A Winnipeg resident has created her own twist on the Little Free library phenomenon. Heather Woods has created a Free Little Art Gallery, located near Antrim Road and Sawchuk Bay. The gallery has been a space for people to take and drop off art projects since 2023. Woods said she was inspired to create one in Winnipeg after seeing another gallery on social media. “As an artist—I’m mostly a photographer—I was just really inspired to create one for our community,” she said. Since opening, the gallery has seen many different art creations. “We’ve had drawings and paintings, little sculptures,” Woods said. “Kids bring their art and they’re so excited to share it. We’ve even had bracelets and jewelry. It’s really any sort of creation.” Woods said the initial challenge with the gallery was keeping water out, as it could wreck the art, but the space has since been waterproofed. In the years since Woods started curating the gallery, it has taken off more than she anticipated, with art even arriving from around the world. “I just thought having more art in our community would be a good thing, but I never really foresaw how much people would enjoy it,” she said. “We have social media, and I get a lot of messages from people that are telling me that they love it because it encourages them to create art and gives them something for their family to do. “Just knowing that people are really happy about it and that it’s spreading joy is pretty fabulous.” In addition to the art, Woods also added a pink box outside the gallery on the first anniversary for people to bring keychains to exchange. People can also leave trinkets in the box that Woods will turn into keychains and put back out for people to exchange.
