our staff, and is focused on keeping the business afloat while serving our beloved artists during the pandemic. She has many long term goals with the shop, but many of those will be put on the back-burner for now as we all get through this pandemic safely together.
While it has been the plan for several years for her to take over ownership when Mark retires this summer- 2020 had some wild cards to throw our way with a pandemic right before the transition. It is not exactly how either of us imagined it would go down. Prairie hit the deck running, constantly working hard at finding ways of adapting to new things as she creatively reinvented our operations. So it is business as...unusual here this year as we reinvent the shops to remain sustainable during C19. For the most part, things won't change much here with her as the new owner. We'll still be the same funky little family owned shop you have always known and loved. She may not be part of the original family but she's been the one behind the scenes running it for so many years that she really is part of the original family.
Prairie's favorite motto this year is "Hope is never closed" and she'll continue to hope, dream, and work hard to make this little art store a beacon of hope in dark times. She has a love of all things vintage and a vintage art supply collection she hopes to display more around the shop someday soon. She has a ferocious appetite for knowledge and researches art supplies just for fun. She loves serving the art community as well as all of her amazing employees. She looks forward to many more years here following the old man's dream and honoring his legacy however she can. She's worked here so long that it seems like her whole life has been spent at the shop. Prior to working here she managed restaurants for several years and was in charge of turning around poorly performing ones. She has had her own business on the side for the last 10 years of her own product line that she created from creative recycling. She loves all things business and loves helping people start their own business. She often helps advise artists on tips for running their own businesses or meets with others excited about business. She has lots of stories to tell of her adventures over the years, both here in the shop and as a manager.
While it has been the plan for several years for her to take over ownership when Mark retires this summer- 2020 had some wild cards to throw our way with a pandemic right before the transition. It is not exactly how either of us imagined it would go down. Prairie hit the deck running, constantly working hard at finding ways of adapting to new things as she creatively reinvented our operations. So it is business as...unusual here this year as we reinvent the shops to remain sustainable during C19. For the most part, things won't change much here with her as the new owner. We'll still be the same funky little family owned shop you have always known and loved. She may not be part of the original family but she's been the one behind the scenes running it for so many years that she really is part of the original family.
Prairie's favorite motto this year is "Hope is never closed" and she'll continue to hope, dream, and work hard to make this little art store a beacon of hope in dark times. She has a love of all things vintage and a vintage art supply collection she hopes to display more around the shop someday soon. She has a ferocious appetite for knowledge and researches art supplies just for fun. She loves serving the art community as well as all of her amazing employees. She looks forward to many more years here following the old man's dream and honoring his legacy however she can. She's worked here so long that it seems like her whole life has been spent at the shop. Prior to working here she managed restaurants for several years and was in charge of turning around poorly performing ones. She has had her own business on the side for the last 10 years of her own product line that she created from creative recycling. She loves all things business and loves helping people start their own business. She often helps advise artists on tips for running their own businesses or meets with others excited about business. She has lots of stories to tell of her adventures over the years, both here in the shop and as a manager.
Meet the IBF Family
We are a fun, sometimes goofy, group of artists that are tightly knit like a family. Most of us have been here for a number of years, as we don't have much turn over. Once here, even if you leave, you are always family. We all love the flexibility and support that is found here as opposed to a large corporation. We all work hard to get a lot done, and still manage to have fun in the process.
We are all artists, in one form or another, and we love serving artists as well as supporting the local art community. We pride ourselves on offering friendly, professional, knowledgeable, and personable service to all of our customers. We think of them all as family & friends and we enjoy going the extra mile to answer questions, special order things, problem solve, and meet each specific need the best we can.
If you don't know us already, stop by and introduce yourself! We love meeting new friends.
We are all artists, in one form or another, and we love serving artists as well as supporting the local art community. We pride ourselves on offering friendly, professional, knowledgeable, and personable service to all of our customers. We think of them all as family & friends and we enjoy going the extra mile to answer questions, special order things, problem solve, and meet each specific need the best we can.
If you don't know us already, stop by and introduce yourself! We love meeting new friends.