Finders Keepers: The Free Art Friday Movement

Free Art Friday is a movement where artists gift pieces of original art to the public.  You may associate it with Random Acts of Kindness. The idea is to bring some joy to someone by brightening up their day with a piece of art that upon finding, they can keep it or leave it.  It is not a secret event and you can, as an artist, decide to do it on your own in your own way. However, in order to be part of a group of artists that have an organized approach to the event, you do need to make connections within the local art community. 

Give Me Wings by asboluv

Typically it is organized by an artist collective or sometimes an art supply store or someone who is otherwise connected to the local art scene.  This will vary from town to town, city to city. In order to be a finder, you may be “in the know” about the local organized event, or just happen to find the art by chance.  

Artists have been leaving art out for many years, however, the modern version of the Free Art Movement and the coining the phrase of "Free Art Friday" is attributed to online artist My Dog Sighs, a.k.a. MDS. Back in 2006 he started his group on Flickr which has carried on the tradition ever since. Here is the Free Art Friday Facebook page.   

Here is how it works for artists:

• Chose a piece of art to give away.
• Write on an attached note "free art for the finder to own and enjoy." By choice you can include name, website, email, etc. If participating on social media, you may want to give @names and #hashtags to enable the finder to thank you or give a shout out on social media should they desire to do so. 
• Place the art somewhere in public either outside or indoors, the how and where is entirely up to you. You can hide it or leave it in an obvious location.
• Some make a scavenger-hunt game of it leaving clues on Twitter, Facebook, and more recently Instagram (which can also be shared to the aforementioned social media).

Not So Empty Shop Window by asboluv

For those who wish to scavenge up some local art, just follow the artists! Something important to keep in mind, is what Free Art Friday is NOT.  When the word "free" is used some folks can get carried away, so please keep in mind that it is not meant to exploit the generosity of local artists. Please don't be a greedy art-hoarder. Also, know that a copyright is not transferred in the free transaction, so do not pick up an art drop with the intent to reproduce the art image. The intellectual property belongs to the artist themselves only.

To find out why artists participate in Free Art movements Click Here.


Share your thoughts and experiences with Free Art Friday.  Have you participated? Are you going to?

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