Holiday shopping at the Huntington Museum of Art may be one of the region’s best-kept secrets.
By Dawn Nolan
HQ 119 | AUTUMN 2022
From its local downtown boutiques to the state’s largest mall, Huntington has no shortage of holiday shopping options. However, regular visitors to the Huntington Museum of Art might have the inside scoop on one of the area’s best-kept secrets for gift ideas. Offering everything from artisanal pottery and glass, to books and calendars, pins and buttons, regional food products, home goods, clothing, accessories and jewelry, the Museum Store touts a diverse collection of souvenirs and collectables.
“We have things that appeal to just about everyone,” said Director of Guest Services Raine Klover. “We have people from the community that come specifically to visit the Museum Store just to purchase gifts, and at Christmastime that becomes an even greater part of our business.”
Klover herself was a frequent shopper at the Museum Store even before she joined the staff in April.
“I’ve bought things from the Museum Store the entire time I’ve been in Huntington,” Klover said. “The museum has been one of my favorite places since I moved here 12 years ago. It was definitely my escape and my access to art when I first moved here from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Every time I visited, I bought something. That’s what you do. You visit a museum, and you see something that blows your mind; and then you buy a little reminder of it.”
Browsing the Museum Store shelves, guests can find museum exclusives, such as branded pens, magnets, books, clothing and accessories. There are also items that coincide with exhibits and popular areas of the institution, such as the C. Fred Edwards Conservatory.
“The Conservatory is a fan-favorite here, and so we have a lot of items that are tied into that,including items with axolotls and the poison dart tree frogs on them. We’re getting a sticker made with the corpse flower image, and we have things that have monarch butterflies on them for our Monarch Watch Project,” Klover said.
While not every item directly relates to an exhibition or collection within the museum, the items all connect to the museum’s mission as an advocate for the areas of art, education and nature.
“We have so many unique items here,” Klover said. “We are sourcing items from as far away as France and the U.K. We have a lot of fair trade items, too, and we are constantly seeking out new things that have some sort of connection to either art or nature.”
Of local interest are items revolving around artist Charley Harper, a West Virginia native known for his highly stylized works of wildlife.
“We love Charley Harper,” Klover said. “We have a wide variety of items by him — everything from bookmarks to notecards to books and calendars, even kitchen items like coasters and trivets. We really want to highlight our West Virginia artists and companies.”
There is also a wall filled with stickers, prints and books dedicated to cryptids such as the Mothman.
“That’s our West Virginia myths and history section; we highlight it for our visiting guests, but we also know that locals love it as well,” Klover pointed out. “We’re also getting things in that are skewing younger because that’s what we need; we want to get those folks here and visiting the museum regularly.”
Guests can visit the Museum Store for free at any time during the museum’s open hours — Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. A website, hmoastore.com, has been launched for online shoppers, and shipping is available.
“We also have gift cards and can make personalized gift baskets,” Klover added.
“Our big day this holiday season is Museum Store Sunday; it is the same shopping weekend of Black Friday and Small Business Saturday,” Klover said. “We’re going to be open extended hours on Sunday — from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. — and there will be free museum admission, discounts and a raffle. We’re also going to have artists present from noon to 4 p.m. so you can buy directly from local artisans as well. It’s going to be a big day.”
