SMART SHOPPING: MUSEUM GIFT SHOPS

Published Sunday, September 14, 2008

The next time you’re checking out an art museum, don’t bypass the gift shop. Many are great places to find accessories.

This isn’t cheesy souvenir schlock, either. Luxurious cashmere wraps, silk ties and hand-crafted jewelry fill racks and display cases. Some are inspired by pieces in the collections, and some are the work of local and regional artists. These “museum pieces” aren’t necessarily cheap, but sales often help fund future exhibits and events.

The Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art have catalogs, and you don’t have to be a museum member to get them. You can also shop these museums online. Online shopping at the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is limited to books and notecards, so you’ll have to visit them — and the University of Missouri’s Museum of Art and Archaeology — to peruse their selections.

● Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org

● Smithsonian Institution, www.si.edu

● Saint Louis Art Museum, www.slam.org

● Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, www.nelson-atkins.org

● MU Museum of Art and Archaeology, maa.missouri.edu

— Caroline Dohack