The Art of Museum-Quality Gifting
Think “art” when you’re holiday shopping this year.
Because museum stores usually buy clothing and jewelry directly from artists, you can often find one-of-a-kind items. Also, you become a philanthropist, because a portion of the profits goes directly to support the museum.
Three local museums--Laguna Art Museum, the Newport Harbor Art Museum and Bowers Museum--have shops featuring a variety of fashionable gifts.
The Laguna Art Museum has two stores, at the museum at 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach ((714) 494-8971) and at its satellite store in South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa ((714) 662-3366). Both feature works by up-and-coming artists who work in different media (prices start around $20).
There are sophisticated sculptural jewelry pieces available, as well as funky ones to be worn with jeans and T-shirts. Nikki Moore creates silver jewelry decorated with semi-precious stones in geometric shapes, and Sandy Comstock’s jewelry includes silver crucifixes, animal charms, earrings, bracelets and necklaces.
At the Laguna store, there are colorful, hand-painted silk vests and ties by Michele Morgan. The vests are reversible, with raw silk on one side and painted china silk on the other.
Artist Jennifer Irani creates cotton cloth bags, and Richard Bohn’s jewelry is made from pieces of glass found on local beaches.
One of the current favorite sellers at the Laguna store is a fashionable plastic lunch box ($12).
The Newport Harbor Art Museum’s store is in the museum at 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach ((714) 759-1122). The museum is featuring an Artisan Showcase through Jan. 1.
Although most of these artisans’ works are furniture and other items for the home, one of the fashion artists who has items on view is Cara Croniger, who makes jewelry from plastic resins. Her work is seen in “Jewels of Fantasy,” a museum exhibit touring Europe.
Also available at Newport Harbor Art Museum are earrings by Lorraine Pennington and Carol Ware as well as jewelry designed by Dennis Peabody made of colorful glass.
Prices at the shop range from $36 to $150.
For ethnic fashions, Bowers Museum gallery store at 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana ((714) 567-3600), and its Vanishing Worlds Gallery in Crystal Court, 3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa ((714) 662-1160), are two other places to hunt for treasures.
Museum store buyer Patricia Korzek says she looks for authenticity, quality and good pricing when she purchases items for both stores. “I try to work directly with the people from the cultures (represented), not wholesalers,” she said. “That supports the mission of the museum also.”
At the stores, you can find gold-plate-over-copper pre-Columbian reproductions of necklaces, earrings and bracelets, as well as antique silver bracelets. There are also shell and porcupine quill vests handmade in Thailand, kente cloth vests with African proverbs written on them and leather travel bags.
Cowrie seashell belts from Indonesia and mud cloth vests from Africa add interest to a simple black dress.
Prices at Bowers range from $2 for children’s items to antique necklaces around $1,000.
Another artful stop is the Metropolitan Museum of Art Store in South Coast Plaza, ((714) 435-9160). This is the grandfather of museum merchandising. A vast amount of merchandise is available at the store or through its catalogue ((800) 468-7386).
Keep in mind that in a museum shop you are purchasing more than just a piece of jewelry or clothing. You are also buying an artist’s personal vision, a part of contemporary or ancient history, and something that will hold both its monetary and its sentimental value.
