Art & Lit

Art & Lit Art & Lit is a Little Free Library and a miniature Art Gallery. Take a book / leave a book to share

Our newest exhibition by Lea Zalinskis is now installed at the tiny Art & Lit Gallery!Showing May 30 - June 19, 2026“Pas...
05/29/2026

Our newest exhibition by Lea Zalinskis is now installed at the tiny Art & Lit Gallery!

Showing May 30 - June 19, 2026

“Past, Present, Future” is part of an ongoing project by East Bay artist and illustrator Lea Zalinskis. Pulling from her own visual vocabulary and from ancestral Latvian mythology/motifs, she reimagines the tarot to place human beings gently back into their role as a non-separate part of the Earth and its creatures.

This project is twenty years in the thinking, and has only recently begun to take physical shape. To keep tabs as it unfolds:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lea.zalinskis/

For art prints from this project, more work, and other goodies: www.zalinskis.com

Audrey Heller is back with a new exhibition, "Angle of Incidence." Showing at Art & Lit's tiny gallery May 9 - 29, 2026A...
05/11/2026

Audrey Heller is back with a new exhibition, "Angle of Incidence."
Showing at Art & Lit's tiny gallery May 9 - 29, 2026

Angle of Incidence

For this series, I projected slides from my travels onto a canvas of bald heads, and captured the result with my father’s twin lens Rolleiflex. A three dimensional scene became a two dimensional slide, then three dimensional model, and then a two dimensional print. With each iteration the result is affected by its transformation. But the final interpretation is all inside our heads.

I had the joy of exhibiting these at Burning Man, in a very different scale. You can read a blog post about that at https://scenicturnouts.wordpress.com/2013/09/09/not-my-normal-art-show/

I’d love to hear what they evoke for you!

Visit me during East Bay Open Studios, June 6-7, 13-14, 2026 at The Sawtooth Building, 2547 Eighth St., Berkeley. Over 25 artists will be showing in the building.

www.audreyheller.com

Our latest exhibition, “Maverick Photography,” by Heather Hafleigh, will be showing at our tiny Art & Lit gallery at the...
04/18/2026

Our latest exhibition, “Maverick Photography,” by Heather Hafleigh, will be showing at our tiny Art & Lit gallery at the sidewalk April 18 – May 8, 2026.

Heather Hafleigh began photographing while in college, getting a degree in art/design and has devoted 25 years to documenting contemporary ranchers, horsemen and craftsmen in California who are carrying on the Vaquero tradition.

Since 1972 she has exhibited widely, including the Museum of Northern Arizona, Northeastern Nevada Museum, Oakland Airport, Skyharbor International Airport in Phoenix, and the “Trappings of the American West” exhibit in Flagstaff. Her exhibit “Viva La Charreria Mexicana,” which documents equestrian skills and fancy roping, has toured many museums in California.

Heather’s work is in the permanent collections of the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, Oakland Museum of California, and The Western Folklife Center in Nevada.

Selected magazine publications include Cowboy, Cowboys & Indians, Equus, Range, Living Cowboy Ethics and Shambhala Sun. In 2000, News from Native California published “Indian Vaqueros of California,” a fifteen-page article written and photographed by Heather.

Among the books containing Heather’s photos are California Cowboy Inventions by Ernie Morris, Spirit (Cowboys, Horses, Earth & Sky) by C.J. Hadley, True Horsemanship Through Feel by Bill Dorrance & Leslie Desmond, and True Unity by Tom Dorrance, (French edition). Her work was also included in the film Tapadero, by J & S Productions.

Heather grew up in Arizona where her dad, a fine horseman and polo player, put her on a horse at age four. She has continued to ride all her life, including photographing from horseback in Scotland, Kenya and Argentina. Her last horse was a wonderful little Buckskin quarter horse named Monte.

To see more of Heather’s work, visit: http://www.heatherhafleigh.com/hhp_002.html

Many thanks to artist Dania Brett for sharing her wonderful talent and creativity at the Art & Lit Gallery. “Evolution” ...
03/28/2026

Many thanks to artist Dania Brett for sharing her wonderful talent and creativity at the Art & Lit Gallery.

