The Tiniest Gallery
February 14, 2016 7:45 PM   Subscribe

The Tiniest Gallery "I like art, so I built a single-serving art gallery that features local artists and hung it on the fence outside my house. " [via mefi projects]
posted by xingcat (14 comments total) 18 users marked this as a favorite
 
Cool! We have this idea here in Madison too! When I lived by one, I would regularly walk the dog by it to see if there was anything new.
posted by rockindata at 7:52 PM on February 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


Another small museum showing good original art is the Mµseum in Somerville, MA.
posted by Miko at 8:11 PM on February 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


Mµseum

Is it pronounced Mmuseum?
posted by figurant at 8:14 PM on February 14, 2016


It's pronounced "tiny museum" apparently.
posted by Miko at 8:16 PM on February 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


Davis square has another significant museum.
posted by sammyo at 8:20 PM on February 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


This is the best thing.
posted by quaking fajita at 8:22 PM on February 14, 2016


This is awesome, and reminds me of the little free libraries concept (previously), which has really taken root here in Vancouver anyway.

Sadly, it has been discovered that street-people have begun to raid the books from them, in order to sell them on the street. (I am ambivalent about this myself, my feeling is that if they need the money that much, then who am I to begrudge them?)

Which raises the sad question, what will prevent this from happening to the art, and is this really a concern?
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 8:44 PM on February 14, 2016


An elderly couple down the road from me built a small shelter for their new recycling containers. A couple of days after the shelter was up a painting was hung in there. So now I have a brief look at the painting every time I got to the local store or to work. It's not great art but it brightens up the neighbourhood.
posted by Harald74 at 11:26 PM on February 14, 2016


Which raises the sad question, what will prevent this from happening to the art, and is this really a concern?

It looks like the art gallery is locked. Unlike free libraries which rely on people being able to access the books, the art gallery doesn't need people be able to get at it.

Though the FAQ does mention it has been vandalized.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:06 AM on February 15, 2016


Shepherd put this up because nearly every neighbourhood is chockablock with Little Libraries, but there is no art. And considering he loves art, this is his way to sharing that passion with others. People in our neighbourhood are quite pleased by this.

It has only been vandalized the once so here's hoping it doesn't happen again!
posted by Kitteh at 6:25 AM on February 15, 2016 [1 favorite]


Aw, thanks, everybody!

Yes, it's padlocked -- mainly because people are entrusting me with their work, and my chance of collaboration is higher if the artists involved don't feel like their work might get picked up in a few seconds. My friend James Duncan has been doing a project called "Left Art" for quite a while in Montreal, though, where he drops 4"x4" watercolours at random locations around the city for people to pick up.

The vandalism... the kidding-not-kidding joke I made to somebody walking by as I was fixing it up was that the most disappointing thing was that vandals didn't even take the art, they just ripped the door off the box. We live in a neighbourhood that's at the more genteel end of gentrification, so I have a considerable amount of sympathy towards the longer-term residents that have seen the area change around them, and this might have been a manifestation of that, a bit.

It's been mainly great so far, though; lots of people are stopping by and artists are now starting to spontaneously contact me to sign on, which is a huge validation of the whole project.
posted by Shepherd at 6:53 AM on February 15, 2016 [6 favorites]


Cute idea, I'd like to try something like that.
posted by Theta States at 11:01 AM on February 15, 2016


Brings to mind Art Basil in LA.
posted by jimw at 2:38 PM on February 15, 2016


New up: "Nope!" by pop artist Chesty Wilson.
posted by Shepherd at 8:09 AM on February 27, 2016


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