THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 7, 1995 TAG: 9512050109
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BARBARA KREISLER, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
Throughout Norfolk, the mixed assortment of holiday shopping surprises includes non-profit museums, art galleries, theaters and schools that offer a melange of unusual shopping alternatives and a chance to support the city's leading cultural, educational and humanitarian organizations.
Shoppers at The Chrysler Museum Gift Shop, 245 W. Olney Road, will find a large selection of museum reproductions, fine jewelry and sculptures. The museum is well-known for its glassware collection, and the gift shop is a great place to shop for Tiffany reproductions. Lamps are $110 to $270.
This year, too, there is a selection of Correia glass, including perfume bottles ($250 and up) and balls ($310). Looking for Faberge eggs? They range from $60 to $90.
For collectors of tree ornaments, there is hand-blown glass and porcelain ($8-$92). For art lovers, the shop is known regionally for its selection of art books. Other items include pens from France ($68) and ever-popular art posters.
For children, there are many educational toys and books designed to encourage an appreciation of art. ``Monet's Garden,'' a beautifully illustrated book and its accompanying doll, Linnea ($16-$26), and video ($19.95) are typical of the many gifts for children.
Purchases support the museum's educational programs, lecture series and special events, says Donna Sawyer, director of marketing and communications. On average, 600 schoolchildren tour the museum each day.
The Virginia Symphony's gift selection includes prices that are music to the ears.
Pens filled with White Linen, Polo or Chanel ($3), Cloisonne musical pins ($4), stuffed animals ($10), suspenders in red and white or black and white ($12), umbrellas ($15), T-shirts ($12-$14) and sweat shirts ($18) with the Symphony logo are a sampling of the items available, boutique chairman Helen Kolton says.
The boutique is open at all concerts, many of which take place this season at the Harrison Opera House, 160 Virginia Beach Blvd. Or call the Symphony office at 623-2310.
This season, the studio/gallery at d'Art Center is offering original works by its stable of 38 painters, sculptors, glass workers, photographers and potters, and introducing works by 23 new artists. Studios are open, so leave some time to chat with the artists while they work, or watch the demonstrations that are offered each Saturday through Dec. 23.
At its Simple Gifts, Cherished Treasures Gallery, shoppers will find stoneware, stained glass, fiber art and paintings ($50-$500). At the new Holiday Gift Gallery, there is jewelry, pottery, wearable art, fashion and fine jewelry, bronze sculpture, raku and enamelware ($28-$300).
Gifts also can be commissioned. Publicist Barbara Easton Moore says d'Art's most unusual request was the commissioning of a calligrapher to score ``Anchors Away'' on a bathroom wall.
For an aspiring artist, d'Art Center recommends a gift certificate for clay, painting or calligraphy classes ($77). The next eight-week session for children and adults starts in mid-January. The center is at 123 College Place and can be reached at 625-4211.
When you shop here, you're buying a piece of history,'' said Mitzi Van Horn, director of retail operations for the MacArthur Memorial at MacArthur Square (441-2965).
This gift shop has commemorative coins, first-day issue stamps, mugs, photographs, books, china, copies of documents signed by Gen. Douglas MacArthur and cassettes of his most memorable speeches. ``Reminiscences,'' MacArthur's limited edition book, is signed by his wife, Jean, with a facsimile of the general's signature. Smaller items include note paper, pens and pencils. The MacArthur tartan wool tie is $17.50.
Music boxes, T-shirts, sweat shirts and tumblers and musical toys for children are some of the items bearing the Virginia Opera logo, but the most popular gift in its shop is opera glasses ($5-$100).
Special among the gifts this year is ``Dining and the Opera in Manhattan,'' a cookbook containing 150 recipes from New York's master chefs and a CD of arias selected by the Metropolitan Opera Guild ($28).
For those intimidated by opera, opera guides are available for each of the season's productions. Guides include plot descriptions, behind-the-scenes information about the opera and its composer, and Lesson 101 to opera appreciation.
The shop is located in the Harrison Opera House on Virginia Beach Boulevard and can be reached at 627-9545.
Virginia Stage Company is offering a gift package for two - a pair of tickets to any of its plays also comes with a discount dining card ($40). Upcoming performances include ``Hamlet,'' ``Deathtrap'' and ``A Penny For the Guy.'' Support of this fully professional resident theater company funds a host of children's educational programs, director of marketing Lori Schick says. The company can be reached at 627-1234.
A gift from Virginia Ballet Theatre can provide memories for a lifetime, says director Frank Bove, who suggests giving classes that run $35 a month.
For children as young as 4, there are creative movement classes, and there are ballet, tap and modern dance classes for teens. There's a nurse, a doctor, an engineer and an Air Force militaryman enrolled in Virginia Ballet's adult dance classes, which Bove describes as ``for people who want to do more than sweat.'' Classes are taught by professionals who were trained at the nation's leading dance schools; alumni have danced with such noted companies as The Joffrey Ballet, Twyla Tharp Dance Company, Dance Theatre of Harlem and New York City Ballet.
The Virginia Ballet is at 134 W. Olney Road and can be reached at 622-4822.
Season tickets, gift certificates for acting, dance, singing, musical theater and set-design classes (an eight-week session for adults and children is $75) and items for children like dance bags, jackets, mugs and garment bags ($2-$40) are gift suggestions from Hurrah Players artistic director Hugh Copeland. The Hurrah Players can be reached at 627-5437.
International Quote Club/Norfolk/Hampton Roads Chapter is one of many local charities raising money this year by selling the ``Entertainment '96'' book ($35), which contains hundreds of discounts to restaurants and regional cultural, sports and recreational attractions and more.
``We focus our work on helping indigent women and children and the hearing impaired in Hampton Roads, and we truly depend upon the generosity of the community,'' said Sue Yuditsky, president of the club, which can be reached at 473-2218.
Shoppers will find gifts for landlubbers and seafarers alike at Nauticus' gift ship on Waterside Drive. Stuffed animals ($3-$140), nautical tree ornaments ($3-$12), fashionable jewelry in shell, silver and pewter, books for children and adults, navigator logs, ceramics and cookbooks like the regional Virginia Waterfront Cookbook ($5.95), one of many cookbooks for sale, are among the treasure trove of gifts. by CNB