“Evolution” by Dania Brett
Showing March 28 – April 17, 2026

Each of us has our own story to tell, our own mythology through which we make sense of the world. The bones of these stories are universal: we strive, we love, we fear, we hurt... we hope. My hope is that my art brings you some of what the creative process has given me, a portion of peace, and abiding gratitude for the profound beauty within and around us.

You can see more of Dania’s work at https://daniabrett.com/

It's such a pleasure to have these two local artists share their work at the Art & Lit gallery!"Revolution"by Charlie Le...
03/07/2026

It's such a pleasure to have these two local artists share their work at the Art & Lit gallery!

"Revolution"
by Charlie Levin and Kate Farnady
Showing March 7-27, 2026

Charlie and Kate have been talking for the better part of a year about doing a tiny collaboration.

Charlie Levin is an Oakland-based artist creating large-scale drawing installations using the branching structures of trees to explore tensions between nature and culture. After years primarily making visual performances and interactive encaustic painting, Charlie is returning to her roots in drawing. Across her body of work, she returns to conceptual questions about how our frames of reference determine what we think we know.

Kate Farnady is a photographer by training and practice: much of a lifetime spent working with light, framing, and careful observation. Acrylic monoprinting is new territory for her: a medium that invites spontaneity, embraces accident, and refuses the precision that photography allows. Her recent work has been informed by years of documenting sunsets, personal reflection, repetition, and a deep dive into the color pink!

What you'll find in this room is the result of two artists discovering how their instincts and obsessions overlap, and what emerges when they give each other room to play.

Charlie Levin
instagram.com/girlcharlieart
art.girlcharlie.com

Kate Farnady
instagram.com/heyk8

Art & Lit welcomes its latest fantastic exhibition by a talented local artist!Noah Johnson -- “In the Hills”Showing Febr...
02/14/2026

Art & Lit welcomes its latest fantastic exhibition by a talented local artist!

Noah Johnson -- “In the Hills”
Showing February 14th - March 6th, 2026, at our tiny sidewalk Art & Lit gallery

Noah Johnson is a self-taught artist living in Berkeley, dedicated to capturing the magic of Bay Area landscapes in pen and watercolor, with a healthy dose of imagination.

Born and raised along the shores of Puget Sound, Noah studied mechanical engineering and worked in the field for several years, before departing the profession. He moved to the Bay in 2023, with a renewed focus on art as essential expression, and as a potential livelihood. After several years supporting his dreams with part-time work, Noah recently transitioned to art as a full-time vocation.

With his imaginative landscapes, Noah hopes to inspire a deeper appreciation for the natural world (from which we are inseparable) and the land’s good health (upon which we ultimately depend).

When Noah first moved to Berkeley, the hills provided a sanctuary of perspective and comfort, amongst a sea of change. He returns to them often, finding joy in the many green spaces along this ridgeline, from Redwood Regional to San Pablo Ridge.

“In the Hills” celebrates the spring beauty in the East Bay hill-scape, via a whimsical diorama created with pen and watercolor. The hills are an immersive space, where you can find your way again, experiencing awe amongst the mind-opening vistas.

You can find Noah’s work online at: noahjohnsonart.com, and small goods are available at Mrs. Dalloway’s. Some prints are currently displayed at Baker & Commons.

You can follow Noah’s explorations and creations on Instagram at: instagram.com/noahjohnsonart

Kate Farnady's newest exhibition at Art & Lit is just right! And you can see more of her work on Instagram. https://www....
01/29/2026

Kate Farnady's newest exhibition at Art & Lit is just right! And you can see more of her work on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/heyk8/

"Notes from the Bardo: Love Letters to Uncertainty"
Showing January 24 - February 13, 2026

This collection of photographs emerged from a series of personal disruptions. These images are reflections on life experiences; moments when identity shifted, old patterns surfaced, awareness became keen, and something new began to take shape. They are illustrations of what it feels like to be between endings and beginnings, to watch my own unraveling, to stay, and to choose forward motion again and again.

