Little free art galleries popping up on East Bay streets

OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- There's a little movement that is popping up in the East Bay with a big message. Little Free Art Galleries are appearing in Oakland, Berkeley and other communities.  

A woman in Seattle started the movement for her neighbors to enjoy -- and it has grown across the country.   

The little wooden boxes are located outside of people's homes where the idea is to take a piece of art with you and leave a piece for the next person.  

Fernando Santos, CEO and founder of Beast Oakland, is among those placing art inside the boxes. 

"I heard about The Little Free Art Gallery on social media then I looked it up and it really close to my shop," he said.    

Santos is an artist, teacher and business owner. He says art is life for him and loves the idea. His shop is less than 5 minutes away from one of the Little Free Art Galleries. While he's known for graffiti art, designing t-shirts and many other things, small art work is his thing  

"It's just fun," said Santos.  "And it's something that may be different than just going to a museum or something. It's maybe easily accessible to people and kids that live close by." 

Allie St. Amand is one of many people who decided to start one outside of her home.  

 "I just wanted to be a happy exchange," she said. "It started as a creative outlet."  

St. Amand moved to new area in Oakland and thought this would be a great idea to help meet people and build the community.  

"Contributions and the response to it has been way more than I expected," she said. "People have come from all over the Bay Area and it's been such a nice way to meet people, meet other artists, meet neighbors."