Free Art Is Hiding Around Carlisle! Art Drop Day Returns 9/8

Somewhere around Carlisle, there may be a tiny piece of original art sitting on a bench, tucked near a downtown landmark or waiting outside a local business.

And if you find it?

IT'S YOURS.

Welcome to Art Drop Day Carlisle, which may be one of the most delightful combinations of art, community and treasure hunting I have encountered.

The concept is wonderfully simple: people create pieces of art, hide them around the community and post clues so complete strangers can go looking for them.

Find one first and congratulations, you have acquired original artwork through the highly sophisticated gallery procurement method known as RUN, CHILDREN, SOMEONE POSTED A CLUE.

Wait. People are just... hiding art?

Yep.

World Art Drop Day was created by illustrator Jake Parker as a way to connect people through creating and giving art. Every year on the first Tuesday of September, artists and communities around the world leave pieces of artwork for strangers to discover.

Carlisle has joined the fun with its own local version, and the result is basically a community-wide art scavenger hunt.

How Art Drop Day works

1. Make something.
Paint. Draw. Sculpt. Collage. Craft. Let your kid create something gloriously covered in seventeen colors of paint. It counts.

2. Pick a hiding spot.
Leave your artwork somewhere around the community where someone can safely discover it without disturbing private property.

3. Take a picture and give us a clue.
Photograph the artwork, its hiding spot or both.

4. Post it.
Share your clue in the Art Drop Day Carlisle Facebook group and use #artdropdaycarlislepa.

5. WAIT FOR THE ART HUNTERS.
Someone finds your masterpiece and gets to keep it. You have now made a stranger's day approximately 87% more interesting.

Meet the Carlisle human behind the fun

Carlisle's participation has been organized locally by Phil George of Phil the Thrill Studios.

Phil is a Carlisle native and illustrator who studied illustration and animation at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design. Some locals may also recognize him as Phil the Thrill from RED 102.3.

And if this particular combination of art + downtown Carlisle + scavenger hunt + delightful reason to wander around looking behind things feels very Phil, that's because it is. He has been behind other playful downtown community activities too, including Paint a Rock, Hide a Rock and downtown scavenger hunts.

Art Drop Day fits beautifully into that same philosophy: make something, share something and give people a reason to interact with their community in a completely unexpected way.

And then comes the BEST part: finding one

Last year's photos are basically a highlight reel of children realizing that adults have temporarily changed the rules of society and YES, THAT RANDOM PIECE OF ART IS ACTUALLY YOURS TO TAKE HOME.

There is something ridiculously charming about knowing somebody made a thing, carried it downtown, found the perfect hiding spot and left it there specifically so someone they have never met could experience the joy of discovering it.

And because the clues are shared online, the whole thing turns into a real-life treasure hunt.

This is precisely the sort of wholesome chaos I would like more of in the world.

Want to drop your own art?

The printable Art Drop form makes it easy. Create your artwork, attach the bottom portion to your piece and include whatever contact information you'd like so the finder can tell you it has been discovered.

Then hide it, post your clue and wait.

Or don't wait.

Personally, I understand approximately zero percent of the personality type capable of leaving hidden treasure somewhere and then calmly going about their day.

Make something. Hide something. Find something.

And maybe make someone's completely ordinary Tuesday a little more wonderful.