Holiday Gift Guide

Kickstart your holiday shopping with the Georgia Museum of Art's 2014 Holiday Gift Guide!

With items ranging from books, toys and stationary to jewelry, decorative items, picture frames and glassware, you can find something for everyone on your list in the Georgia Museum of Art Museum Shop. Beyond just the great gifts, purchasing your presents at the Museum Shop means supporting a local small business. So if you want to support the Athens-Clarke county community, keep us in mind on Small Business Saturday this November 29.

The Museum Shop manager, Amy Miller, personally selected some amazing gift options for your creative, art-loving friends and family, and we are excited to share them with you here.

Deluxe Spirograph Set: The classic way for aspiring artists to create millions of amazing designs is back! This Original Spirograph Deluxe Set features all the iconic wheels and rings of the original, plus a durable carrying case with a built-in drawing surface. $29.95 ($26.96, members of the Friends)

Plus Plus: An exciting building toy from Denmark, Plus Plus uses one basic shape to create endless possibilities. Kids three and up can assemble them flat to create a 2-D mosaic or work in 3-D to make more complicated structures. Even curves are possible thanks to the unique design of this deceptively simple shape. Available in sets of 100 for $10 or 300 for $20. ($9 or $18, members of the Friends)

Brief History of Art Mug: This mug is a crash-course in the world's greatest artwork since the beginning of time. The 24 images on the mug represent the evolution of art over the millenia—it begins with the Cave Paintings of Lascaux, travels through Da Vinci and Degas and Picasso, and goes all the way up to Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons. Plus, you can drink out of it! $12.95 ($11.66, members of the Friends)

Extasia Jewelry: Hand crafted in Bavaria and California and featured in magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Glamour, Extasia jewelry is a true treasure. Each piece was made to order for the Georgia Museum of Art. Ranging from $58-$145 each ($52.20–130.50, members of the Friends)

Heller House Frames: Frank Lloyd Wright's art glass windows are the inspiration for these Art Deco picture frames. Designed in 1897 for the Isidore Heller House in Chicago, the windows have been translated into birch wood frames in two sizes. $20 and $30 ($18 and $27, members of the Friends)

This list is only a peek at the variety of wonderful items featured in the Museum Shop, so come on down and explore the store. We have free parking available for all Museum Shop customers. Pull in to the parking structure off of Carlton Street, then just hit the buzzer at the gate arm and tell us you're here to visit the museum.

The store is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 10 a.m.–4:45 p.m.; Thursday 10 a.m.–8:45 p.m.; and Sunday 1–4:45 p.m.

"Georgia Bellflowers" advances in

The video above shows us flipping through an advance copy of the book for our upcoming exhibition "Georgia Bellflowers: The Furniture of Henry Eugene Thomas." The rest of the books should be in stock in early January, in time for the exhibition, but we will be offering special pre-orders in the Museum Shop (in-person only, not online) until then. The book is only $16 and makes a great holiday gift for anyone interested in decorative arts, local history, woodworking or great stories.

A Wonderful Gift

We keep forgetting to post something about this, but a few weeks ago, Valeria Gennaro Lerda, wife of the late artist Piero Lerda, stopped by the museum with her family, visiting from Italy, to give several works by her husband to GMOA. We documented the signing of the deed of gift, and Valeria held forth on the four works: "La creazione del mondo," "Art Blakey: On the Street Where You Live," "Personaggio--Schermo" and an untitled work. She was an engaging speaker, and it was interesting to hear her take on her husband's inspiration, which was frequently musical but also engaged with and commented on popular culture (e.g., television) and made use of collage.

Collectors Holiday Party

Last week, in the middle of our crazy move, was also the Collectors Holiday Party, which was held in Margie Spalding's beautiful home. Everyone had a wonderful time, and Tim Brown, membership director, took these photos to document the occasion. For more information about becoming a member of the Collectors, click here.

Stuck for an idea for a holiday gift? How about a Friends membership? Or an upgrade of someone else's membership to Collectors status? Friends memberships up to the family level are 20 percent off until we reopen January 29, and, unlike all that other stuff you're buying for your loved ones, won't take up any space. For information on purchasing a Friends membership, click here.

Charlie Lucas sculpture installation

We have a new promised gift to the museum: a sculpture made of found objects by self-taught artist Charlie Lucas, which the preparators recently installed on the sculpture pad in front of GMOA North on Jackson Street. They also documented the whole process in the photo set below. We thank Carl Mullis III, a member of our board of advisors, for this generous promised gift, and we hope you can stop by and see it in person.