Free little art gallery opens with work from young contributors

Teaching middle schoolers has taught Kristina Erickson that kids tend to love anything not exactly normal.

That holds true when it comes to art class too.

“So making artwork really giant or tiny size — they love doing stuff like that,” said Erickson, who teaches art at O’Gorman Junior High School and advises the art club.

She went with the latter approach in working with the art club this spring, leading them to treat a tiny art gallery that debuted recently at the EastBank Art Gallery, which is at the 8th & Railroad Center in downtown Sioux Falls.

“I was just looking for a way to have a bigger project that the students could participate in … and I wanted to have something that could tie into the community and create the idea that art is sharable.”

That led to the Free Little Art Gallery, featuring work from 27 students to start. The idea is that anyone who takes a free piece of art leaves a piece of art in its place.

“They were pretty excited about it,” Erickson said.

So was Julie Dent, a member artist at the gallery.

“We are a member-owned (co-op) gallery, so I brought the idea to a member meeting,” she said.

The vote was unanimous to host it, Dent said.

“The gallery members have had many discussions in the past about how to get a younger audience to the gallery, and this seemed a perfect way to start.”

The students worked with the O’Gorman High School industrial arts department to learn how to construct the actual gallery and visited with the Washington Pavilion’s Visual Arts Center to learn about how to create a curated collection of work.

“I just wanted them to get a really full and well-rounded experience,” Erickson said.

Most of the work from the students involves “teeny paintings,” she said. “They just ended up being really cool. … There’s a really large variety; we have some portraits, some paintings of sunsets and jellyfish and nature.”

The students were invited to the opening reception, and many told Erickson they were excited to see their work recognized by the community.

The goal is to have people actively participate in it “and keep the art new and fresh with additions,” Dent said.

“The gallery has been in the same location for 18 years, and we have many people drop in that didn’t even know we were here before. The art community in Sioux Falls has come so far promoting art in this city, and it’s exciting to see the townspeople and areas around responding so positively to the arts.”

Once the gallery is done later this summer, the plan is to weatherproof it and permanently install it between two group homes owned by LifeScape, “so that’s an outlet for adults there to participate in the community as well,” Erickson said.

EastBank turns around two major collections monthly to keep the art fresh and features one of its members as well as a guest artist. To learn more, click here.