THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 17, 1994 TAG: 9412160075
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 181 lines
CHRISTMAS IS one week away. If you're like most folks, there are gifts you still need to buy. Panic is beginning to set in.
You've spent days combing the usual places, and nothing has seemed quite right.
We say, forget it all and head to a museum or arts center.
Most museums and arts centers operate shops with an attention-getting array of unique, handmade and creative gifts.
Besides the expected reproductions of original sculptures and jewelry from museum collections, you'll find artist-made jewelry, lamps, vases, books, toys, original art, handbags, hand-painted scarves and ties, and a zillion holiday ornaments.
``We are a viable option for people who don't want to shop in the malls,'' said Lee Kimball, who manages The Mariners' Museum's Museum Shop in Newport News.
Oh, and after you've finished shopping, don't forget to treat yourself to a few quiet moments with an exhibit. It might be the only peace you experience until January!
Stop by your favorite museum and arts center, because nearly all have a shop. Or try our selective guide:
The Chrysler Museum
245 W. Olney Road, Norfolk
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday
664-6200
This shop has been around for decades and contains a sophisticated array of museum reproduction jewelry and sculpture in addition to exquisite art glass, plush evening handbags and art-related or educational toys.
The shop also boasts one of the region's most extensive collections of art books, including catalogs of the latest important exhibitions such as the Willem de Kooning catalog ($55). A hot gift item this season is ``The Art Book'' ($35), a new dictionary of artists with 500 color plates.
Alva, a company that has reproduced museum jewelry since the '40s, is well represented here with necklaces, earrings and pins copying valuable pieces from different cultures. One Alva pin is a replica of a French Art Nouveau pin in the Chrysler collection and is sold nationwide ($25).
d'Art Center
125 College Place, Norfolk
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; noon-4 p.m. Sunday
625-4211
A studio-gallery in downtown Norfolk, the d'Art Center has set up its Holiday Showcase through Jan. 8. Nearly everything in the gallery was made by a local artist, and the mix is delightful.
Irmaly Brackin's funky angel music box ($240) steals the show. Less expensive ornaments also snare your attention, from Arleen Cohen's colorful painted birdhouses ($14) to Cheryl Marshall's folksy angel doll ornaments ($18-$40), which are lovely enough to sit on a child's shelf year round.
Affordable fine art is sold here, too, from a lush Jean Peacock portrait ($300) to Gray Dodson's watercolors of European gardens ($135-$165).
Virginia Beach Center for the Arts
2200 Parks Ave., Virginia Beach
10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday; noon-4 p.m. Sunday
425-0000
The center has stocked its shop with a sassy, uptown selection of tabletop items, from platters to goblets. There also are lots of festive handcrafted jewelry, French handmade soaps and stationery, and high-design hanging lamps.
For computer users, Gallery Mousepads ($19.50) sport images by Georgia O'Keeffe and Van Gogh.
Among the big-ticket items are English artist Jacqueline Shelton's papier mache bowls and vases, $75-$330. But the focus is on gift items in the $25 to $50 range, said buyer Sharon Dilustro. In that category are a honey pot votive candle ($26), hand-milled French soap nested in a woven basket ($17.50), French handmade paper baby book ($30) and a Sasaki five-piece table setting in teal, eggplant, black or cobalt blue ($24.95).
Virginia Marine Science Museum
717 General Booth Blvd., Virginia Beach
9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily
425-FISH (425-3474)
An extensive selection of marine items caters to all ages with T-shirts, toys, books, jewelry, field guides and decorative arts. The shop also packages a range of gift certificates that include whale-watching in January or February; for $39.85, give two museum admissions, two whale-watching tickets and a $5 shop certificate tucked in a museum mug.
Peninsula Fine Arts Center
101 Museum Dr., Newport News
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday (also Mondays through Dec. 25); 1-4 p.m. Sundays; 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Dec. 24 and 31. Closed Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1-2.
