Make some art, take some art: insights from a curator
Ren Zhang (they/them) // Contributor
Livvy Hung (she/her) // Illustrator
Sometimes a walk through the neighbourhood yields a small surprise—a miniature fairy house hidden in a garden, a funny frog statue reclining on a rock, or a free little library to look through for any books you might like. You imagine other people stopping by to leave their favourite well-loved book, or the caretaker retouching some paint details on the door.
Imagine, one day, you run into the art version of these little libraries: a miniature art gallery with gifts and artwork of all kinds, from all sorts of people and places. “Take an art piece, leave an art piece,” a sign says. This is the world of Free Little Art Galleries (FLAGs). They’re popping up all over, with nine in Greater Vancouver.
Stacy Milrany, the Seattle-based creator of FLAGs says on her website that the idea came about in a time of isolation in 2020. Making art and distributing it became a way of staying connected to others. The idea took off and now there is even a website dedicated to marking these galleries across the globe. Monique Francis, a disabled artist in Vancouver, was inspired to make Palomita Little Art Gallery after following Milrany online. It came together with funding from a grant from The Vancouver Foundation.
“It’s whimsical, it’s sweet, it’s community building, and it’s free. I believe very firmly in the gifting economy, in the cycle of freedom. It appealed to me that it was free, that people freely gave and freely shared their art for others to take home,” Francis says. “That’s what art is. It’s an expression; it’s a conversation.”
Palomita Free Little Art Gallery is located at 1580 E 3rd Ave. Palomita, Francis explains, means “dove” or “peace” in Spanish. The gallery’s art selection goes through cycles: anyone can leave art, which means that sometimes there is so much art that Francis removes some items to ensure the gallery can be viewed properly. When the gallery is empty, she puts art supply kits inside. She says, “The idea is to share art that has been made with your own hand, not by a machine.”
The gallery is home to all sorts of art; Palomita has displayed zines, weavings, hand-knitted items, jewelry, sculptures, and more. Last year in August, Francis hosted a Zine Fest and distributed and cycled through over 2000 zines in the gallery. She recalls another one of her favourite exhibits where someone started putting paper lotus flowers inside the gallery and others started adding their own to grow a community art exhibit.
Francis says that her favorite part of being a curator is seeing someone come to the gallery and take a piece of art. In the future, Francis hopes to build a shorter gallery so that children can have easy access, and a sister gallery for fibre art which is her primary art medium. She would also like to host art hives, where people work on their art or start new art in a community setting. Francis remarks, “I think art can change the world.”
You can visit other FLAGs in Greater Vancouver, including East Van Tiny Gallery, Big Dog Little Gallery in Renfrew Heights, FLAG Cambie Commons, Burnaby Art Calling, and more. Find the global map for Free Little Art Galleries through their Instagram @mapofflags.
You can also support Francis’ work by visiting and sharing the Palomita Little Art Gallery, buying a collage kit or handmade journal from her Ko-fi shop, and following her on Instagram @palomita.gallery or her website.