The mega-mall alternative: Museum and gallery gift shops
Find those unique items the malls don’t have, and support local cultural institutions at the same time
Trying to figure out how to be green? Unique and creative with your gift giving? Local? Supportive of cultural institutions and non-profits? And — do it without circling humongous parking lots in search of a space?
Grab your reusable tote; we’ve got ideas.
The shops attached to museums, galleries and other such places are chock full of unique items that go well beyond the predictable T-shirts and key chains — though, of course, those are there, too.
Underlying everything, this is a perfect time to support a gallery you might browse at other times of the year, an architectural wonder you might tour, the zoo or science museum where you take your grandchildren.
Start anywhere: They’ve all been stocking up on merchandise.
Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens Shop
It’s all about plant life here. Not only where to put it and how to grow it, but also some attractive spin-off items inspired by flowers and blossoms. For starters, there are plenty of pots for indoor plants, some Asian themed, some brightly colored, some self-watering. For the gardener now stuck inside, there are books aplenty: “Basic Bonsai Gardening,” “Herb Gardening” and “Container Gardening.”
There’s also a new line of jewelry by Luna Pinnavaia, who dips live orchids into a polyresin to use as a focal point for beaded necklaces and earrings.
“But I think the best gift is a membership,” said manager Denise Nichols, “so people can visit when it’s 20 degrees and blustery outside and 72 degrees and beautiful indoors.”
Shop hours are 10 a. m. to 5 p. m. Monday through Sunday, with extended hours until 8 p. m. on Thursdays and Sundays until Dec. 21.
Buffalo Zoo Shop No surprise, there’s a big animal theme here.
For one, youngsters can create gifts here at a machine called Animaland, similar to bear-building machines. At the zoo, though, they can make frogs, lions, elephants, otters and rhinos. In the ready-made menagerie, there is a large collection of stuffed animals and puppets, with all the regulars, along with raccoons, an elk with antlers, reptiles and rodents.
New this year is a chess set with carved animal pieces (the lion, of course, is the king) that comes with a wooden board and a storage chest.
Also, Surapa, the zoo’s resident painter, has been busy. This Asian elephant has created some one-of-a-kind canvasses, size 16 by 20 inches, with a certificate of authenticity and a story of how she began her painting career.
Shop hours are 10 a. m. to 5 p. m., every day.
Chauncey’s, Buffalo Museum of Science
All things related to science and nature can be found at Chauncey’s, some serious, others fun (such as the soda pop experiment bottles); there are also traditional kits and puzzles, games and stuffed animals, as well as decorative items.
“We have the classic, sciencey things like microscopes and 3-D projectors,” said Collin Gehle, “and we have some cool items.” In the latter category, there’s a volcano night light (“You put in some water, plug it in, and it does its thing”) and Robot in My Room, a bank that counts coins as they are dropped in, displaying the amount on an LCD screen. With its motion-sensing ability, it guards the deposited money, emitting 50 humorous responses, phrases and sound effects.
Shop hours are 10 a. m. to 5 p. m. Wednesday through Saturday; noon to 5 p. m. Sunday.
Gallery Shop at the Albright- Knox Art Gallery
Festively decorated, the shop is awash in scarves and shawls, silks, georgettes, wools, appliqued, pleated and embellished. Especially yummy are Nepalese water pashminas in iridescent shades that range from melon to deep purple. Though they are light and floaty, they are also warm, said buyer Tracey Levy. In the handmade category, there is an exquisite beret and scarf set in felted wool, made by a woman who learned the craft in Hungary.
The shop’s pull-out drawers display a large collection of contemporary watches and jewelry, including new pieces in sterling with a brushed finish. Made by the Paz Collective in Mexico, the collection includes can’t-be-ignored dinner rings that are bold, but beautiful.
Fit for a stroll down Elmwood Avenue are recycled handbags fashioned by Fair Trade companies. Escama of Brazil uses aluminum pull tabs to create funky styles that range from clutch size to larger shoulder bags. And Ecoist, a company that promises to plant a tree if you buy a bag, has purses made of woven gum and candy wrappers. There’s even a diva bag, done with silver foil wrappers.
For children, there are kits, art materials and games that promote imagination, such as ShapeScapes, a construction toy with 90 interlocking whimsical shapes that create a Calderesque- like appearance.
For budding artists, there is the Exhibit Your Art pad, which makes hanging a piece of artwork simpler. The 14-by-17-inch pad has a preprinted border that resembles a picture frame. When the painting is finished, the adhesive sheet can be pulled off and stuck on a flat surface.
