Friend, a sculptor and assemblage artist, opened the city’s second so-called tiny museum outside her home on Highland Avenue this fall. Its arrival added to the growing number of similar miniature art displays — and small libraries — that have been cropping up amid what seems to be a burgeoning interest in scaled-down public attractions.

Martha Friend is hoping that her latest artistic endeavour will have a big cultural impact on the Somerville community despite its small size.

Martha Friend is hoping for a big impact from her little project.

“I think of it as one more way that Somerville has had a unique approach to the public arts in the last few years,” said Friend, 63, a retired teacher and social worker.


The micro-structure, a handmade, pumpkin-colored box called “The Friend Smithsonian Museum,” is roughly two feet tall and three feet wide. With a depth of 30 inches, it can only host a single exhibit at a time. A glass window protects artworks from the elements or potential vandals.

Visitors to the museum don’t have to pay admission or wait in long lines to get access to the featured works. They can simply walk by Friend’s eclectic and eye-grabbing Victorian home, bend down, and peer inside.

“I built it not only for artists to show their own work, but to give the public an opportunity to see a whole variety of local artists,” said Friend. “The idea is that it’s a venue for these artists.”

The mini-exhibition space was built by artist Janie Owen. It was funded, in part, through a grant from the Somerville Arts Council, said Friend, and is ideal for three-dimensional works.

The project was inspired by similar artistic landmarks that can be found on the streets of Somerville.

The city is home to the “The Mµseum” (it’s pronounced “Mew-seum”), the area’s first-ever “tiny museum,” in Union Square, and “Little Free Libraries,” a national movement in which volunteers build boxy structures from wood and then place them outside their homes, filled with books for lending.


There is also a series of public payphones-turned-dioramas throughout the city, tucked away in plain sight.

And in May, the “Tiny Tall Ships” festival was held in Union Square.

Martha Friend spoke with passerby Joseph Sullivan about the tiny museum in front of her home on Highland Avenue in Somerville. Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe/Globe Freelance

Friend said she wanted her museum to add “another fun destination” to the area for people to stumble upon.

Since its opening, which included a ribbon cutting with state Senator Pat Jehlen, according to the community magazine Scout Somerville, three artists have placed their work behind the glass case, including Friend and Owen.

Friend said she plans to host a new artist each month and wants those interested in sharing their work to approach her with ideas for future exhibits.

With the museum up and running, she is also hoping others in the community latch onto the phenomenon. She envisions three, four, or even five similar displays going up around Somerville, so pedestrians can travel to each one by foot, as if on a self-guided art tour.

“I think it would be a fabulous way to create public interest in art, and bring art to the people,” said Friend. “It doesn’t have to be fancy and belong to fancy investors. Art can be something everyone can enjoy on the streets, just by walking down the sidewalk.”


Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.