| Call it a return to the simpler pleasures of home life, a renewed interest in decorating our living spaces or even a patriotic interest in the authenticity of locally created artwork, but this holiday season is seeing a revival in the giving of artwork as gifts.
When expressing your business originality and creativity are key, nothing matches artwork. No two hand-crafted wallets, dolls, or handmade greeting cards are the same, which means that no two clients, or employees, will get the same thing.
“Our sales have been very strong, (compared to the same period a year ago),” commented Mary Holt McLain, Executive Director of Bainbridge Arts and Crafts (BAC). “[This year,] people tell us they need to look at something pretty, or they want something bubbly for their home. They may still be traveling but their families and homes have become even more important to them so they’re spending more time there, and thinking about what would be nice for a whole new environment. Art is very much a part of that.”
The biggest challenge for many is deciding what to buy. In order to help holiday shoppers “get inside the head” of what a loved one might desire, BAC has invented “My Art’s Desire.” Simply register with your name and a list of the things you might like to have for yourself from the gallery’s collections of cards, pottery, paintings, jewelry and sculpture. The gallery will keep a record of your preferences and then send a postcard or telephone someone who might be trying to buy you something that you’d love to have. Susan Levy, president of the Board at BAC, points out, “Y’know, except when we get married, no one really asks us what we want as a gift. Our new program answers the question, ‘How will I get my husband and my children, or my employees to read my mind?’ They can come in and fill out a ‘My Art’s Desire’ card, whether it’s Christmas or anytime throughout the year.”
While our jobs are becoming more technically complex, popular gift themes in the art world seem to be pointing in a more aesthetic direction. “I’ve noticed a return to nature and things made by hand, a love of the organic,” said Janice Shaw, BAC Artistic Director. “It’s a change in values that could well be a reaction to the technological pressures of society.”
Along with giving objets d’ art, there is also the creative option of giving art classes and helping a loved one to rediscover the artist inside. “We’re seeing a rapid increase in enrollment and registration in our hands-on art classes. We have workshops for children and adults, photo-transfer workshops, glass workshops, jewelry workshops...” said Shaw. Tuition ranges anywhere from $25 to $75, most classes are around $75. Even more ambitious is a collector’s series workshop where participants tour four fabulous art collections in private homes. Entitled “The Art of Collecting Art,” the tuition is $100.
Regular gift prices range from frameable cards at $5 on up. There are abundant choices in the $30-$60 price range.
On December 13, from 7 to 9 p.m. BAC will host “Men’s Night Only,” an easy, no-pressure way for men to drop in after hours, and look at art (and the their loved one’s wish list) in an unhurried atmosphere.
On the last Saturday in January(1/26) BAC will hold “Appraisal Day” on Bainbridge Island. “We’ll have appraisers set up throughout downtown Bainbridge, and four of five of them will be at the gallery. They’ll be giving people verbal appraisals on everything: paintings, antiques, rugs, charts, maps and documents, you name it,” shared Levy.
For fundraising purposes, the appraisals will run $10 per item for BAC members and $20 otherwise.
Why not use your artistic license for the holidays? Art is a business gift that shows your good taste. |
