Art aficionado Leona Rubin, 89, lives in Clarinda, Iowa. Her friend, Cynthia Pederson, an NPS member, drives from Mound City, Missouri to visit. Cynthia came especially to see the new addition to Leona’s flower-filled front yard. There’s a bright, purply box on a lemony post. It looks a lot like a little library but it’s a Free Little Art Gallery. In it, Mrs. Rubin has displayed several small-sized pieces of handmade art. Anyone is invited to walk by and view the art or to participate in the exchange. One of the first contributions to this art exchange had an NPS connection. Cynthia brought two pieces of little art she’d made in Arlene Bandes’ Crayon Engraving class in Oregon.
This eye-catching mini art gallery was a unique birthday gift from all of Mrs. Rubin’s children. The idea for the box came from a daughter who lives in Durango, CO and who had seen a similar gallery in her neighborhood. The original idea for a small art exchange gallery came from a Seattle-based artist who pioneered the concept as a themed dollhouse. In 2020, as Covid measures were closing Seattle galleries, this artist decided to perch a dollhouse on a post in her front yard. This could be a place where tiny art works could safely be displayed, enjoyed, and exchanged.
Leona Rubin’s Free Little Art Gallery was a group effort, built by all her children, who see the gallery “as a tribute to their mom’s artistic spirit.” The cedar used for the floor and shelves in the gallery came from cedar harvested from an acreage outside Clarinda where Leona and her late husband Harry lived for fifty years. The unique handle for the little gallery’s hinged door is a paint brush used by Leona’s great-grandchildren to paint on a tablecloth used by the family each holiday. The children paint something new on the cloth each year. Great-Grandma Leona frequently does art projects with children and she loves that “all the great-grands had a part” in the Little Gallery.
Whenever Cynthia gets to Clarinda, she visits Mrs. Rubin to help her “manage” the little art gallery by adding nature-printed cards, installing the latest small art made by Mrs. Rubin or just doing a bit of straightening up. Cynthia also wrote an article for the local newspaper to help spread the word about the Free Little Art Gallery.
Art is and has been a very important part of Mrs. Rubin’s long life. She took her first art lessons at forty-seven years old. Later she taught herself to paint with watercolor and acrylic and to do wood burning. Although, at age 89, Mrs. Rubin is hampered by Parkinsonism, she continues to paint on canvas, cards, and does wood burning on gourds and other projects. She is not able to walk in her yard, yet Mrs. Rubin is pleased to share her interest in and talent for art with others. The Free Little Art Gallery has a sign attached to the post that explains what it is for to those unfamiliar with the idea. “Welcome to the very small free art gallery in town. Take a moment to pause on your way past and enjoy the art. Please be a part of our creative community. Feel free to take a piece, leave a piece, or both. Art can be a painting, fabric, a poem, etc. What is art to you?”
Although Covid closings, the initial impetus for these outdoor tiny galleries, have abated, the movement to establish FLAGs (Free Little Art Galleries) has continued to grow. One useful website is freelittleartgalleries.art . This site has suggestions for building or buying, managing, and promoting free little galleries. On that website, there’s also a form for submitting an update about a FLAG and a map if you’d like to go exploring and find a FLAG. Be sure you take a little art with you so you can enjoy the fun of a free exchange. 730 FLAGs had been mapped on this unofficial “fan site” as of January 2025. Tylertork.com also has a web page with lots of useful information for anyone interested in FLAGs.
For folks who were inspired to make art when the ATC (Artist Trading Card) craze began, the FLAG movement might provide similar inspiration. For many nature printers, the small format of an ATC was a great canvas size for using parts of prints that maybe had a smudge or some other flaw. Certainly, for those who find a large canvas intimidating, a small canvas might stimulate creativity. And like ATCs, it’s not about selling; it’s about exchanging and having fun. FLAGs may help readers who find their enthusiasm for art and creativity flagging a bit; just find a FLAG and get a little art charge—for free.
From left to right: Nature prints made with Sculpey Clay; Greeting card made from a faint cyanotype as the background with a paper-cast fossil, and handmade paper behind the postage stamp; Nature print cut out and postage stamp; Nature print of Gingko leaf and stamp.
