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Free Art Friday is an effort by hundreds of artists to re-acquaint urban dwellers with serendipity by scattering free-to-take artwork throughout cities across the globe.
The movement started in 2006 as a Flickr group based in the UK. It has since become a global phenomenon with dozens of chapters comprising hundreds of artists who distribute thousands of pieces of free art each week. Free Art Friday Albuquerque (FAFA), founded in January, is a relatively new addition to the scene. The chapter’s founder, canvas artist Stephanie Galloway, said she is eager to promote local creativity.
“(Free Art Friday) is a good way to share art with people who may not encounter it in their lives very often … people that don’t necessarily go to galleries all the time,” Galloway said. “I know for myself, personally, the main reason I do art is to share it with others.”
Between four and five artists take part in FAFA every week, scattering several works bearing the “Free Art” label throughout the city in hopes that someone will stumble upon the work and make it part of their personal inventory. Galloway said that not knowing what ultimately happens to the art is part of the enjoyment.
“(I think) artists like the spontaneity and the human interaction of it,” Galloway said. “Curiosity is a big thing, too … like, ‘Who’s going to find this? What’s going to happen to it?’ — the unknown element is kind of fascinating.”
Artists create and place the art independent of one another, but often take pictures to offer as hints of the pieces’ locations.
These pictures are then aggregated on the FAFA Facebook page, which also advertises art swaps between Albuquerque and other Free Art Friday chapters, most recently with one in Augusta, Maine.
The Facebook page also helps create connections between artists and accidental patrons, as art discoverers will occasionally log in to show their appreciation for the artist and the cause.
“One of the most memorable things that have happened is (when) somebody checked in who had come by a piece this way on their birthday,” Galloway said. “Somebody else had found it and gave it to them, and they said it had really meant a lot; it’s almost like, out of the blue, they were given a birthday present.”
The art drops typically take place in areas of heavy foot traffic in order to maximize the artwork’s chances of being found. Sarah Jones, a friend of Galloway’s who helped with a drop one Friday, said placing the art at Coronado Mall felt slightly illegal.
“It was a really interesting adrenaline rush, doing something free in such a place of blatant commercialism,” Jones said. “It was like, ‘Yeah! Power to the people!’”
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Jones doesn’t consider herself an artist, but enjoys the concept so much that she was happy to get involved.
“It’s an interesting concept that I think maybe will help ease some of our societal fears about random things — random things don’t have to be scary, you know,” Jones said. “I just think we’re just living in such a fearful society that finding something sweet or whimsical or an art piece … What a joy that is.”
More information can be found at Facebook.com/FreeArtFridayAlbuquerque
