You can't go wrong with Blythes. A Manchester art student staple, this store has saved me countless…read moretimes. The staff in here are extremely knowledegable and will even order in special materials and papers if they're out of stock. They've got just about type of paint from Winsor to Newton and Rembrandt paints, brushes, chalks, gouaches, water colours and graphic supplies and a large range of papers and canvases. I've bought specialist 300gsm paper in here for a menu project and special mounting glue. I had help with the measuring and cutting free of charge and advice of mounting my images. I highly recommend this store.

Blyth Art Shop…read more Blyth's Art Shop seems like a serious sort of art shop for serious sort of artists. Everything is very ordered, neat and clinical. They've got great ranges of paints, pencils and pens, as well as a downstairs section with artist accessories like folders, paper and even natural light bulbs so you can paint in natural light late into the night. There's two or three staff around to help you with any queries you might have in my experience they've usually got the time and patience to help you out properly. I can't help feeling that Fred Aldous across Stevenson square isn't just lots more fun, more well stocked and generally more exciting though.

The Richard Goodall Gallery is a music lover's dream…read more Spread over two floors, it's an awesome, contemporary art gallery that specialises in limited edition music posters, giclee and screen prints and photos. The front room houses an exhibition space - where Kevin Cummins, Ronnie Wood and Leonard Cohen have all exhibited work! - and the backroom and basement is stocked with thousands of prints in browsers and wall frames. Artists include Tara McPherson, Leia Bell, Jay Ryan, Emek, Print Mafia, Kendra Binney, Small Stakes, Aesthetic Apparatus, Frank Kozik and The White Stripes own designer, Rob Jones. If you're already logging onto RG's website to check their stuff out, sign up for their newsletter to recieve news of special signings and forthcoming exhibitions.

I was in awe of the Richard Goodall Gallery on Thomas Street in the trendy Northern Quarter of…read moreManchester. They have the most amazing style of posters that i have seen. They have everything from retro movie and music posters to contemporary art and sculptures. Even if you're not planning on buying anything its just a cool place to browse these super cool posters. Most of the posters was around £40 to £85 in a frame. I especially loved the back to the future poster!

This shop is really nice if you like art and handmade. They have a lot of original paintings,…read moreprints of paintings, and handmade items like jewellery and decorative items. When we were there, they had a great selection of small prints in a discount bin for £2.00. There were some pretty ones of old houses and halls around England, seascapes, animals, etc. There is an upstairs to the shop as well with a nice gallery of both paintings and photographs on canvas. The variety of styles and sizes is great, so there's something for all art lovers here. The prices are very decent for art.

It's easy to forget about Castlefield Gallery as it's tucked away behind Deansgate Station and…read moreAtlas cafe-bar. An unusual, triangular shaped gallery spread over two floors, it shows about six exhibitions each year with a strong focus on contemporary art, photography and short films. Most of the exhibitions tend to be group shows or collectives with a small publication including images and essays on individual artists. Over the years I've seen some spectacularly dull, disappointing and pretentious work here masquerading as Conceptual Art or work in progress. Luckily, these experiences have been counteracted by Elaine Constantine's truly staggering photos, Olivia Plender's playful pulp fiction homages and Tom Hackney's engaging, photo-realist paintings of American landmarks.

As Sarah-Jane has already pointed out, it's so easy to overlook this little gallery. But it's worth…read morea visit simply on the offchance that you'll see some great art. It can be rather hit and miss though, as is expected with a smaller gallery. It was founded by the Manchester Artists Studio Association back in 1984 as a gallery and resource for contemporary visual artists, and has continued to support new and emerging artists and their practices. With an events and exhibitions programme, a professional development scheme and the means for artists to work with film and video. Having relocated to the purpose-built Castlefield premises in 2002 after a Lottery award and some generous sponsorships, it now offers exhibitions in the shape of Leo Fitzmaurice and Kim Rugg with their two-person show based around the concept of defamiliarisation, Purescreen's production of artist experimentation with the moving image and new work by David Osbaldeston. It can get a little bit pretentious so heed Sarah-Jane's warning but definitely check this little gallery out.

Housed in a beautiful art deco space next to Rennies Art Gallery, Rennies Arts & Crafts is a family…read morerun business that has been supplying painters and craft-makers for the last three decades. Like all art shops these days, the prices are steep so it helps that they have a wide selection of everything from canvases, acrylics and paint brushes to card, portfolios and letraset. Students get 10% off and there's a designated area promoting local artists, studios and workshops.

It's obviously hard for any reviewer to go the whole hog and give this place 5 stars because it's…read morejust an art suplliers after all, but as the sole supplier of the city's arts and crafts items it probably deserves more praise. For me however Rennie's reeks of middle class sunday painters who will just have a dabble with a brush once they have finished with The Guardian. The selection is very extensive with everything from oil based paints, acrylics and waters to all sorts of papers and cards, pencils and brushes. The prices on the other hand are not cheap. This is hardly struggling artist friendly and you will rarely see the street artists and creatives changing the face of Liverpool buying their gear in bulk from here - it is aimed at those with an expensive hobby. And all of this is sort of reflected in the gallery next door. Largely figuratively based pieces in a Vetriano style you are hardly going to find anything cutting edge or unique but Rennie's does stock a lot of original pieces available to take off the shelf.

The Manchester Art Gallery isn't massive but has an interesting collection of pieces. It's also…read morefree to enter, so not much to lose by stopping in. My partner and I were in the area and checked it out because they had an exhibition on drinkware and the historical context of its supply and consumption. Lots of cool pieces and good insights on the exploitation involved with coffee, tea, and chocolate. Other than that, it's not unlike most museum visits. Wander around, stop by the gift shop perhaps, and then you're off!

Free to the public during the week! We stopped here because we couldn't check into your Airbnb yet…read more We stopped by and walked around. It's big, pretty and they have clean and nice bathrooms. They also have a cafe, and plenty of chairs so you can rest and sit. The gift shop is also very cute and they have free wifi! Definitely check it out if you need to kill some time!

This is a fantastic gallery owed and run by a small group of local artists. Located on Beech road…read moreit has a lovely sunny aspect and lots of displayed recycled artwork while to the rear there is the gallery shed. There are a number of courses run from here for beginners including ceramics, stained glass and quilting and on the day you can walk away with a finished piece of your very own art. On site there is also a framing service available. The pieces of art on display as well as jewellery are beautiful and you would not imagine they had been created from material that would otherwise go to landfill.

Phoenix is a tiny local gallery in Castlefield showcasing local art, lots of it by contemporary…read moreBritish Artist Philippe Aird. Aird is a Manchester born artist. There are over a hundred photos on show at any one time, so there's plenty to look at. Some of the art is very nice. In my personal opinion they make great decorative pieces, but don't have much meaning. Price-wise there's a decent range, but they are all on large quality canvas so that ensures the prices are at least moderate. Check out the website for a few samples of the art, though I must say they've not chosen a great selection for the site compared to some of the stuff in there. Some of the art is also on show at Binary Bar, literally just round the corner.