if i were to list the best races for Art, it would prob look a little like this:

  1. Warforged
  2. Half-elf
  3. Drow
  4. Human
  5. Halfling
  6. Dwarf
  7. Elf
  8. Half-orc


Warforged: obvious reasons

Half-elf: Rogue Dilly on an Art is a potent combo, plus you get all the Human enhancements on top of that, without any real disadvantages

Drow: lack of Racial enhancements means more AP for Art ones, plus wat this guy says
Quote Originally Posted by Jaid314 View Post
dex 17 = 8 points vs 13 for human/helf (ie saves 5 points)
int 18 = 10 points vs 16 for human/helf (ie saves 6 points).
con 14 = 10 points vs 6 for human/helf (ie costs 4 points).

even if we bump that int up to 19 base (to match human/helf potential exactly), that's saving 4 points over helf/human, and allowing further investment elsewhere (cha or str would be likely good choices). and as an added bonus, a bit more UMD/haggle/etc. heck, int 20 (either getting a higher DC/damage or saving 6 AP from not needing int 3) even still leaves you 1 point ahead plus that charisma bonus.
Human: ranks below Drow only because the extra feat doesn't mean much on a feat heavy class like Art, but can be spent on something like Bsword proff to enhance melee capability even on non-melee specced Arts (there is always a point at which you should put down the xbow and start swinging a sword).

Halfling: Halfling Guile and Dragonmarks make Pint-sized Arts an ok choice, but they rank low on the list because Guile costs AP on an AP starved class and the Dragonmarks require 3 feats to be useful.

Dwarf: about the only thing Dwarves have going for them IMO is free proff in Daxes. good thing if you want a Melee Art, but Human with Bsword proff (also free w/human bonus feat) is munch better IMO

Elf: penalty to CON without much to make up for it kills the potential of Elves as Arts

Half-orc: Penalties to INT (your primary stat) and CHA (which hurts UMD, Arts bread-and-butter skill) make Horc Arts a Bad Idea(tm). The only case i can make for a Horc Art is a STR based Melee Art that uses no DC based spells at all and has gear to make up for the loss of skill points and the hit to UMD from low CHA