A Free Little Art Gallery for Berryville

By Ann St. Clair Lesman

When you walk along Main Street in Berryville, in front of the Bank of Clarke, you will see a small structure that looks like a tiny house. It is a FLAG, a Free Little Art Gallery. Inside is a diorama that shows figures gazing at works of art, as people might do in a real art gallery.

The Berryville FLAG is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Clarke County and is one of the many ways that Berryville is celebrating the town’s 225th anniversary, a milestone year. This year, events, programs, and exhibits highlight the past, present, and future of the community. The structure was built by Michael Danielson of Winchester. A sign on its post says, “These are difficult times. Make your world more beautiful by taking home a small piece of art. Feel free to take a piece — no larger that a typical postcard — or leave a piece; or both. Artworks are affixed to the walls of the gallery with heavy duty double-sided tape. Pull firmly to remove. Press firmly to attach another work. Do not take a figure or a piece of furniture.

The tiny art gallery might remind you of the Little Free Libraries you see around Clarke. In fact, FLAGs were inspired by the little library concept, which bills itself as the world’s largest book-sharing movement.

One of the first FLAGs was created by artist Stacy Milrany in Seattle. She had a structure built that was like a Little Free Library and filled it with pieces of art. She tells patrons, “The Free Little Art Gallery opened December of 2020 in an effort to shed a little light, levity and beauty on a heavy [covid-impacted] year. Anyone is welcome to leave a piece, or