Free Little Art Gallery encourages people to leave a piece of art or take one home
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IDAHO FALLS — A white box and green box outside of two museums in Idaho Falls is allowing a way for people to share their art and make it accessible.
The two boxes are Free Little Art Galleries and are outside the Museum of Idaho and the Art Museum of Eastern Idaho. The art galleries were installed last year in Idaho Falls but weren’t used until this May. The Idaho Falls Downtown Development Corporation paid and manages them.
They look similar to free little libraries but are specifically for art.
“It’s basically the same concept. People can leave art that they have made or even small pieces that they have in their house that they don’t want anymore and then people walking by — if you find something that you love or that you want, then you can take that home with you,” said Chloe Doucette, managing director at the Museum of Idaho.
There are Free Little Art Galleries across the country. Click here to learn more about them.
“We are thrilled to be able to bring more public art into Downtown Idaho Falls. We have seen so many amazing art pieces already and we can’t wait to see what is created next!” said Courtney Hernandez in an email to EastIdahoNews.com, with Idaho Falls Downtown Development Corporation.
Hernandez said that the director of IFDDC, Catherine Smith, saw the Free Little Art Gallery in Washington D.C. and wanted to create the galleries in downtown Idaho Falls.
The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho posted on Facebook in May, “It looks like there are already a few pieces of art inside…so fun! A BIG thanks to Idaho Falls Downtown Development Corporation for providing TAM with a Free Little Art Gallery and promoting the creation and exchange of art in our community.”
Hernandez said creators can put any art form in the galleries like paintings, drawings, clay, colorings, embroidery and photographs. The art just needs to be made small enough so it can be placed inside.
“We ask that they leave our little easels we have placed inside the galleries to display the art,” Hernandez added.
Anyone can either leave a piece of art or take a piece of art home. Doucette said she has seen some pieces already displayed in the gallery outside of the Museum of Idaho.
“We had a really cool place in our gallery here that was a sketch that somebody did of one of the taxidermy pieces in our exhibit. It was a really beautiful, realistic-looking wolf sketch that they created,” she said. “We’ve had skyline sketches and all sorts of interesting things have popped up and so I am hoping as more people learn about it, more artists will want to contribute.”
There is an Instagram account for the galleries where anyone can see what type of art has been found inside. Click here to follow the page.
Hernandez said there would be an official ribbon cutting with the Chamber of Commerce on July 6 at 4:30 p.m. at the Free Little Art Gallery outside of the Museum of Idaho. Following the ribbon cutting, there will be an Art Out Night event, in which anyone can create a little piece of art for the galleries. Click here for more details.
