Benefield: The thrill of the artsy chase is alive in Sonoma County with Free Art Friday

There is nothing that’s not fun about this.

It’s all here: pieces of unique, handcrafted local art, the flow of creative juices and the thrill of a little hide and seek.

It’s Free Art Friday.

It’s been nearly a decade since local artist Zack Rhodes brought the idea home after being inspired by a similar program in Austin, Texas. These days Free Art programs are active all over the world.

The idea is this: artists create something, affix a note that says it’s part of Free Art Friday, drop it in a “hiding” place of their choosing and post clues about its whereabouts online.

Locally, the Instagram account for the program is @freeartfridaysr.

Multiple artists making multiple drops throughout the day (and sometimes week) sets off a flurry of searching and the inevitable “Found it!” post.

“I try to think of it as a win for everybody,” Rhodes said. “For people hunting for the art, I think it’s a fun thing to do, especially in the world we live in. You can go out and enjoy the world and enjoy some art.”

And for artists it’s both exposure and an impetus to put your work out there in the world.

Artists can hide anything they’ve created.

There have been matted nature photos, snarky buttons with sayings like “sorry I’m late I didn’t want to come,” painted concrete plant charms, homemade candles and embroidery with cute flowers and cuss words.

And the hiding spots? Some are in plain sight: a bench in Juilliard Park in Santa Rosa. Behind a planter on Fourth Street. In a cemetery. On a solar stanchion in a parking garage.

There aren’t rules, per se, but there is common sense.

“Don’t go hide something on 101,” Rhodes said.

On Friday, artist Kyle Williams, who goes by the pen name @enface, hid five packs of homemade stickers among the comics and art pieces displayed at Harvey Doss Comics and Collectibles in Rohnert Park.

It’s another level of this artists’ shared economy — Williams wants to draw attention not only to his art but to a local business.

“I hide it in … businesses I want to promote,” he said.

If you find it, let us know

On Friday, there was an unexpected twist to the hunt.

Just after leaving our interview with Williams, an artist who goes by the moniker Lowbrow Industriez, posted that he had left two pieces in Santa Rosa.

I recognized the location immediately: the second floor landing of the Third Street parking garage, the same place photographer Kent Porter and I were scheduled to meet artist Justin Hollingsworth in about an hour.

It’s no lie, it’s kind of thrilling to recognize the spot from the little clues given.

With some speed I made my way north to Santa Rosa, hoping to come across someone finding Lowbrow’s pieces.

But they were gone. Too obvious a spot? Nope, turns out a cleaning crew had missed the sign and picked them up.

Alerted to the concept behind Free Art Friday, the pieces were put back in their original location about 30 minutes later. Thirty minutes after that they were found.

“It feels really good for people to seek out your stuff,” said Hollingsworth, whose account is @hollowed_art.

On Friday, Hollingsworth dropped three pieces: a painted spray paint can, a kind of space man painted piece and a jack-o’-lantern postcard.

For each drop he wrote a note with clear instructions to first of all enjoy the art, then to post the find and finally to tag both his Instagram account and the Free Art Friday account.

That’s the only bummer, artists said, when someone claims a piece and doesn’t shout it from the rooftop. It’s like a game of telephone going dead or receiving a gift and not saying, “Thank you.”

‘Inspire people to keep creating art’

The community has ebbed and flowed over time.

“At the peak, in about 2016 or 2017, there was a summer where there were at least 30 people hiding,” Rhodes said.

Things slowed for Free Art Friday during the pandemic the same way they slowed everything else. But like everything else, interest is picking back up.

And warm weather and longer evenings usually mean ample opportunity to play hide and seek.

It’s all in fun, but there is an important undertone, too.

Both Hollingsworth and Williams met Rhodes through Free Art Friday and now call him a friend. And both credit Rhodes and Free Art Friday with reigniting their creative juices.

For many artists, Free Art Friday is a low-risk way to try out concepts or ideas and to see what gets a reaction.

For others, it’s like having a show without having a show.

“It’s validation. Somebody sought out something that I made,” Williams said. “Especially if you weren’t really into selling your stuff or you are new to art. It gives you confidence, confidence that people might like what you do.”

For Hollingsworth, Free Art Friday got him trying new things, but most importantly, got him working on pieces on a regular schedule. Fridays became a thing.

“Free Art Friday bit me and was constantly thinking, I have to get two or three things out there,” he said. “I did 30 drops in one week once.”

“It’s just to inspire people to keep creating art,” he said. “That’s what I got out of it and that’s what I still get out of it.”

Unlike Williams, Hollingsworth won’t go back to pick his pieces up if he doesn’t see a “Found” message on Instagram. He just assumes it will fall into appreciative hands one way or another.

The mystery is part of the deal, he said.

“If it’s too hard to find, people are like, ‘I don’t know where it is,’” he said. “But it’s out there in the world, whoever finds it finds it. That’s what’s it’s really about.”

You can reach Staff Columnist Kerry Benefield at 707-526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @benefield.