The debut issue of The Guide generated some pretty interesting reader response. Enough, in fact, to prompt a follow-up issue with tips on how to support artists and the arts through the holiday season. In no particular order, here are my top picks for the week:

Limited Editions:
Post-punk downtown scene photographer Laura Levine, whose work is featured in No Wave (Abrams Image 2008), is offering limited edition pigment prints of her black-and-white photo of Bjork in Woodstock, 1991 at a special holiday price. Available in two sizes, this is a limited time offer available directly from Laura's website, where you can also read the story behind the picture.

Left to right: Bjork in Woodstock, 1991, copyright and courtesy of Laura Levine; Cover image from But That's Another Story: A Photographic Retrospective of Milton H. Greene by Joshua and Amy Greene, published by powerHouse Books; Goats, Schweitzer's Village by W. Eugene Smith, courtesy of Alan Klotz Gallery.

Artist Fernanda Cohen, a contributer to DART, has created a series of limited edition tote bags and journals graced with silk-screened images of her black cat Lilah. The cotton tote bags are just the right size for a MacBook and have a magnegtic button and a change pocket. Fer tells me that Maggie Gyllenhaal has one of her bags, which are now available at the Society of Illustrators gift shop. Also check Fernanda's website for updates on the programs she organizes for SI.

Rarities:
Alan Klotz, for 30 years presenting the classics as well as the arcane in photography, kicks off his annual holiday sale this Friday from 5-8 pm. Prices range from $5 to $5000 for over 400 works by such masters as Aaron Siskind, Josef Sudek, Tony Ray-Jones, and Edward Curtis, among others. My top pick from the announcement is Goats, Schweitzer's Village by W. Eugene Smith. Smith must have climbed the village bell tower to get this view of 4 goats gracefully perched on the roof of a farm building. That's great balance, and an inspiration for keeping yours during precarious times! Please check the gallery website for information.

The Usual Suspects:
Aperture's annual Holiday Sale is on, with 30% off most books, 15% off most limited edition prints -and 50% off gift subscriptions to Aperture magazine. If I had to choose just one item, it would be the Tinyvices limited edition, which includes all five books from the debut of the series as well as a signed and numbered photograph by each of the five featured artists: Kenneth Cappello, Allan Macintyre, Jason Nocito, Robin Schwartz, and Jaimie Warren. But check the website and see for yourself the bounty available on sale through January 5, 2009. This just in: Aperture is hosting the Magnum Holiday Book Party on Monday, December 15 from 7-9 pm. More than 20 Magnum photographers will be at the Aperture Gallery to meet you and sign their books.

powerHouse Arena is now hosting it's annual Holiday Sale, with prices guaranteed to make gift giving easy in hard times. pH Arena is DUMBO's neighborhood bookstore and carries books of all publishers, in all popular categories from kids' books to cookbooks, with heavy emphasis on photography books by many publishers. I asked Sara Rosen for her three top pick from the powerHouse list, and they are: But That's Another Story: A Photographic Retrospective of Milton H. Green, whose cover is graced by one of Green's most iconic images of Marilyn Monroe; We Are Experienced by Danielle Levitt, which was featured in the October 28^th issue of DART; and Yes We Can, Photographs by Scout Tufankjian of Barack Obama's historic campaign (the first printing sold out as books were making their way across the high seas). This just in: pH and PS 107 are hosting a slideshow, Q&A and book-signing with Scout Tufankjian next Tuesday at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $15 and will benefit PS 107's PTA.

More news from Brooklyn:
As if the Brooklyn Museum's Target Free First Saturdays weren't enough of a good thing, the museum has just announced what it calls 1stfans, a Socially-Networked Membership that will debut at the next First Saturday on January 3, 2009. Aimed at young art and culture hounds, it offers paperless benefits through the social networks Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter, as well as exclusive live programs during the First Saturday events for an annual fee of $20. The program is so new that information is not yet available on the website, so stay tuned.

Guggenheim Holiday Works & Process
The Brazilian Campana Brothers Fernando and Humberto, fresh from  the Designer of the Year Award at Design Miami, are now putting the finishing touches on their set for a new production of Peter and the Wolf commissioned by the Guggenheim. Starting on Saturday, December 13, there will be 12 live performances of Sergei Prokofiev's classic, performed by the Julliard Ensemble and narrated by renown fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi. Following each 30-minute performance, the audience is invited to view the artwork up close with the Campana Brothers. Tickets ($30 and $35) are available online

The Eye of the Beholder:
The term "recession-proof" is relative, and one of the most intriguing notices that recently came in was from Harper's Books, a rare book dealer in Easthampton, Long Island. The item from Harper Levine's newsletter that jumped out was this, in his words: "EVANS, Walker. American Photographs. New York: Museum of Modern Art (c.1960). First printing of the reissue of the 1938 edition....A titanic if unlikely association copy, INSCRIBED by Evans to Edward Steichen: 'to Mr. Steichen / in appreciation / from Walker Evans / June 1962.' What makes this association so remarkable - aside from the obvious linking of two American photo giants - is that Evans and Steichen were less than fond of each other. Despite the animus between the two, it is hard to imagine a more important historical association." Priced at $22,500, this volume is sure to be regarded as recession proof by the right collector. But that's another story.

Show DART your Moxie: To have your recession-proof items considered for The Guide, please send information by email with the subject heading: Recession-Proof. The Guide will continue through December.