Free little art galleries in Carrboro encourage people to take art, leave art, love art –

In 2020, Seattle-based artist Stacy Milrany built a “free little art gallery”: a dollhouse version of an art gallery that people could peer inside and see both small figurines and miniature prints of Milrany’s art pieces. About the size of a birdhouse, the idea was to allow locals to place their own art along with hers in the gallery. Over time, people would pass the mini exhibition to either take art, leave art, or both.

This free little art gallery movement would soon spread across the country, eventually reaching the Carrboro community. 

Merril Wolf, a Carrboro resident, was inspired to start a free little art gallery after seeing an article about the Milrany in the midst of the pandemic. After introducing the idea to her neighbors, they decided that Wolf’s yard would be a good location, as it opened directly to a sidewalk. 

“We got excited about it because it was the middle of the pandemic and it was something we could all do and contribute to,” Charlotte Smith, Wolf’s neighbor and an artist involved in the project, said. 

While it took a few years, Smith’s husband built the little gallery out of old barn wood. The West Carrboro Mini m’Art was officially launched in January of 2022.

“We had a little joke opening as if it were a real gallery, which was fun,” Smith said. “We all dressed up and toasted, made little speeches and had an unveiling.” 

Unknowingly, a few streets away, Bree Kalb was setting up her own little art gallery, inspired by an old friend’s daughter in Richmond, VA. 

She worked with a friend of hers who does woodwork and recruited him to build the little gallery, nicknamed Little Free Art Gallery Carrboro. After working with her former landlord to find a spot in her yard, the project finally launched in February of 2022.