The newest venue for Windsor's artists, the Free Little Art Gallery, may also be the city's smallest.

The gallery is a community art box where people can put their artwork inside and others can take what catches their eye.

The concept is similar to the little free libraries that have popped up on lawns in recent years.

Andrea Cassidy got inspired to set up her gallery after hearing about people in other cities who have set up galleries that riff on the little library idea.

She hopes people find it therapeutic to create a small piece of art, whether you're an artist or not.

"I work in health care and I know that expressing through art is a really, really helpful way to work yourself through things," she said. "It is the process, not the product."

Éoin McCullough, who is collaborating with Cassidy on the project and has contributed to the gallery, says it's an opportunity for artists to get their work out there.

"I think especially recently, there's been fewer and fewer ways for local artists to sort of express themselves and sort of be in a visible public space," said McCullough, an artist and University of Windsor music student. "A lot of the places where an artist can put their work require like a large backlog of work, if you want to get, say, a show."

As for the rules, they are simple:

"You can take without leaving, you can leave without taking, or you can do both," Cassidy said. (All she asks is that no one takes the easels or figurines inside the box).

The free little art gallery opened over the weekend at at 1162 Devonshire Road, just steps away from Art in the Park.

The box has a QR code that links to the project's Instagram account, @freelittleartgallery_windsor.

With files from Jason Viau

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