November just started, but the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Macon is already rolling in the Christmas spirit.
The museum is unveiling their 32nd annual Festival of Trees Thursday.
Director of Communications Sherry Singleton says the Festival of Trees is the museum's largest fundraiser of the year, going towards operations and educational programming.
Tree decorators range from art students to organizations to boutiques. Singleton says it takes them about two months of planning and around two days to put the tree together.
"We supply the tree, and they do the rest," Singleton said.
With 42 Christmas trees to see this year, Singleton says about two to three artists work on each one, but she calls their volunteers the most important part of the event.
"When you're talking about volunteers that help, because we wouldn't be able to put on the Festival of Trees luncheon and gala and exhibits without the volunteers -- that's usually around 100 to 120 volunteers total," Singleton said.
It's a little stressful, Singleton admitted, but mostly exciting for the museum and its staff.
"It's an exciting event, it's something we get excited about, we start working on it right around January, February," Singleton said. "So we finish in November, we get a month and a half break, and then we start back up."
Singleton says she's seen some wacky decorations in her 10 years at the museum. From cuckoo clocks, to sheet music, to sea shells, she says it's always fun to see what people come up with.
"When you really stop and look at the trees and invest a little time, when you see the skill that was involved and the time that people took to decorate the tree, it's awe-inspiring," Singleton said. "And sometimes there's some giggles, some of them are funny."
This year, the Macon Bacon have decorated their tree with sparkly bacon, and Wesleyan art students created three dimensional sculptures out of cardboard. The museum has also chosen to display the trees with permanent pieces from its collection.
PHOTOS: 32nd Annual Festival of Trees
"We felt like it was kind of a good time to set the two together, so people can invest some time in the artwork and really enjoy the Christmas trees, and it's the museum bringing two things together that it really loves," Singleton said.
The exhibit opens to the public Thursday morning and stays open until January 15.
As part of the fundraiser, the museum is hosting a Festival of Trees Gala that takes place Thursday at 7 p.m. at Terminal Station in downtown Macon. Click here to get your tickets.
If you can't make it to the gala, Singleton says the best way to give back to the museum is to get a membership.
"It's one of the cheapest museum memberships in the state, it gets you in all year long, and it helps us to set a solid foundation of people, like some ownership, in the museum itself," Singleton said.