A Colonial Heights Middle School history teacher came up with a great idea. Rick Ridpath, who also sponsors a drawing club at the school, took the initiative to create the CHMS Free Little Art Gallery at the school.
Ridpath, inspired by Little Free Libraries at elementary schools, decided a free little art gallery would make a great addition to the community. In lieu of books, art pieces created by students, the community or himself would be placed in the CHMS Free Little Art Gallery located at 500 Conduit Road in Colonial Heights.
Free Little Art Galleries aka FLAGs are popping up more and more. According to findafreelittleartgallery.com, “FLAGs are a place to give and discover art, and the motto of many a FLAG is … Make Art, Take Art, Love Art.”
Are you an art collector, not an artist? No problem. The gallery space created by Ridpath is also meant for others to stop by and select a new art piece for their own collections.
At Colonial Heights Middle School, Richard “Rick” Ridpath, a history teacher, student Kendall Browder and Principal Amanda Pelter stand by the new CHMS Free Little Art Gallery created for the community’s enjoyment.
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Ridpath applied for a Colonial Heights Education Foundation innovation grant last year, and the organization provided the funds to him, which made the CHMS Free Little Art Gallery possible. He used the money to purchase a kit to build the box.
“Mr. Coleman, our Tech Ed teacher, and some of his 8th-grade students built it, and Kendall Browder, one of our students, decorated it,” Amanda Pelter, principal of Colonial Heights Middle School, said.
A Free Little Art Gallery at Colonial Heights Middle School in Colonial Heights, Virginia. Kendall Browder, a student, created the artwork on it.
“I am honored to be part of this amazing project. I really hope that my art can help other people be more confident with their creativity and let it run wild,” Kendall said.
According to Pelter, the school’s maintenance department and Ridpath collaborated to find a suitable location for the Free Little Art Gallery. The maintenance department installed it, and Ridpath keeps it stocked with art.
“The community response has been positive and exciting,” Pelter shared. “People have been very supportive.”
A Free Little Art Gallery on the corner of W. 29th Street and Springhill Avenue, a neigborhood in Richmond, Virginia.
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“If you would like a piece of art, it is there, free for the taking,” Pelter said. “If you have art you would like to share with others, you put it in for others to take.”
The CHMS Free Little Art Gallery is listed at findafreelittleartgallery.com along with other Virginia cities including Old Town, Alexandria, Del Ray, Alexandria, Edinburg, Annandale, Mineral, Reston, Roanoke, St. Paul and four in Richmond. The website freelittleartgalleries.art has a map of FLAGs. As of Jan. 2025, 730 FLAGS, in the United States and other countries, have been added to it. Two Virginia cities are listed: Vienna and Louisa.
Art featured in a Free Little Art Gallery on the corner of W. 29th Street and Springhill Avenue in Woodland Heights, a neigborhood in Richmond, VA.
Visit freelittleartgalleries.art to learn how to submit artwork via mail for FLAGs, locate FLAGs, and learn how to start and operate a FLAG, as well as, add it to the map of FLAGs. Visit findafreelittleartgallery.com to list a FLAG.
Richmond resident Merenda Cecelia maintains the “Little Free Art Gallery @Sycamore House” on the corner of W. 29th Street and Springhill Avenue in the Woodland Heights neighborhood. She commented, “Free Little Art Galleries are cute and sweet and fun and also inherently radical spaces which resist idea that art should always be monetized and that culture can only thrive in capitalist environments.”
The FLAG movement encourages creativity. Anyone may participate, either by donating art pieces or by selecting artwork to enjoy at home, work or another personal space. Amateurs and professional artists are welcome to add pieces to FLAGs. Regardless of age or wealth, everyone is welcome to use FLAGs and experience the strong sense of community they foster.
Ridpath is excited that the Free Little Art Gallery is up, and he is hopeful that the community will get more and more involved. “It is a place for any and all artists to share their work. It is a place for any and all art lovers to pick up a free piece of art,” he shared. “I encourage students and adults in the community to swing by and drop off some art or pick up a piece to enjoy.”
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This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Colonial Heights school creates Free Little Art Gallery for community