full of possibility — and beauty
Plus an interview with the curator of a little free art gallery
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Dear friend —
Sometimes you’re shuffling along in a bad mood when, suddenly, a work of art appears out of nowhere and transforms your day.
On my last day in Las Cruces, New Mexico, I went for a long walk. I was feeling disgruntled and annoyed though also slightly relieved — I’d decided to leave Las Cruces weeks earlier than originally planned. I just didn’t like the place. The weather was nice and the location was convenient, but most of the small city had an empty, desolate feel — one that I associate with certain parts of The Valley I don’t care for, like Van Nuys. There are places like these, I’ve found, that somehow seem to close in around you suffocatingly, that make you chafe against it and start plotting your escape lest it swallow you whole —
Then I saw something amazing.
At first, I thought it was a little free library. But then I looked closer: It was a miniature gallery! Tiny people gazed at tiny paintings, set up on tiny easels! A little note said this was a little free gallery — with a take a tiny painting or leave a tiny painting policy!
I stared into it for a long while — until someone who lived on the property returned from work. They waved to me, grinning, as they turned into the driveway —
Walking on, I thought, maybe I could live in Las Cruces. The place suddenly seemed full of possibility — and beauty. I was in Las Alturas, a residential neighborhood I hadn’t been in before, with sprawling Pueblo-style homes on rolling desert hills. It felt spacious and peaceful. This would be a great place to write, I thought —
I tweeted about the little free gallery, and the post went viral.
That night, I got in touch with the gallery creator, Gabriele Teich. We zoomed soon after about how her little free gallery came about — and why she chooses to live in Las Cruces.
Can you tell me a little about how your little free gallery came about?
I built it just last week! I was inspired by Stacy Milrany in Seattle. She started her little free gallery in December last year, up in Seattle. I read an article about it in the Washington Post, and I was like, I need to do this! So I contacted Stacy and she said, of course, go ahead, make one!
I built the gallery within a week. And I had so much fun! I like working with wood. I'm mainly a printmaker at the moment, but I also do acrylic paintings and calligraphy and quilting and woodworking. So I went to Home Depot, I got my boards, and I figured it all out.
Wow. That's amazing. The initial art pieces — did you create those?
Yes. Those ones I made, and there's still a lot of mine in there. I've also encouraged all my artists friends here to come by and put something in. I've put it on Facebook, but I have maybe fifty friends on Facebook. I'm not even on Twitter. Other than that, I’m just hoping for people to discover it or hear about it and spread the word. Las Cruces is still small enough that the word can spread.
Every time I go out there, I'm like, oh, I got to curate my little gallery, and I need to change up the people! If people have put things in there, I might rearrange things or take something out if it's too full or put something else in there and exchange.
Did you always have a focus on tiny works of art?
No, not really — but I a lot of times, you try out a new technique on little things and they make these cute little canvases.
Are you a full-time artist?
Yes, I am. In terms of making money, luckily I'm in a lucky position that I don't have to make money with my art. My husband is a professor at New Mexico State University.
One other thing I wanted to ask you about is something I’ve been thinking about a lot while moving from place to place — why do you choose to live where you live, and what makes you stay somewhere? I think you’re originally from Germany, correct? What brought you to Las Cruces?
Love!
Yeah, I grew up in Germany. I studied textile engineering, and I was doing quality control in various countries. One day, I'm in Istanbul, and this man was standing there looking around, not knowing where to go. I walked up to him and said, excuse me, can I help you? We took the same sea ferry that goes across the Bosphorus and exchanged business cards, like you did in the nineties.
I thought I'd never see the guy again. I was like, he's American, I'm in Germany. But then he said, well, I'm coming to Germany to give a talk. And I'm like, oh, we should meet again. Well, we met again, and that was the end of that. So that's how I ended up here. We fell in love and I moved here 22 years ago. We have a daughter who's twenty-one and a son who's eighteen.
So when you moved to Las Cruces, did you love it immediately or did it grow on?
Well, at that time I was freshly in love, so there was that. Then pretty soon we had a baby. So I think at the beginning I was very focused on the family. But it grew on me very quickly. It really did. I met some very nice friends here right away, and Jeff, my husband, had this house and I've turned it into a home.
I love Las Cruces and I love the Southwest. It's that climate. I feel like I belong here so much. I’m always joking that as a kid, I kept cacti on my windowsill and now I have the cactus outside. Every weekend I'm out somewhere hiking. And I love the people and the food.
For people who might want to start their own little free gallery, what advice would you give them?
Just do it! I'm actually working on a webpage at the moment, and I think I'm going to include instructions on how to do the measurements and dimensions of the boards and what I did and, and where to get everything.
But just build it and weatherproof it. This is the Southwest so we don't have to worry about rain and stuff, but I put an outdoor paint on the outside and the roof is wood with a metal sheet on top to keep it from getting warped.
I'm just happy that this makes people happy. People are thrilled about it. In these times when everybody can use a cheer-up, this is great.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Visit Gabriele’s little free gallery by talking a walk on Falcon Drive in Las Cruces. You can also see and purchase her art at her Etsy store, fabricsallover. Her new website will be coming soon at gabrieleteich.com, but in the meantime, you can reach her at gabriellle@gmail.com or leave a comment here.
Love,
Siel
Three links you might love
“One month before college graduation, my best friend, Mark, shot me in the head inside our on-campus apartment.” This personal essay by Paul Rousseau will give you all the feels. Thanks to Roxane Gay for publishing it in her newish newsletter, The Audacity.
About this time last year, I was in New Orleans watching Mardi Gras floats. There’s no float parade this year, but you can check out some amazing float houses online.
Looking for writing buddies? London Writer’s Salon holds virtual writing sprints every weekday morning in four different time zones. Free to attend!
