Arts Focus: Perfect Holiday Gifts by the Local Artists of Lee Arts Center

This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

For holiday shoppers in the know, the annual Lee Arts Center Holiday Show and Sale has been a cherished Arlington tradition that allows you to #shoplocal for the holidays — finding unique ceramics, prints and other handmade crafts. This year, Arlington Arts invites you to visit Lee Arts Center Artists on the Web, where in addition to shopping from the socially distanced comfort of your home, you can also explore the artists’ talents more deeply.

Located in a charming former 1920s schoolhouse, the Lee Arts Center is a fully equipped professional studio for artists working in ceramics and printmaking. The Center houses a mini-gallery with rotating exhibitions of visiting and resident artists. Master workshops are offered throughout the year. Of course, that’s what goes on usually… For the safety of the public and the artists alike, the center has been closed during the pandemic. Clearly, crowding into the confines of the space for a sale would not be feasible.

To help the Center’s member artists reach you, we designed a page on the Arlington Arts website where you can find many of your favorite Lee Arts Center artists and discover more of their work on their personal webpages. Please check out their websites — a few have web stores, too. You might even want to commission a work as a gift! You will also find links to other regional events and shows that our members are participating in as well as their social media accounts, so you can give them a follow.

Although none of this can replace Lee Arts Center’s much-loved venue and event, we encourage you to utilize this virtual space to reconnect with your favorite local artist and offer unique holiday gifts to your friends and loved ones. Check them out!