This holiday season, skip the big-box stores and support local artists through our art gift guide. From paintings to wearable art and jewelry, there's something for every art lover in your life. Because many are feeling the pinch of inflation, we've included options from super-thrifty to open-pocketbook.
Twin Cities holiday gift ideas for the art lover in your life
Buy art by local artists ranging from a few bucks to $1,000.
December 12, 2022 at 11:00AM
After three years away, the Soo Art Mart returns to in-person art shopping fun. The sprawling gift shop takes over two-thirds of the gallery space and offers work by more than 50 Twin Cities artists. In Betsy Alwin's mixed-media sculptures, delicate lace patterning is used in surprising ways. Abby Mouw's mugs offer tranquility in a cup. Write your own future with Lunalux notebooks by Jenni Undis.
Cheapest: $4 stickers by Violeta Rotstein.
Most expensive: $980 watercolor/mixed media painting by Suyao Tian.
Sale ends Dec. 30. Soo Visual Arts Center, 2909 Bryant Av. S., #101, Mpls. Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Fri., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. & Sun. 612-871-2263 or soovac.org/sooartmart2022.
The 41st semiannual co-op exhibition features 72 prints made by 34 members of Highpoint Center for Printmaking's artist cooperative. If printmaking is your thing, this is the place. Choose from a variety of offerings, including relief prints, lithography, screen prints and more. Subject matter ranges from photo-realistic snapshots and Minnesota landscapes to abstraction and nostalgic patterning.
Cheapest: $45 Melissa Sisk's "Kite Fishing" screen print.
Most expensive: $1,200 Mei Lam So's "Voyage II: Phantasmagoria" monoprint.
Sale ends Jan. 7. Highpoint Center for Printmaking, 912 W. Lake St., Mpls. Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., noon-4 p.m. Sat. 612-871-1326 or highpointprintmaking.org
Gamut Gallery, hidden in the downtown-adjacent Elliot Park neighborhood, celebrates its 11th annual holiday market. This year's sale started with 1,252 artworks from more than 55 Minnesota artists, and now close to 1,000 works are still available for sale (200 of those are on the website). The gallery is packed with works, ranging from pottery and prints to jewelry and apparel. Buy herbal balms from Prajna Bodyworks, funky, joyful abstract acrylic paintings by Lauren Strom, or a plaque of a tiny green T. rex popping out of a pink heart by Gamut Gallery founder Cassie Garner. Find many more options on the website at gamut-gallery.myshopify.com. Everything (except three works) is priced under $1,000.
Cheapest: $6 robot keychain by Linnea Maas.
Most expensive: $2,400 for the drippy, trippy painting "Flowers for You #4" by Evan Weselmann, who has designed for rapper Kid Cudi.
Ends Dec. 23 in-person, and Jan. 10 online. 717 S. 10th St., Mpls. Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Fri., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. 612-367-4327 or gamutgallerympls.com.
Looking to buy directly from artists, right out of their studios? Seventy artists open their studios for the very last Holiday Saturday at the Northrup King Building on Dec. 17 from noon-4 p.m. For those who do not want to brave the icy streets, directly browse the NKB directory or select a gift card from one of 27 artists. If you'd still like to support local artists but want to choose from more names, go directly to the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association and browse https://nemaa.org/shop. There are about 180 studios at Northrup King and about 400 artists and arts-based businesses.
Dec. 17 from noon-4 p.m. Northrup King Building, 1500 NE. Jackson St., Mpls. northrupkingbuilding.com
Although not local to the Twin Cities, the AID2ART organization offers an art sale with 50% of proceeds benefiting the Ukrainian creative community. Artworks are created by Ukrainian artists, designers, photographers and illustrators, including Vladyslav Musiienko's pictures of snowy Kyiv at night and Rusaliya Abo's illustration of a character backpacking its way through the universe. On Dec. 14 and 15 only, AID2ART offers a 20% discount, lowering the prices to $20 for poster prints and $12 for postcard packs. Visit aid2art.org. Free shipping on purchases over $100.
Cheapest: $12 for postcard packs.
Most expensive: $20 poster prints.
Critics’ picks for entertainment in the week ahead.
