As the holidays get closer, it’s crunch time. Shopping days are getting fewer, let alone days to wrap your gifts.
This is the time of year it’s all too easy to give up and grab a gift card for those people left on your list you haven’t managed to buy the perfect present for — everyone likes Amazon, right?
Don’t give up just yet. You can still get the perfect gift, keep your dollars close to home by shopping locally and support organizations that truly need your money.
Buying a gift certificate to a local arts organization for the people on your list checks off all those boxes. The Capital Region is rich with the arts — theater, music, museums and more — and not only are you giving your loved ones a gift of the arts, your money is going directly to the organization, rather than a faceless corporation halfway across the country.
Not only that, but according to a study at San Francisco State University, those who receive experience gifts are satisfied with them longer than those who receive material gifts.
We’ve made a list of some of our favorite local venues, so all you have to do is decide what type of art the people on your list would love. If there’s a group not on the list, you’ll find local arts organizations very eager to work with you — so give them a call or send them an email.
They want their work to be seen, heard or experienced by as many people as possible.
THEATER
* Albany Civic Theater, Albany, 518-462-1297
* Classic Theater Guild, Schenectady, 518-387-9150
* Confetti Stage, Albany, 518-460-1167
* Curtain Call Theatre, Latham, 518-877-7529
* Home Made Theater, Saratoga Springs, 518-587-4427
* Mop & Bucket Company, Schenectady, 518-577-6726
* Not So Common Players, Clifton Park, 518-371-6681
* Proctors, Schenectady, 518-346-6204
* Schenectady Civic Theater, Schenectady, 518-382-2081
* Schenectady Light Opera Company, Schenectady, 877-350-7378
* Steamer No. 10 Theatre, Albany, 518-438-5503
* Capital Repertory Theatre, Albany, 518-445-7469
* Troy Civic Theatre, Troy, 518-217-8282
MUSEUMS
* Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, 518-463-4478
* Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy, 518-273-0552
* Children’s Museum of Science and Technology, Troy, 518-235-2120
* The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, 518-792-1761
* Irish American Heritage Museum, Albany, 518-427-1916
* National Bottle Museum, Ballston Spa, 518-885-7589
* National Museum of Dance, Saratoga Springs, 518-584-2225
* National Museum of Racing, Saratoga Springs, 800-562-5394
* Tang Teaching Museum, Saratoga Springs, 518-580-8080
* miSci, Schenectady, 518-382-7890
* Saratoga Automobile Museum, Saratoga Springs, 518-587-1935
* USS Slater, Albany, 518-431-1943
FILM
* Madison Theater, Albany, 518-438-2094
* Saratoga Film Forum, Saratoga Springs, 518-584-3456
* Scotia Cinema, Scotia, 518-346-5055
* Spectrum 8 Theatres, Albany, 518-449-8995
MUSIC
* Albany Symphony, Albany, 518-694-3300
* The Egg, Albany, 518-473-1845
* The Linda, Albany, 518-465-5233
* Palace Theatre, Albany, 518-465-4663
* Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, 518-584-9330
* Schenectady Symphony Orchestra, Schenectady, 518-372-2500
* Times Union Center, Albany, 518-487-2000
* Troy Savings
Bank Music Hall,
Troy, 518-273-8945
Categories: Life and Arts
