For decades, artists have hung their work in revolving shows at North Shore restaurants and cafes, providing the public with an opportunity to view photographs, paintings and sculptures without the cost of museum admission or the pressures of the fine-arts scene.
Recently, this trend has been extended to more unusual venues — such as banks, medical offices, schools, theaters and more. Because of the venues' accessible locations, curators watch for offensive material. Most shows are switched out every four to six weeks and scheduled months in advance.
Here's a look at a few on the North Shore:
Centennial Gallery at The Musculoskeletal Center
4 Centennial Drive, Peabody
In addition to her job as a nurse practitioner at New England Orthopedic Specialists in Peabody, Kim Ironside has an "unspoken role" as curator of a two-story lobby gallery, with a small waterfall and koi pond in the center.
Patients who pass through are invited to stop and look at the work of a revolving cadre of artists. "Double Visions" — the first shared show for Gloucester-based photographer David Piemonte and his wife, mixed-media artist Terry Del Percio-Piemonte — currently hangs in the space.
Ironside, of Beverly, said she contacts local art guilds, groups and colleges to find artists.
"I just wanted to figure out how to support local organizations," said Ironside, who four years ago took over from a company contracted to hang artwork in the lobby. "We were kind of bored with what they were providing."
To purchase work from the Centennial Gallery, customers must contact the artists. The facility does not take a sales percentage.
Beverly Cooperative Bank
254 Cabot St., Beverly
Many customers park behind Beverly Cooperative Bank's main office and enter through the back. Here, they're treated to the work of different local artists, courtesy of Karen Stewart, secretary to Bill Howard, bank president.
"I was sick of the blank wall, and I wanted to do something about it," said Howard, who asked Stewart to begin recruiting artists for the space in May 2008.
Stewart solicits local artists and relies on word-of-mouth to populate the shows. Sometimes she'll find customers like Dirk Tiede of Beverly, who had his illustrations on the wall last month.
The paintings of Jason David Bothwell, a Montseratt College of Art graduate, currently hang at the bank.
Beverly Cooperative does not sell art from the bank. Customers must contact the artists directly. It does not take a percentage.
"This gives the artists the opportunity to showcase their work, and if an artist gets a sale, great," Howard said.
Alex and Co. hair salon
12 Front St., Salem
"I love introducing artists to the public," said Alex Panos, owner of Alex and Co., a hair studio in Salem with a small art gallery in its waiting area.
Panos, himself a photographer, said he opened the space seven years ago after a staff reduction. Rather than move to another location, he started to sell his photos and the work of friends, customers and staff.
"I fraternize with a lot of artists, and sometimes they agonize about galleries that charge 50 to 60 percent" of sales, said Panos, of Nahant, who asks for 30 percent in order to help pay the shop's rent.
"My accountant tried to talk me out of it, but that made me do it," Panos said. "I'm a renegade."
Melissa Penta of Topsfield, a fabric artist who works at Alex and Co., makes handbags now hanging in the shop.
Next up at Alex and Co. will be "Places and the Spaces in Between," with Giles Laroche, Suzanne Barnes, Bobbie Bush and Bill Kelley, artists who work in varied mediums.
"We're in this period where people are so busy they don't stop to look around," Panos said. "Here, they have to."
Gallery at Grosvenor Park Nursing Center
7 Loring Hills Ave., Salem
Marblehead-based artist Nancy Ferguson is gallery director at Grosvenor Park in Salem, which means she chooses what will hang in a long hallway off the nursing center's main entrance.
"Two Women, Two Views," a combined show with painters Katrina Hart and Betul Arin, now hangs at Grosvenor Park.
According to Ferguson, the center hosts receptions and covers some mailing costs for publicity. It does not take a commission.
"It's outreach to the community, and it brings people in who wouldn't necessarily come into a nursing home," Ferguson said.
Cutler Elementary School lobby art gallery
237 Asbury St., Hamilton
Arrive after 3 p.m. or make an appointment to view artwork at Cutler School's gallery, in the grammar school's lobby.
The acrylic paintings of Teddi Steltenpohl, a retired math teacher from Hamilton, currently hang there, according to curator Jean Bailey, an art teacher at the school.
Often, Bailey finds work that coincides with the school's curriculum, like that of Erica Sonder of Ipswich, a botanist who paints endangered, tropical insects. Sonder recently exhibited at the school.
Bailey said artists enjoy the idea of having kids see their work. "But they're usually unprepared for the hero worship they get from kids ... and adults."
The school does not take a commission.
"Most galleries are interested in making sales and commissions, but we're not," said Bailey, who has been in the position 10 years.
Cloister Gallery at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
135 Lafayette St., Marblehead
Last month, "Just Create IV," an exhibit of work by parishioners of St. Andrew's Church in Marblehead, hung in the facility's lobby, and "Icons," by Lynn Runnells of Manchester, will hang through December.
All shows are overseen by curator Judy Beals of Salem, who had her first solo show at the church.
"It was great to display my art in a nonthreatening, supportive way," said Beals, a painter and mixed-media artist.
Not all exhibits are reserved for church members, according to Beals, who delights in introducing new artists to the public.
Twenty percent of sales go to the church, said Beals, who has been in the position five years.
