Tag: art

I’m going to warn you, I can be quite pedantic. I like refer to my Free Little Art Gallery as a “Free Little Art Gallery”. (There’s even a site for them at freelittleartgalleries.art.)

And yet, I have one friend who will not use the shortened name FLAG because I guess they were involved with some other thing called “FLAG” and had a bad experience or something… so they call it an Art Library.

Another friend does a little better, and calls it a Little Art Library. So close! It’s Free Little Art Gallery… You know, it’s Free, it’s Little (and the art is Little) and it’s a Gallery.

I guess if you are used to talking about a Little Free Library you might get tripped up saying Free Little Art Gallery.

When I was describing it to my daughter months ago I said “It’s a Little Free Art Gallery… an LFAG!” before I realized I switched the letters, and quickly figured out that it was FLAG not LFAG. (For obvious reasons!)

So here’s the thing… I really don’t care what you call it, as long as you come and see it and take some art! Yes, you know… take some art. Some people see something and say “Oh, I love that thing, but I don’t want to take it, because someone else might want it.”

Please. Take the art. That’s why it’s there. I made something and put it there, or a friend of mine (or someone I don’t even know) put art there because they want to share it with the world!

So if you want something grab it. If you see something that someone you know might like, grab it. If a friend has a birthday coming up, grab it, give it to them and say “I thought of you when I saw this, and thought you might like it!” You don’t even have to tell them it was free, or where you got it from. I mean, isn’t it awesome you’re sharing someone’s art with someone you know?

I was thinking about someone calling it an Art Library, and remembered that one of my neighbors mentioned he used to check out art from the local library. What? Yes! You can check out art from the public library, hang it in your house for a while, then return it when it’s due. The Free Little Art Library can work the same way. If you see something you like, grab it, take it home, and keep it for a while. You can always return it.

I rotate things out if they’ve been in the gallery too long and no one takes it. If it goes through a few rotations I may drop it off at one of the other FLAGs in the area. (Either 65th & Clarke in Wauwatosa or 87th & Locust in Milwaukee)

It’s a Free Little Art Gallery. The Gallery is Little. The Art is Little. The Art is Free. Come and get it!

Brittany Farina is an illustrator who creates art for dog lovers. From pet portraits to stickers and magnets and even apparel. Brittany sent a bunch of packs for Gallery 69 that include a variety of stickers and magnets that show her style, and each includes a card so you can find her work online.

Speaking of her work, you can find it at brittanyfarina.com and if you prefer Facebook or Instagram she’s there as well. (Both are a steady stream of pet portraits which show her craft really well.)

Brittany also creates adult coloring books, and if you love dogs (and coloring!) it seems like that might be right up your alley.

She also does coloring books for rescue organizations to help raise funds so they can help more dogs. (I’m a cat-person myself, but I really so appreciate how much Brittany loves dogs and what she does for them and their owners.)

Okay dog lovers, what are you waiting for!? I’ve dropped a few of these stick & magnet packs into the gallery, so come and get them… and if you like what you see, get in touch with Brittany about more!

Gallery 69 is a Free Little Art Gallery located on 69th street just north of Locust street in the Enderis Park neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Right before I officially opened Gallery 69 I posted the following on Mastodon:

I’m opening a gallery this week. Sure, it’s in my front yard, and it can only handle small art… but the Free Little Art Gallery is (nearly) open!

Let me know if you want to contribute any art.

Woodworker Dave Polaschek said “What’s your address?” and I gave it to him and in no time he shipped a box of objects to me. It was the first to arrive, and I wanted to thank Dave (and congratulate him) for being the first one to send a package to the gallery. Cheers! So what was inside? Well, check the photos! Things from Dave’s woodshop. He also provided info on everything, so I’ll expand below.

The shot glass is birch from Timber Bay Lodge in Babbitt, Minnesota which was stabilized with black-dyed acrylic. (It might not be food-safe though, so don’t drink from it!) You can find more info about it on lumberjocks.com

While I’ve 3D printed a shot glass in the past I don’t think I’ve even seen a wooden shot glass. It’s pretty cool, and I hope someone takes it and appreciates it.

This bird (or “birb” as Dave called it) looks amazing. It was carved from juniper found in Dave’s back yard in New Mexico in September 2022. Hand-carving is one of those things I’m always fascinated by… My own skills lie elsewhere but I always appreciate a nice piece of wood shaped into something beautiful.

Again there’s a bit more info on Dave’s “birbs” on the lumberjocks.com site.

Finally there are two tops which were made in November 2021. One of them is pine and the other is a tropical hardwood (maybe granadillo). Both of them have been figited with in the shop and are a little dinged up. Dave suggested I add some paste wax to them (and I did) so they are nice objects but can also just functions as toys.

Thanks for reading this! You can check out more of Dave’s art at peekachello.art as well as write.as/davepolaschek

Gallery 69 is a Free Little Art Gallery located on 69th street just north of Locust street in the Enderis Park neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

By now you probably know we launched Gallery 69 a Free Little Art Gallery (or FLAG) and I was a little worried that it would just be me putting my silly (little) prints in there. Well, it’s just been on day (going on two) but things are looking up!

So first, the day before we opened, I came home from work and checked the gallery (mainly for leaks, we had a ton of rain!) and found a large ceramic piece. So yeah, someone left it there. I don’t know who. I asked the local ceramics guy and it wasn’t him, so either someone saw a post and knew about it, or wandered by, or maybe a neighbor put it there. I’m not sure, but I’m thankful for the first contribution! (If you recognize the signature, let me know.)

Next up, a small painting from Julie Weber. Julie also lives on 69th street, and may be assisting with some of the gallery maintenance in the future. (She was very excited when I told her about it months ago.)

You can find more of Julie’s work at jworiginalart.com, Instagram, Facebook, or Etsy. If you see something you like, consider supporting an artist by purchasing something!

I gotta say, I wasn’t expecting real paintings on real canvases… I really thought it would just be my cheapo garbage prints in there (on cheap) paper, so Julie has really raised the bar for contributions!

Finally, Madeline Prodoehl (UWM PSOA) added two experimental enamel pieces. While Maddy has a long history in photography, she’s also done illustration, printmaking, painting, and in recent years she’s been learning jewelry & metalsmithing. (You may remember the Mother’s Day card we collaborated on a few months ago.)

This is great! And I’m going to take a minute to talk about curation. I want to amass a good amount of art, and hope that people actually take things. Based on the other two galleries in the area, some things might sit in there a while. If that happens, I may rotate them out for a bit so visitors can see new things. Once they’ve been out of the gallery for a while, we’ll add them back in.

I’m already getting contributions via mail, and if you want to send something, please get in touch. I may even take digital works if artists are okay with me printing them on heavy/glossy paper.

Gallery 69 is a Free Little Art Gallery located on 69th street just north of Locust street in the Enderis Park neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.