596-8175
The Gallery Shop was tripled for the holidays, emphasizing the addition of fine arts and crafts by local and national artists. You'll find wearable art, handblown glass ornaments, tin candle holders, decorative functional pottery, art glass and folk art.
For youngsters, there's a ``National Gallery of Art Activity Book'' ($16.95) and a ``Great Paintings Coloring Book'' ($12.95). For collectors, Mary Myers' hand-carved folk sculptures of snowmen ($89) and an old-fashioned Santa ($85) should delight.
And for the woman who has it all, there are clothes hangers ($12.50) sculpted and painted like birds. Also, scarves, purses, jewelry, toys, posters and blue delftware.
The Mariners' Museum
100 Museum Dr., Newport News
10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday; noon-5:30 p.m. Sunday
595-0368
The museum sells a wide range of gift items related to sea preservation, sailing, endangered species and ecological topics. At the shop entrance hangs a pencil rubbing ($150, matted and shrink-wrapped) from the ``Mermaid'' glass panel that was in the first-class ballroom of the SS United States. The panel now is on display in the museum's lobby.
Upstairs, there's a sizeable collection of books on subjects ranging from sea life to shipwrecks. In the jewelry case, you'll find amber necklaces and sea-life jewelry made by Wyland, the West Coast whale artist.
Among the unusual: Handcrafted French boatbuilding scenes ($230-$390) and a faux ivory scrimshaw tusk made into a cribbage board ($148).
Many of the toys are educational, such as the Smithsonian Environmental Test Kit ($26). Among holiday items, a standout is an electric globe ornament; plug it in and Santa and his reindeer circumnavigate the world ($49.50).
Virginia Living Museum
524 J. Clyde Morris Blvd., Newport News
9:30 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 1-4:45 p.m. Sunday; also, 7-9 p.m. Thursday
595-1900
Sold here is a collection geared to please the nature- and animal-lovers on your list.
There are T-shirts with butterflies and wildflowers ($12.95-$18.95) and large crystal or geode bookends ($27.85-$45.95). Kids will love the ``critter'' noses ($2.39) shaped like bobcats, fish, wolves and eagles.
Older youngsters will like the Eco-Detective science kit ($11.50) and the Paint a Snake or Fish kits ($17.95-$19.95). The Smithsonian Wild Heritage Collection packages an irresistible baby animal (red fox, tundra swan, gray wolf, black bear) with a book and sometimes a tape. ($12.95-$25.95).
Virginia Air and Space Center/Hampton Roads History Center
600 Settlers Landing Road, Hampton
9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily
727-0800, ext. 794
The Wings Over Hampton gift shop contains a large selection of toys, puzzles, books, T-shirts, jewelry and ornaments pertaining to flight and regional history.
Hampton University Museum
Academy Building, Marshall Avenue, Hampton.
8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays; noon-4 p.m. weekends; closed Dec. 31-Jan. 2
727-5308
The museum specializes in African, African-American and native American art and artifacts, and the shop sells jewelry, posters and note cards related to those cultures.
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum
2 High St., Portsmouth
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday
393-8591
A small gift counter sells items related to naval and local history, from pewter bowls to jewelry.
The Arts Center of the Portsmouth Museum
420 High St., Portsmouth
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday
393-8983
Original sculptures and pins by Cher Shafer, the Ohio visionary artist featured this month in the gallery, are among the items sold at this small gift counter.
Children's Museum of Virginia
221 High St., Portsmouth
10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Fridays
393-8393
Personalized toothbrushes and sculptures are among the items sold in Earth Treasures, a shop in the newly expanded children's museum. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
BETH BERGMAN/Staff photos
Irmaly Bracklin's angel music box ($240) is among tha many
attention-getting items at d'Art Center
A Correia Art Glass perfume bottle ($250) is for sale at the
Chrysler Museum.
A papier-mache vase ($330) by English artist Jacqueline Shelton is
in the gift shop of the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts.
BETH BERGMAN
Staff
Chrysler Museum's gift shop has many items to choose from.
KEYWORDS: CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY GIFTS SHOPS MUSEUM by CNB