E-commerce has nothing on these holiday shopping experiences at galleries, museums, and community art spaces in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah.
Across the Southwest, artists are taking part in a rich array of holiday-themed events, sharing their work through festivals, markets, pop-ups, exhibitions of small works, and more. They’re happening at galleries, museums, retail shops, universities, and myriad community settings—from a scenic river walk to a botanical garden.
Arizona-based artist Lisa Olson has a holiday tradition that’s rooted in a mindful approach to choosing gifts. “I’m obsessed with talking about mugs and how art affects everyday life, so I give them to everyone,” she says. She’s also got a burgeoning collection of her own, and describes being “very intentional” about which mug she chooses to use on any given day. “It’s a chance to slow down a bit, and really think about where things come from, how they were made, and whose hands built them,” she explains.
Olson owns Practical Art, a retail and gallery space in Phoenix that carries an eclectic array of works by more than 200 artists, most of them based in Arizona. This time of year, she fills a whole wall with one-of-a-kind pieces for the shop’s annual Mug & Cup Show, and says she delights in the interactions they inspire. Like other artist-made gifts, they’re vessels that impact the ways we think about ourselves and others. “The conversations they spark bring people joy that ripples through the community,” reflects Olson. “Choosing artist-made gifts is one way of being creative and living authentically.”
If you’re eager to support local artists while you’re doing your holiday shopping this year, we’ve got over forty options in six Southwestern states to help you get started—but remember to keep an eye on your favorite creative spaces in your own community, too.
Small shops + galleries that sell works by numerous artists
If you enjoy having lots of choices, seek out places that specialize in works by local artists, like Commerce & Craft in Salt Lake City or Practical Art. Look for giftable art in smaller towns, too—like the Fuller Lodge Art Center in Los Alamos, where works by more than sixty local and regional artists fill the gift shop and adjoining gallery space for the time of year they love to call “affordable art season.”
Arizona: Practical Art, Phoenix / @practicalartphx
Colorado: Inspired Artisan Market & Studio, Estes Park / @inspiredartisanmarket
Nevada: Artisan Store at Brewery Arts Center, Carson City / @breweryartscentercarsoncity
New Mexico: Fuller Lodge Art Center, Los Alamos / @laac_flac
Texas: Austin Art Garage / @austinartgarage
Utah: Commerce & Craft, Salt Lake City / @commerce_craft
Galleries + art spaces with small works exhibitions
Good things come on small canvases, but you’ll find more than paintings in most small works exhibitions, including the Bite Sized show at Urban Arts Gallery in Salt Lake City, where even sculptures need to be smaller than 12 x 12 inches. At Artists on Santa Fe Gallery in Denver, you can pop into open studios when artists are on site, plus shop for gifts to help friends start their own art collections or create whimsical salon-style wall displays for their cozy living rooms or drab office cubicles.
Arizona: Small Works: An Element of Celebration!, December 6–22, Sedona Arts Center / @sedonaartcenter
Colorado: 37th Annual Holiday Exhibition, through December 30, Artists on Santa Fe Gallery, Denver / @artistsonsantafegallery
Nevada: Lucky 13, through December 27, Mesquite Fine Arts Center Gallery / @mesquitefineartscenter
New Mexico: Small Works Art Show, December 5–January 11, New Mexico Art League, Albuquerque / @newmexicoartleague
Texas: Holiday Exhibition, December 7–28, Pencil on Paper Gallery, Dallas / @pencilonpapergallery
Utah: Bite Sized, December 3–29, Urban Arts Gallery, Salt Lake City / @urbanartsgallery
Festivals + markets featuring local artisans
Shopping at festivals and markets brings a fun, interactive dimension to the holiday experience. You can talk with a variety of artists, crafters, and makers at the Hi-Dez Art + Craft Holiday Market at Holland Project in Reno, for example, or the Holiday Fine Arts Festival Market at Art Gym in Denver—which also features artist demonstrations that give you the chance to try hands-on activities like printmaking.
