SARANAC LAKE — The Arts and Culture Advisory Board is offering artists an opportunity to exhibit their work this summer in Saranac Lake’s downtown area at no cost to them.

Members of the Arts and Culture Advisory Board, one of the advisory boards overseen by the village, have created a program to host the area’s lesser-known artists in two-week exhibits in empty downtown storefronts.

The Downtown Pop-Up Galleries program seeks to help diversify the local arts scene, offer an opportunity for local artists without current access to gallery space to showcase their work in a visible, public forum, and utilize empty space to beautify and add to the creative character of Saranac Lake.

The gallery dates are set up to coincide with the village’s ArtWalks. The first will run from Monday, Aug. 16, to Monday, Aug. 30, surrounding the August ArtWalk, and the second will run Monday, Sept.13, through Monday, Sept. 27, surrounding the September ArtWalk. The advisory board has arranged to use up to four storefronts for this initiative.

Artists are invited to apply at bit.ly/SLKpopupgalleries (case sensitive). Applicants will be evaluated based on whether they have current access to a gallery space, are local to the Saranac Lake area, and add diversity to the local arts scene.

“We are excited for the opportunity to create visible space for artists that might not currently have it, and filling an empty window downtown is an added bonus for the community,” said Arts and Culture Advisory board member Dylan Van Cott, who helped organize the effort along with board member Jess Collier.

Anyone with questions can reach out to saranaclakepublicart@gmail.com.