Free Little Art Galleries (FLAGs) often use tiny easels to display their tiny artwork. The art is there for people to take, but the easels are generally supposed to remain behind, as they’re a bit expensive. However, sometimes they go walkabout. Here are a few ways to ameliorate the problem.
Make them harder to take or less tempting?
The above type of stand, or other type, can be affixed to the floor with glue or other fasteners. This makes it less likely they’ll go missing, at the cost of reduced flexibility in placing artwork in the gallery. I don’t recommend it, but I acknowledge it is an option.
A lot of curators write, “Please leave this stand” or, “Property of whatever gallery” on the front of the crosspiece. I’m not sure how effective this is in reminding the stands to stay where they belong.
Magnets
Have magnet-friendly walls in your gallery. This can be done either by having metal or metal-lined walls, or painting them with magnetic paint.
Most of my artwork has magnets on the back, for display on a kitchen appliance or file cabinet. If people donate similar pieces, you can stick them right to the walls rather than clutter the floor with them.
For artworks that aren’t magnetic, if they’re thin enough, use “push pin” style magnets to affix them to the walls. For thicker works, you might consider adding magnets to them. I buy rolls of magnetic tape from the hobby shop and it’s easy to cut off a piece and slap it on there.
My theory is that people take the stands to have a way to display the art they’re taking home. If the art can be displayed more easily on their fridge, they won’t feel a need for a stand.
Cheaper stands
If you prefer to stand things on the floor rather than (or in addition to) sticking them to the walls, here are some less expensive alternatives to the wooden stands.
The Super Simple
Fold a piece of tagboard, and cut out a truncated triangle that juts out at the base. Open it to a right angle and stand it on its base. This makes a simple art stand that can be easily replaced. It’s not beautiful, but it does hold the art at a convenient height and angle for viewing.
The same, but in plastic
If you have access to a 3D printer, this project on Thingiverse is a similar design to the above cardboard stand, but in plastic. It looks more professional and doesn’t cost much to make. It is, however, a bit small, and you can’t simply scale it up because that makes the bendy part too thick.
The “A Art” stand
This is another 3D-printer project, using more plastic but sturdier than the one above. It allows for customization as to size, and also lets you add a label on the back, e.g. “Property of…”
You can find instructions and a copy of the program to create these stands, on The A Art Stand github project.
Cassette tape case
If you happen to have a source of cassette tape boxes, these make nice art stands and you’re unlikely to need the cases for anything else. You might put something below the art to raise it a little — maybe an oblong shape made from cardstock.
The origami card stand
Another alternative is this simple origami business card holder, made from one sheet of paper with no cuts.
It’s prettier than the above Super Simple, but it might hide more of the bottom of the work than you like. If the art is thick, or wider than the stand, there’s nothing to hold it in place. Still, you might make a few of these for appropriate situations.
Slightly Fancy Stand for Cricut or Scissors Wielders
If you want something a little fancier, read on. Using either a Cricut or similar computer-controlled cutter, or a pair of scissors, you can make a rectangular stand from cardstock or posterboard. No adhesives are used — cut, fold, and slot from a single piece of paper. Edge flaps fold back at right angles to strengthen the structure. I created versions of this in two different heights and with different decorations cut into the front.
My wife wants me to tell you she thinks it’s a mistake to make these too pretty since that will just tempt people to take them. My take on it is that if people regard them as artistic and take them home, that’s in line with the function of a FLAG and they are easily replaced.
NOTE: Using these in my gallery in Louisiana, I’ve found humid conditions tend to make them curl up and collapse if made from regular cardstock, even with the fold-back edges for support. One could try a more weatherproof material, or just use them in drier places.
Constructing these stands
At the end of this page you’ll find files to download and print for manual cutting, or to upload into the Cricut program. These are also public projects in the Cricut design space, so you can follow the links to those and clone them to customize.
Cut out by hand
Print the PDF or SVG “manual” template file on the “back” side of the material you want to use. This puts the printed fold lines on the inside of the model, with the good side of the paper facing outward.
The manual versions of these stands have no decoration on the front. To make it interesting, use die-cuts here, add stickers, or edit the SVG file to print on both sides of the page — fold lines on the back and decoration on the front. Or just use interestingly patterned cardstock.
Use Cricut
Use the SVG files below, or use one of these Cricut projects:
- tall art stand
- short art stand with spiral design
- short art stand with coyote design
- short art stand with astronomy design
These web pages should contain a control to launch the Cricut Design Space program with the project loaded.
Feel free to create customized versions. If you share your customized versions, I’d appreciate a credit in the project description.
In case you just want to change the decorations on the front, I’ve made those a separate group in the Cricut project (and in the SVG files), so it should be easy to delete that group and add your own decorations.
To customize the design, I would use Inkscape or other vector editor to modify the SVG file. The SVG format doesn’t distinguish between cut lines and score lines — they’re all just lines and Cricut assumes they’re all cuts by default. I’ve arranged the SVG files with all the fold lines in a separate layer, which translates to a group when you upload to Cricut. This makes it easy, after placing the upload on your canvas, to find all the lines representing folds, and change them from cut to score lines.
Don’t forget to Attach all the entities when done.
Note: The intended height of the flattened model is 10″ (25.4cm) for the taller stand, 8.25″ (20.95cm) for the short one, and but Cricut sometimes gets the size wrong when you import SVGs. If you resize the tall one, don’t forget to lock the aspect ratio first. This design will work at other scale factors, provided you scale the axes equally. The short stand can be stretched without worrying about aspect ratio.
Assembly (for both manual and Cricut versions) for tall stand
The cutout in the back contains two crosspieces that fold down and make a sort of zigzag to twist them 90 degrees so they can fit into the two slots at the bottom of the model. A rear view shows how these are folded.
These crosspieces also stick out in front to support the shelf at an upward tilt so gravity keeps the artwork in place. The shelf should stick out at a 90 degree angle from the front.
Tug gently upward on the crosspieces to get them nice and snug under the shelf.
Assembly (for both manual and Cricut versions) for short stand
The cutout in the back has two tabs that fit through slots in the front to form a two-part shelf on which to rest the artwork. Each tab has a triangular support to add strength to the shelf and hold it at a slight upward tilt. You have to fold this triangle flat against the tab to get it through the slot, then fold it down at a 90 degree angle to make the support.
I spied my first FLAG in the lovely Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. I’d like to put one in our front yard where we removed a tree. Are there any in Bend, Oregon?
I like your plan! Please consult the map on this website to find more galleries near you.