Shop hours are 10 a. m. to 10 p. m. Thursday and Friday; 10 a. m. to 5 p. m. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. It’s not necessary to pay for admission, but there is a parking fee. Free wrapping.
Museum Store at the Burchfield Penney Art Center
In a beautiful new environment, with oversize Burchfield doodles as accents on the walls, the shop sparkles. And, flooded with natural light, it shows off its wares, many created locally, to good advantage.
“We want the shop to cater to local artisans, in keeping with Burchfield’s vision,” said Amy Reville.
For one, there is the debut of a jewelry line by portrait artist Lieza Zionts, who combines metals to create a stunning, contemporary look, and the pottery of Bryan Hopkins, who adds “piercings, tears, cut-outs and perforations” to his delicate porcelain pieces.
For whimsy, it would be hard to match the wooden clocks, all brightly colored, by former art teacher Joan Saba. The scenes include a moose and the moon, a buffalo and a lighthouse.
Everywhere, of course, images abound from Burchfield paintings: September on a cummerbund and bow tie by Beau Tie; Mid-June on bags and checkbook holders by Flash Bags; the willow pattern on place mats and pillows; Chinese Garden, a Birge wallpaper design on a filmy silk scarf and Visions of a City note cards with the popular Rainy Night represented.
For the true aficionado, there are giclee prints, digital images with high-resolution color on thick paper.
“These are not like a poster,” Reville said. “They are so close to the the original, it could be mistaken. You can actually see brush strokes.”
Shop hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday.
Museum Shop of Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society
From noon until 2 p. m. today , more than two dozen authors will be on hand to sign books relating to the history and mystery that is Buffalo.
Among them are: “Buffalo Good Neighbors, Great Architecture,” by Nancy Mingus; “Rediscovering Concrete Atlantis” on the grain elevators by Lynda Schneekloth; and “Buffalo Snow,” a children’s book by Elizabeth Leader.
Other books carried by the museum include Mark Donnelly’s “The Fine Art of Capturing Buffalo” and “On the Beauty of Science” by Nobel prize winner Herbert Hauptman.
Jewelry items include a chic silver pin and necklace created by local jeweler Annie Adams inspired by a detail on a couture coat by a French designer. A postage-stamp-sized pin by Pat Sorbini is actually a miniature book, perfect for “short stories, brief notes, haiku.”
A new T-shirt uses the outline of a buffalo (the animal) to incorporate the outline of the skyline (the city).
In what may well be this year’s most popular stocking stuffer, there’s a deck of playing cards with Ralph Wilson and Marv Levy as jokers, Jim Kelly the Ace of Spades and Bruce Smith, the Jack of Spades.
Shop hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Pavilion Gift Shop at Graycliff
Besides a wide array of Frank Lloyd Wright items, shopping at Graycliff offers the opportunity for a short trip to enjoy a beautiful vista overlooking Lake Erie.
Among the items offered here are several exclusive pieces that include china designed by Buffalo China specifically for Graycliff, along with complementary table runners and place mats.
New this year is a collection of note cards with Graycliff images as well as a cutting board and wooden cheese knife in the shape of a Buffalo with a Graycliff insignia incised into the cutting surface. Also, there is a collection of mini-buffaloes, handmade from the trees felled by the October storm.
Gift items include a boxed glass paperweight, ties with the signature diamond-shaped Graycliff motifs, a business card case in metal with enamel trim, stained-glass sun catchers designed by Jeanne Kratt, and Sarah Neundorfer’s earrings that incorporate the signature logo both in acrylic and Italian poplar styles.
Shop hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. (For the late shoppers, the Pavilion Shop will be open Dec. 26 to 30.)
Wisteria Shop at the Darwin Martin House
If you want to create a tie-in to one of the city’s most famous houses, there are boxed Christmas cards that feature a (circa 1922) photograph of the Martin’s Christmas tree with the message “Merry Christmas from our house to yours.”
New shop offerings include a set of four rimmed soup bowls from the Martin House Centennial Edition tableware, in a design reflective of the conservatory’s art glass windows. There’s also a Melamine children’s dish set with a bowl, cup and plate in the Coonley design, with its brightly colored circles and squares.
Other items include a cheerful red-framed clock using Wright’s multicolored Exhibition typeface and a collection of Teco Pottery, much favored by Wright and now being manufactured again.
New jewelry lines will be available by local designer Sarah Blackman, who does bead-work that’s bold and chunky, and Jillery, with recycled interlocking aluminum circles.
Shop hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
