The Giving Gallery and Art Abandonment grow from five years of The Giving Project, Josh Stein’s continuing investigation into what happens when art moves through giving rather than sale.

Stein developed this work alongside and following his MFA in Art Practice from the School of Visual Arts, awarded in 2025. Across these related projects, he examines access, ownership, exchange, location, and the social life of an artwork after it leaves the studio.

The Giving Gallery

The Giving Gallery gives that inquiry a fixed physical form. Stein built and installed a small wooden gallery and places works inside it for visitors. The gallery removes the conventional separation between exhibition and distribution: viewing, taking, and giving occupy the same structure.

Art Abandonment

Art Abandonment extends the inquiry through movement and chance. Stein wraps individual artworks as gifts and leaves them in public places without selecting their recipients. The project began on September 7, 2026, and this site records each placement through images, date, time, location, coordinates, and the work placed.

These projects share a history and a set of questions, but they are not the same action. The Giving Gallery is a gallery that holds works. Art Abandonment places wrapped works elsewhere in public space.