Teen Talent in the Mix

The Real Small Art League welcomes Clayton ~ a talented Richmond Teen whose dedication to the arts deserves recognition.

Clayton is a student from Thomas Dale Specialty Center for the Arts, traveling an hour to school each morning, and home again in the afternoon. His student portfolio is outstanding ~ with attention to detail, technique and originality.

Clayton spent part of the summer volunteering with Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, assisting with gallery tours, studio classes, material preparation and much more behind the scenes.

I met Clayton during the Children's Studio Class "Drawing in the Galleries". I was lucky to have his assistance during gallery tours and studio activities. The students enjoyed his presence in the studio as much as I appreciated his help.

He told me he read about the Real Small Art League in Richmond Grid Magazine, and he wanted to get involved. Not only did he want to participate, but he wants to start a chapter at his school this fall.

For his first "Real Small Art" series, Clayton created multi-media works on paper for strangers to find. He signed each piece with a "C", and invited the finder to share comments at realsmallart@yahoo.com

When I spoke with Clayton today, he shared the news that a local gallery had seen one of his pieces and invited him to have an exhibition.

Congratulations to Clayton!

Note: I have not published his last name because of his age. Clayton can be reached for more information via realsmallart@yahoo.com

Tiffany Glass Ferreira

tiffanyglass@gmail.com

MEOW! Lost Cats in Grid Magazine

The Lost Cats project is in Grid Magazine ~ Read the WHOLE article here:
http://www.richmondgrid.com/index_r.asp?ID=465&xxx=Exhibitions

Why Join the Real Small Art League?

1. Inspiration
Making art for the universe to find and appreciate is motivating if you're stuck in a creative rut. It's the ultimate call for artists: The WHOLE world wants to see what you do.

2. Practice
Giving small works of art away encourages you to make several pieces of art, and the 100th piece is usually "better" than the 1st piece.

3. Flexibility
There is no timeline, deadline or theme for Real Small Art League. You work at your own pace & post art in your own community.

4. Encouragement
People who find your Real Small Art usually will not take it unless they love it. Their responses will be hugely positive and grateful. Every artists needs to hear (at least occasionally), that their work is wonderful.

5. Community
Artists invested in creative kindness share ideas, resources, opportunities and connections with other participating artists. I cherish the people I've met through the Real Small Art League.

Any artist can JOIN HERE.
Questions? Email realsmallart@gmail.com

Kindess keeps going and going and going.

The Real Small Art League has posted more than 600 works of art around the world in 3 years. We follow opportunities and collaborations to do good things, inspire people and spread artistic kindness. It's not going to stop now. In the meantime, see us here: Creative Kindness Throwdown, Opening July 16.

Please join us for the opening of the Real Small Art League’s July Creative Kindness Throwdown exhibit, benefiting Art180.

About Creative Kindness Throwdown: In conjunction with Slash Coleman's The Art of Business Throwdown, the exhibit will feature original works of selected Real Small Art League members and opportunities to showcase the effect of creative kindness on both the artist and the audience. The competition between The Real Small Art League/Art180 and Richmond Craft Mafia/Richmond SPCA and is modeled after Donald Trump's television show "The Apprentice." Guest artist Noah Scalin will judge each team based on the philanthropic reach of their work for their chosen charity, overall sales, media exposure, and the growth of each team's platform. The winning team will be announced in November.

About the Real Small Art League: Real Small Art League is an ongoing effort to inspire random acts of artistic kindness and creative awareness around the world. To date, over 600 artists have made, documented and given away tiny works in surprise locations. The ongoing journey and public responses are published via http://www.realsmallart.com/. We truly believe a little work of art can go a long way. The Creative Kindness Throwdown highlights the talent of participating artists in the studio and within the community. Participating Artists Include: Tiffany Glass Ferreira, Alyson Plante, Betsy Sayre, Jennifer Hamrock, and L. Campbell Maxey.

