gallery69

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.

Gallery 69 – A Free Little Art Gallery

Gallery 69 is open! It’s a Free Little Art Gallery which is sort of like a Little Free Library, but instead of books, we give away art. And if you’ve got art you want to give away we’d love to help out with that, just leave it in the gallery for someone else to enjoy. They can either take it home with them, or just admire it while it’s in the gallery.

There are a bunch of these FLAGs all over the place, not as many as libraries (yet) but you can search for one near you using freelittleartgalleries.art. (There’s also a great Smithsonian Magazine article explaining things in more detail.)

I first encountered a Free Little Art Gallery in the summer of 2022. I was out on a walk one morning and came across a large cabinet on 65th street in Wauwatosa, just north of Clarke street with a note inside explaining that it was an art gallery and would soon feature free art. I checked in on it every few days and eventually art showed up, along with a note about the opening night party! I did stop by that night and met Robin who set up the gallery. She was awesome and we talked about it a bit. I then made it a habit to visit at least once a week, and started dropping off my own art there. It was awesome.

So in 2023, I decided that for my birthday I wanted to build my own gallery. I am a thrifty midwesterner, so I gathered up the scrap wood I had lying around, found some nice shelves on the curb a few blocks away one morning (and hauled it home, which was not fun!) and while I did not finish the gallery in two days as originally planned, I did finish it in two months. Yay me.

Alright! Now we need some art! While I can certainly drop prints into the gallery when needed, I’ve already reached out to some artists I know about supplying some fine (little) art to keep it filled up.

Here’s a neat little leaf I got from another nearby gallery, located on 87th street, just south of Locust in the Cooper Park neighborhood. (Find it on Instagram.) Just like with my practice of moving books between Little Free Libraries I can see moving art between little galleries.

More random things… a print (which are actually gift tags) and some painted rocks from a free rock garden down on 69th street just north of North avenue.

Another one from the 87th street gallery, a flower card. People like flowers, right?

Here’s a print I made from a laser-etched plate I made from a photo I took of some power lines one morning. I plan to keep making more prints so come and get them if you like them!

A few more rocks from the free rock garden down on 69th street along with a small plastic piece that seems like a Shrinky Dink thing which I got from… I don’t remember! Anyway, it’s art, it’s free, and you can come and get it if you like it. Gallery 69 is located on 69th street just north of Locust street in the Enderis Park neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.