ForYourArt™ | KNOW | FYA'S 10 BEST WAYS TO GIVE AND SUPPORT ART FOR THE HOLIDAYS

FYA's 10 Best Ways to Give and Support Art for the Holidays

Art for all, all for art

With the holiday season officially in full swing, ForYourArt has put together our favorite holiday ideas in line with our motto: Art for all, all for art.

Museum Memberships
This Hammer museum membership requires no additional wrapping. It is available at 5 membership levels and includes a Hammer tote bag and vouchers for things like free food and drinks at the new Cafe Hammer. A membership is a gift that keeps on giving, offering a years worth of exciting exhibitions, events and experiences. Show someone you care about them and your local museum with a gift membership to Hammer, LACMA, MOCA , SMMoA, or the Norton Simon.

Hammer Museum membership

Veteran's Preserves
Situated outside of the Veteran's Hospital in West L.A., artist Lauren Bon and the Metabolic Studio worked with the Veteran's Hospital to construct and tend a giant strawberry-growing, aquaponic system in the shape of an American flag. The fruit, cultivated and farmed by the veterans, is made into preserves and jarred. Proceeds from the sale of the jam help to employ the veterans and continue the maintenance of the flag.

Aquaponic system growing strawberries outside the Veteran’s Hospital, West L.A.

Love Necklace
Based on artist Alexandra Grant's proposal to put the word "Love" on the roof of a house surrounding the Watts towers, as part of the artwork-as-community-revitalization effort Watts House Project, the Love necklace is a thoughtful way to show someone how you feel about them. With proceeds from the stylish silver and gold charms going right back into the South Los Angeles neighborhood, this gift is a great way to spread the love.

Alexandra Grant’s Love Necklace

Museum Stores
Museum stores are a great place to pick up fun gifts of all sizes. From exhibition posters and books to jewelry and quirky design objects, these stores can help you cross almost everyone off your list. Some of our favorite picks are the chic, basic designs of Muji's collection at MOMA, especially their handkerchief featuring a map of New York, holiday cards featuring work by Feliz Gonzalez Torres at MOCA and everything in SFMOMA's $25 and under holiday gift guide.

Muji handkerchief featuring a map of New York City

Benefit Editions
Editions are a great gift to encourage the burgeoning collector. The works last a lifetime and support local non-profits. LAXART has editions by William Levitt, Drew Heitzler and Jedediah Caesar available and Outpost for Contemporary Art has $50 drawings from Vincent Ramos, Pat Gomez, Julia Paull and others. Or support the Prints and Drawings Council at LACMA this season with the purchase of a This is Not a Good Idea Mick Haggerty print.

William Levitt, Installation Kit (plant and light), 2009

Prints and Posters
Artist posters and specialty prints are another creative gift for the friend who wants to liven up their walls. L.A.'s premiere print studio Gemini G.E.L. partners with artists on a unique collaborative printmaking process, works by some of contemporary art's masters like Josef Albers, John Baldessari, Chris Burden, David Hockney and new pieces by Joel Shapiro are available now. With a more introductory price range, Poster Child Prints has some fun pieces, from pop-y works by Miami favorite FriendsWithYou to vintage posters by David Weidman that make colorful gifts for recipients of any age.

Joel Shapiro, Boat, Bird, Mother and Child, 2009

Books
With a vast range of themes to suit any interest, art books are great gifts for avid readers and lifelong students as well as those who have always preferred to look at the pictures. Support a local bookstore by shopping at Ooga Booga, Family, Book Soup, Taschen, or Skylight this holiday season. For those who prefer to purchase from in front of their computer screen, D.A.P. has a constantly expanding and eclectic selection of culturally focused books from Hans Ulrich Obrist's enlightening Interviews Vol 1 and Vol 2 to Jugen Teller's surreal Election Day, which features photographs of Pamela Anderson and Vivian Westwood on election day 2009.

Hans Ulrich Obrist, Interviews Vol 2

Tickets
Sometimes the greatest gift is spending quality time with those you care about. Invite someone to experience one of your favorite venues with the gift of tickets to a performance, play or opera. REDCAT has avant-garde dance, music, art and theatrical performances throughout the year and UCLA Live has a range of events planned in the new year–from the Alberta Ballet performing Joni Mitchell's The Fiddle and The Drum to David Sedaris and the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour.

Dancers from The Wooden Floor, a new dance by Melanie Ríos Glaser, Mark Haim and Nami Yamamoto

Classes
Further someone's interest in the arts this season, UCLA Extension offers courses from Inside the Artist’s Studio to the History of Photography. For more obscure interests, Machine Project offers workshops in Monster Props & Costumes, Musical Soldering and an Introduction to Crochet.

Machine Project Monster Props and Costumes workshop

California Arts License Plate

The California Arts License Plate, created through special legislation in 1994, is a joint project between the California Arts Council and the Department of Motor Vehicles and was the first specialty-plate program in the U.S. designed solely to benefit the arts. Created by California artist Wayne Thiebaud, proceeds from the plate directly benefit the CAC. The plate can be personalized, and ordered directly online. Currently 60% of the CAC's operating budget is funded by sales from the plate.

Wayne Thiebaud's California license plate to benefit the arts