Sales Triple at Pelham Art Center's Holiday Gift Sale

With eight days still remaining, the annual holiday exhibit--"Craft-Tastic/Gift It"--has already brought in $7,200 in sales, triple the amount it accrued last year.

By focusing on "functional gifts," priced from $30 to $8,000, this year's exhibit offers shoppers a way to buy something that's funky and justifiably useful. Buyers also have the chance to support emerging talent, as the Pelham Art Center keeps 40 percent of each sale and gives the rest to the artist.

The exhibit consists of two rooms—one, solely with ceramics, the other offers a more varied mix of furniture, jewelry and scarves. The ceramic room, curated by Leigh Taylor Mickelson of the Clay Art Center, features intricately detailed clay mugs, bowls and vessels crafted by a number of local artists. In the adjacent room, one-of-a-kind item seekers will find the necessary splashes of color among wall mirrors and coffee tables that make furniture shopping an activity, not an errand.

Some Pelham talent can take credit for infusing creative flavor into this gift spread. Virginia Lunt’s “Bull” print sold for $500 and jewelry from Randy Clare Designs can be found on some of the shelves.

And, because giving really is better than receiving, this fair gives you a chance to do both. The over-the-shoulder “Healing Arts” handbags, sewn by Congolese women, boast exotic prints and the chance to help survivors of rape in the region. Proceeds from these sales are donated to "Healing Arts" which aims to provide rape victims with skills and income so that they can develop businesses and their independence.

Though many of the gifts have already been scooped up, there are still quite a few eye-catching presents to buy—until Jan. 15, that is. Anything remaining at that point will be returned to its creator.