Your gift shop deserves something made for it.
I research your collection before I draw a single line. What I make for you exists nowhere else. It belongs to your institution and no one else's
This is for you if:
If you run a museum, cultural institution, or heritage site with a gift shop that should carry something as meaningful as what's inside, if you lead a boutique hotel that wants a welcome amenity with real visual identity instead of something sourced from a catalog, or if you're a brand or fashion label that needs original surface design work made by an actual artist, that's exactly what I do here.
Case Study: Museum of Santo Domingo Cathedral Gift Shop
What a real institutional commission looks like.
The Museum of the Cathedral of Santo Domingo is one of the most significant cultural institutions in the Dominican Republic. Their gift shop needed something that could carry the weight of what the museum holds: sacred iconography, centuries of history, a specific visual identity that belongs to that place and nowhere else.
I spent time with their collection before drawing a single line. I researched the Holy Family imagery, the cathedral's architectural details, the objects that define what that museum is. Then I designed three original silk scarves, each rooted in something specific from the collection.
They've been selling in the gift shop for over a year. They restock regularly. Visitors buy them because they feel like the museum, not like a souvenir.
That's what a commission from Mali does for a gift shop.
What's included in every institutional commission
Original illustration
Every design is drawn by hand in my New York studio. Your brief, your collection, your story, all of it translated into an original piece of artwork printed on silk.
Design process
Discovery call → brief → moodboard → design proposal → color approval → sample → bulk production. You're involved at every stage and nothing moves forward without your sign-off.
Production files & quality review
I review every sample personally before it ships to you: Color accuracy, print quality, and finishing.
Ready to sell
Your scarves arrive packaged and ready for your gift shop shelves. I can also provide product copy and photography guidance for how to display and describe them.
Investment & timeline
Investment
Institutional commissions start at $2,500. Final pricing depends on the number of designs, quantity, and complexity of the brief. Design fee is quoted separately from production cost.
A deposit is required to begin. Nothing goes to production without written approval at every stage.
Timeline
The full process takes 14 to 15 weeks from our first conversation to delivery. If you have a specific date like an opening, a season, an event, please tell me on the discovery call and we'll plan from there.
For rush timelines, reach out directly and I'll let you know what's possible.
Have a collection worth wearing?
Tell me about your institution, your gift shop, and what you have in mind. I'll respond within 48 hours.