Introduction
This is about deciding where to put your Free Little Art Gallery. After you read this you might think, “Oh, looks like the only place I’m able to put it isn’t such a great place.” I encourage you to be creative about finding ways to make it work anyway. For instance, you might not have a great location for pedestrians to leave their art, but you can get art from locals in other ways.
Please regard this list not as “does it makes sense to have a FLAG?” but “of the locations available to me, which makes the most sense and what challenges will I have to deal with to make it work?”
Insofar as location affects participation, please refer to the page Getting people to leave their art (in progress), for strategies to build participation in cases where it doesn’t happen on its own.
Questions to consider
Your gallery’s location affects participation and the safety of the artwork in it. When evaluating a potential site for your gallery, I suggest asking yourself these questions:
- Is there regular repeat foot traffic past this location? For people to participate, they have to know the gallery is there and prepare for it by creating and bringing art. If it’s in a busy location but doesn’t get many repeat visitors — downtown in a tourist town, for instance — you may get a lot of people taking art but not many leaving their work.
- Will visitors feel safe stopping at your gallery? This isn’t just a consideration of whether it’s a safe neighborhood, though that’s a factor, but also whether there’s a place for them to stand to view the gallery that’s not too close to traffic, whether the location is well lit at night, whether there’s a barking dog next door (especially intimidating for younger visitors), whether the yard is attractive…. Stand there yourself and take in the vibe, imagining you’re a visitor.
- It’s tempting to put a gallery on your open front porch for protection from weather. A lot of people might be uncomfortable coming up there, though. I’d say it depends on the “vibe” of your neighborhood. Obvious signage inviting people to come on up may help.
- Will visitors feel comfortable standing in front of your gallery? Think about:
- What sort of surface will they be standing on? Short ground cover is generally okay, as are pavers. If the answer is sometimes going to be “a puddle” or “a sheet of ice” you may want to find a way to improve on that.
- Is there shade to save them from the sultry ultry-violet rays of the sun? I’ve chosen to put my gallery under a tree because it’s shady during Louisiana’s broiling summers. This is also better for the artwork (more later).
- Maybe try not to have people stand in a super windy area either. This is unpleasant on its own, but especially annoying when trying to deal with small, light artworks that might blow away.
- Is the gallery safe from vandalism at that location? This, again, isn’t about whether it’s a “bad neighborhood” — just about every neighborhood has bored teenage boys wandering around, and that’s who’s most likely to damage the gallery or, (more likely) remove all the contents including furniture and spectators. If you think it might be a problem in your area, these idlers are generally deterred by visible security cameras and a note inside the gallery to the effect that they’re on camera and vandals will be identified and reported to their moms. But there are some neighborhoods where this might not be enough — if your gallery is in a commercial area, for instance, it might be visited by people who are confident their moms can’t be found. In that case you might want to either keep it inside or bring it in at night. The gallery would only be available during open hours, but that might be an acceptable compromise.
- Will you be able to check up on the gallery regularly? Ideally someone should look in once a day, or if not, as often as you can manage. At your home or work is ideal for this. But people do put them up in parks or along walking trails. That’s fine if it’s a place you or a minion visit frequently — if it’s on a trail that you walk daily for exercise anyway, for instance. Don’t forget to bring a supply of reserve artwork to fill in the gaps if the gallery looks too empty.
- If you can coordinate with an art museum, gallery, art supply store, ice cream shoppe, or other compatible business, likely the employees can mind the gallery.
- Think about your climate at different times of the year and what weather conditions the gallery will be exposed to.
- What’s the predominant wind direction when there’s a storm, and can you face the gallery away from it or put it behind a wind break so the weather doesn’t blow in through any gaps around the door? Even if it’s not raining, opening the door when it’s windy can scatter the contents.
- Is the summer sun going to beam right in through the glass door, and can you face it away from that so it doesn’t become an oven? This is about protecting both the gallery and the artwork in it. Art can be damaged by extreme cold, heat, and humidity. You can address this through the design of the gallery itself — using low-E glass, providing ventilation, facing it in a good direction — but if the site is sheltered from extreme conditions, it’s easier.
- Some municipalities and neighborhood associations have restrictive rules for what people can put up in their own yards. Owners of Little Free Libraries have occasionally been forced to remove them or pay money for a permit review. If it’s the case in your neighborhood, it’s better to find out before you pour concrete for a post, so you can decide whether it’s worth the hassle of fighting City Hall (or Ashley, who heads the HOA).
- If this is a problem where you live, and you want to be a hero, talk to your city council representatives (or Ashley’s friend Tony) and see whether you can get the rules changed. There are no negatives about brightly colored, community-building book and art sharing stations. Please tell them to get their heads out of… well, tell them politely about the community benefits of such projects. Drop me a line and I’ll talk with them, if you like.