In 2025, I started open water swimming. It became a practice of presence for me; feeling resistance, stepping into the unknown, staying with sensations that dissolved familiar boundaries, along with a tremendous sense of release. In those moments of immersion, I learned over and over that transformation does not come from control, but from staying present and letting go.

The term bardo is borrowed from Buddhist contemplative practice. It names this in-between space, not as a fixed sequence of states, but as a felt terrain of uncertainty, dissolution, and passage. These works are love letters to the ongoing practice of showing up, of staying present through surprise and disruption, noticing what arises, feeling, and stepping into the next moment with curiosity.

I am grateful to be able to share these images with you now, at the start of a new year, when we often find ourselves floating between what was and what is becoming.

We’re taking a little break from living artists to bring to Art & Lit the works of French artist Henri Matisse (1869-195...
01/03/2026

We’re taking a little break from living artists to bring to Art & Lit the works of French artist Henri Matisse (1869-1954).

Showing January 3–23, 2026, at the tiny sidewalk gallery above our free little library.

Artist Gail Morrison has really transformed the gallery!"Celebrating the Dark of the Year"Showing December 13, 2025 - Ja...
12/12/2025

Artist Gail Morrison has really transformed the gallery!

"Celebrating the Dark of the Year"
Showing December 13, 2025 - Jan 2, 2026

From Gail:
I derive inspiration from the natural world, although sometimes things get a little twisted and convoluted, a little abstract.

I am captivated by printmaking, bewitched by etching: the romance of process, a series of steps laid out centuries ago that are very specific but have a life of their own - a silent, unpredictable partner. I can never be sure of the final result until I run paper and plate through the press and pull the first print of an edition.

I am also currently exploring the potential for synthesizing etching with digital technology, even though the two technologies are hundreds of years apart.

My goal is images that will evoke stories in the mind and heart of the viewer. I am honored to explore and practice the traditions of fine art printmaking - its history, and quiet emotional involvement and intimate connection with the viewer - and to continue these traditions into the world of today.

About “Celebrating the Dark of the Year”
I will be showing some of the tiny etchings from my 3D dodecahedron etching, Twelve. These are the smallest etchings I’ve ever created but even so I had to cut them up to fit in the gallery! Silver ink printed on black paper - seemed perfect for the dark of the year.

I’ve been trying to figure out this print for years and still can’t quite consider it finished. It’s a dodecahedron, a 12-sided solid, printed with 12 etchings representing the cosmos on the outside and the 12 signs of the zodiac on the inside, 24 etchings in all. I haven’t figured out how one can see the inside or decided how to assemble it.

To learn more about Gail Morrison and her art, visit: http://www.gailmorrison.com/
You can shop for Gail’s artwork on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GailMorrisonArt

Art & Lit Gallery is always happy to show something completely different!Patty Barr - “Tale Never Told”Showing November ...
11/21/2025

Art & Lit Gallery is always happy to show something completely different!

Patty Barr - “Tale Never Told”

Showing November 22 – December 12, 2025

A note from the artist:
“Back in 1980, my three cats, Isabel, Mort, and Chester, appeared to me in a dream along with another dream of “the Jake and Pete story.” I blended these two dreams together to create “Tale Never Told,” a 9-minute animated video.

"In the middle of the night, inspired by these dreams, I wrote them down. Through gathering photos of these three cats in their environment, creating paper puppets, and writing a detailed script, I made a plan for the 16mm animation. Coming last were the finer details. The voice over includes a background of Wanda Landowska playing a Haydn concerto. On a whim, I sent the completed video in to a Hollywood film contest – and was pleasantly surprised to receive an “honorable mention” for my first video.

"Life put creation on the back burner. After all these years, I’m very pleased to share this work with you at the Art & Lit gallery.”

You can watch Patty’s Tale Never Told video at this link: https://vimeo.com/47101049?share=copy

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Bay View Place Near Euclid Avenue
Berkeley, CA
94708

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