Arizona: Winter Market & Open House, December 7–8, Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff / @museumofnaz
Colorado: Holiday Fine Arts Festival Market, December 7, Art Gym, Denver / @artgymdenver
Nevada: Hi-Dez Art + Craft Holiday Market, December 14, The Holland Project, Reno / @hollandreno
New Mexico: 5th Annual Holiday Art Market, November 30, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe / @wheelwrightmuseum
Texas: River Walk Holiday Art Show, San Antonio River Walk, December 13–15, San Antonio / @thesanantonioriverwalk
Utah: UMFA Holiday Market, December 7–8, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City / @utahmuseumoffinearts
Creative spaces with gift certificates for classes taught by local artists
When you’re shopping for someone who loves to rock their creative side, look for places that offer gift certificates for art classes or workshops, like the Harwood Art Center in Albuquerque, where upcoming workshops include Paper Dolls and Identity Play with 2025 Resident Artist Jocelyn Salaz, or the Kimball Art Center in Park City, which offers drop-in and weekly classes for children and adults.
Arizona: Shemer Art Center, Phoenix / @shemerartcenter
Colorado: Cottonwood Center for the Arts, Colorado Springs / @cottonwoodcenterforthearts
Nevada: Clay Arts Vegas / @clayartsvegas
New Mexico: Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque / @harwoodartcenter
Texas: Austin Creative Art Center / @acacart
Utah: Kimball Art Center, Park City / @kimballartcenter
Holiday sales at local student galleries
Check out holiday sales at your local college, university, or art school if you’re especially eager to support student and faculty artists in your midst. Most feature works in diverse media but some specialize in particular types of work – such as prints at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and glass at the University of Texas in Arlington.
Arizona: Annual Holiday Art Sale, December 4–5, Eric Fischl Gallery, Phoenix College, Phoenix / @eric_fischl_gallery
Colorado: Colorado College Arts and Crafts Fair, December 6–7, Colorado College, Colorado Springs / @coloradocollege
New Mexico: 29th Annual Print Sale, December 5–7, University of New Mexico Department of Art, Albuquerque / @unm_art
Texas: Holiday Glass Art Sale, December 6, University of Texas, Arlington / @utarlington
Utah: Annual Holiday Art Sale, December 4–7, Gittins Gallery, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City / @universityofutah
Museum + art center gift shops that carry local art
Plenty of museums carry works by local or regional artists in their gift shops, making it convenient to mix holiday shopping with exploring the season’s fresh crop of exhibitions. At the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art in Salt Lake City, for example, they have dozens of works by local artists on consignment and they get most of their other merchandise from independent artists. Most museums, including MCA Denver and the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, also have online shopping options.
Arizona: The Museum Store at Tucson Museum of Art / @tucsonmuseumofart
Colorado: MCA Denver / @mca_denver
Nevada: Nevada Museum of Art, Reno / @nevadaart
New Mexico: Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe / @museumofinternationalfolkart
Texas: The Contemporary Austin / @contemporaryatx
Utah: UMOCA, Salt Lake City / @utahmoca
Multi-artist holiday shopping boutiques + pop-ups
Pop-ups are happening in a variety of settings, from artist studios to fine art museums. If you’re looking for works by contemporary Native and Indigenous artists, seasonal options include single-day events at the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts in Spring, Texas and the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. In Phoenix, dozens of artist are participating in Patricia Sannit’s one-day Art & Objects Studio Sale.
Sannit created her Art & Objects Studio Sale several years ago, after finding inspiration in a friend’s backyard art fair. Today the annual tradition launched with just a handful of artists is helping dozens of emerging and established artists make sales that help to fuel their ongoing creative practice.
Meanwhile, shoppers get to meet and talk with artists in their community—plus others who share their love for the localist vibe. “It’s a community thing rather than a commercial event,” says the Phoenix-based artist, who also has studio space at the Rocking S Art Ranch. Last year, she says, nearly 500 people turned out for the art sale, which draws people mostly by word-of-mouth.
“Any of these local or regional art events provide real conversations with real people,” reflects Sannit. “That’s especially important now when we think about the big picture and art’s role in helping people see each other’s common humanity.”
