You may have heard of free little libraries, but have you ever stumbled upon a free little art gallery?

These tiny exhibitions became popular after a Washington-based artist opened her own in Dec. 2020 when museums + galleries were forced to close their doors because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Local artist Jenn Hart was inspired — and created her own “Hart Little Free Gallery,” located on Booksin Ave. in Willow Glen, to share art within her neighborhood.

Jenn’s neighbors show off the free art they picked up from her gallery. | Photo via @hart_little_free_gallery

“I’m sort of a dabbler, which is another reason I love the little gallery,” Jenn said. “Limiting the size of the work has been a fun challenge for me too.”

Though technically a local neighborhood initiative, Jenn said that people from all over visit to contribute to the gallery and that she has talked with other mini exhibit founders to meet + swap art.

Just about a mile south of Jenn, in the Cambrian area near Reed Elementary School, is SJFLAG — another mini gallery created by local artist Natasha Kramskaya.

SJFLAG based its box model off of San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art. | Photo via @sjflag

SJFLAG, which opened in early February, invites artists to engage with the community. Through her connections at Works San Jose, Natasha has received many contributions from local artists looking for an opportunity to display their work.

“People crave more original art in their lives, now more than ever,” Natasha said.

Collage work from mixed media artist Tania Okay made its way in a few days ago and was joined by an anonymous artist’s wire sculpture of a lightbulb person, sitting on a mini bench enjoying the art.

Both of these free little galleries change almost every day — and to both artists, that’s the fun of it. No matter the skill level, anyone is invited to contribute their work to either of these free little art galleries.

Updates about these galleries can be found at each of their Instagram accounts. Show them some love + leave some art. 🎨