A small free artwork gallery opens Artwork and Artwork Motion in Sharpsburg | Nice arts | Pittsburgh
Photo: Courtesy of the free Sharpsburg Small Art Gallery
Sharpsburg’s free small art gallery
Art can come from places that are unlikely. Outside of Pizzeria Sharpsburg, there’s not just art, it’s the entire art gallery, but it’s about the size of a mailbox so it’s not talked about much.
From the end of May there will be a small free art gallery next to the Gino Brothers Pizza Shop at 713 Main Street. The project invites people to donate and receive small works of art that will be displayed in a dollhouse-like setting with a small easel and a figure acting as the gallery’s patron.
Like a bird feeder, the box over the pole is part of the growing community of free small art galleries that are springing up across the country. The addition of Sharpsburg, like its predecessor, aims to foster community creativity and connectedness and encourage donations as all works are freely available.
Caleb Adams, a teenage artist who invented Susan Sharpsburg’s Free Little Art Gallery with his mother, said, “And in this case, it’s perfectly fine to just take something. But the overall goal is for someone to take something and then come back to another opportunity to give something. It’s a cycle. ”
Susan and Caleb also saw the gallery as an opportunity to support artists and foster a sense of connectedness in the rubble of a pandemic that closed museums and other art venues.
In the Instagram account gallery we’ll do our best to keep track of what’s going in and out, but sometimes the work is gone before it’s documented.
“Originally, I just said, ‘If you drop something, mark it and let me know.'” I’m not going to check it every day, “says Susan. “And it was like our way of saying.” Oh, then you don’t have to go there every day to take a picture. ”
But over time, some takers were happy to contribute, even if the artist wasn’t doing tabs.
“We had a wife, she actually did some things and curated a little wall,” says Susan. “And she tagged us and it was great to see where things went and how she got them into her house.”
The sense of community and creativity extended to the gallery building.
“So it was all built by this craftsman who is known to be called Scrappy,” said Susan, adding that he created a gallery using recycled materials from his house. “And he put this really weird feature in it. He left that mirror behind. And when people go to take pictures, in the picture because it’s their reflection, I find it a little interesting because I find myself in it.
So far, the donated works range from paintings, drawings, collages and photographs to small quilts, stickers and even painted seashells. In terms of size, Susan says she has seen works up to 20 “by 10” in size.
Susan and Caleb, who live at Fox Chapel, opened a small free art gallery during the Sharpsburg Art Adventure crawl. From then on, Susan says, she gradually gains support on social media and through word of mouth.
To do this, the mother-son duo teamed up with Caleb’s art teacher at Dorseyville Middle School in Nancy Goldberg. Initially, Susan thought the gallery should go to school, but Goldberg discouraged her. Instead, they decided that the Sharpsburg site would be more accessible to the general public, benefit from pedestrian traffic, and generally be easier to see.
Susan emailed Ferdi Bayrassin, the owner of Gino Brothers, who agreed to have the gallery in-store. Better still, the location is right across from Ketchup City Creative, a full-size art gallery and studio space operated by Goldberg become.
Photo: Courtesy of the free Sharpsburg Small Art Gallery
Nancy Goldberg, Susan Adams, Caleb Adams in Sharpsburg’s Free Small Art Gallery
Caleb is an artist who says his “dream job” is working in the animation industry, but Susan admits he lacks artistic skills. Even so, she is writing a story in Washington about the small library in Seattle. Susan says that in addition to Pittsburgh, many other cities have started joining the movement and have even formed a support network.
“What surprised me about the process was how many other small galleries are following us and vice versa,” says Susan. “Suddenly there is this strange meta-community in other galleries.”
She adds that she has received messages from other small gallery owners who have emailed art donations. Susan also said she was thrilled that the gallery that first influenced the Sharpsburg Project was being followed on Instagram.
The concept is similar to the small free libraries and pantries that have become commonplace across Pittsburgh. But for now, Sharpsburg’s free small art gallery is the only one of its kind. However, Susan says more can be done in other parts of the city as someone contacted her to open their own free small art gallery in Auckland.
Concerns about the gallery being destroyed or otherwise compromised are legitimate, but Susan says people have been respectful so far. Even when the tiny easels and doll-like patrons who are supposed to stay in the gallery disappear, she says, they mostly end up working.
“Actually, there are people who have donated patrons to make small numbers for us,” says Susan. “So what we have left is probably back.” This is supported by a post on Instagram in the gallery. This includes an update dated June 29th that shows a new group of donated patrons, more specifically a family of seven-member African American dolls.
Going forward, Susan and Caleb say they will stay where they are as long as the gallery is welcome. It was also installed so that it could be moved if necessary. For now, they’re a kind of marketing tool for artists who have been hard hit by the aftermath of COVID-19, and as a fun, unorthodox, and completely free way for people to experience art. I hope it helps.
“In a way, it feels like our job is almost done,” says Susan. “Let’s get it out. And now people can use it. ”
Free Sharpsburg Small Art Gallery .. 713 Main St., Sharpsburg. Instagram @flagsharpsburg also flagsharpsburg.wixsite.com/website
A small free art gallery opens Art and Art Movement in Sharpsburg | Fine arts | Pittsburgh
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