Above: the Gallery of West Indian Art in Montego Bay (All photos by CJ)
By Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon
There only 125 shopping days left until Christmas, and it’s never too early to start making that list!
So next time I’m in Montego Bay, Jamaica, I’ll be grabbing a few of these Santa statuettes at the Gallery of West Indian Art, where they’ve been selling original local and Caribbean painting and sculpture for decades.
The Gallery is most famous for its “spotties,” hand-carved wooden figurines painted in vibrant colors and stippled with dots of white acrylic paint. The signature souvenirs start at $20 and, if you really want to add some dash to your décor, you can splurge on a six-foot-tall giraffe, which will set you back a few hundred dollars.
But as Christmas tchotchkes go, you can’t find anything more festive and uniquely Caribbean than a GWIA Santa.
He’s guaranteed to bring holiday cheer to your home, whether you’ve been naughty or nice.