About Crossroads Art Center: The Crossroads Art Center has served the
Richmond area as a Fine Art and Crafts Gallery for over 8 years. The art center represents over 225 local and regional artists in all types of media. Crossroads is actively involved in the Richmond local artists' community and thereby an important educational and cultural resource for the community.

Location Crossroads Art Center
Caboose Gallery
2016 Staples Mill Road
Richmond, VA

Fee: No admission fee. Cash bar.
Contact: Real Small Art League, Tiffany Glass Ferreira
tiffanyglass@gmail.com

Real Small Art Found in Gig Harbor

A box of Real Small Art was sent to Gig Harbor Washington in collaboration with the Feel Good Free Art Project. The first piece was found today:

Where do you live? Gig Harbor Washington
Did you find Real Small Art? If so, how: I found Real Small Art in a public place. Who is the Artist? Tiffany
What was your first reaction? Delight
What are you going to do with your Real Small Art? Share it with a friend.
How did finding Real Small Art affect your day, if at all? Happy
Name: Carol
Additional Questions or Comments: Was fun to know it was by a Virginia artist. Both of my sons were born in Virginia.

Learn more about our west coast partner, the Feel Good Free Art Project, here: http://feelgoodfreeartproject.blogspot.com/

Real Small Art Found in a Geocache

Where do you live? (City, State) Lynchburg, VA

Did you find Real Small Art? If so, how: I found Real Small Art in a geocache.

What was your first reaction? "Hey that's cool!.... What is it?"

What are you going to do with your Real Small Art? Probably re-hide it in a different geocache.

How did finding Real Small Art affect your day, if at all? Finding it was pretty neat! My wife and I found it together on our 1 year anniversary, so it was a pretty cool find!

Name: Michael

"Geocaching in a Virginia State Parks is a great way to combine technology with good old-fashioned outdoor fun. The basic concept is that someone places a cache in the woods, usually a small container with a log book, and people use modern GPS receivers to find it. It has been described as, “Using a multi-billion dollar satellite system to find Tupperware® boxes in the woods.” Once a cache is found, the seeker goes to www.geocaching.com to log the visit, upload a photo and read what others said about the cache." From Virginia State Parks Website: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/geocache.shtml

The Lost Cats Project

The Lost Cats Project proudly supports Real Small Art League and their upcoming group exhibition at Crossroads Art Center.

Be on the lookout for new litters of art cats that are getting lost all over the Richmond area. From Short Pump to Carytown, art cats are waiting to be found. Join the fun in a free, city-wide hide and seek game as artists hide tiny cat sculptures around RVA in public spaces.

Want to play? Join us on Facebook and Twitter for updates on where the next tiny sculpture will turn up. Then email us your adoption stories to help us track the project.

About the artists: Alyson Plante and L. Campbell Maxey are artists and freelance designers working in the Richmond area. They both exhibit their work regionally and enjoy supporting Richmond’s Real Small Art League artists’ collective with collaborative community projects.

You Never Know Where Kindness Ends

I leave pieces of art in public places that meet certain criteria ~ creative hubs, inpiriations, artful crowds, community points of information exchange... with the hope that people will find the art, choose to keep it and respond on the website. Sometimes I never know what happens to the art, and sometimes I hear news about a piece long after it put it out there.

Here's a recent email someone sent me:

Hi Tiffany -
I hope that this finds you well and enjoying the spring so far!

Been meaning to write to tell you that I took my son for his yearly
check-up the other day and while I was talking to the Nurse Practitioner in her office I noticed one of your real small flowers on the shelf above her desk. In the middle of something I was telling her I stopped and blurted out, “HEY! You have real small art!” She told me that she had found it in a geocache about a month ago and absolutely loved it – said it makes her smile whenever she goes into her office. So, thought you might like to know that your art is out there spreading smiles! :)

Best,
Kate

If you have questions, or would like to participate, email us realsmallart@gmail.com