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Steamboat Springs — After 12 months of work and planning, the Artists' Gallery of Steamboat will open its doors Nov. 24.

And according to the new gallery's marketing director, the space won't come off as stuffy or intimidating.

"Some galleries you are intimidated to go into because of the stark walls and the one guy in there that meets you at the front door," Kim Keith said. "It will be really comfortable and friendly. There are a lot of people involved, so it will be active, dynamic and constantly have things going on."

The gallery has 23 members and is limiting membership 28 artists.

"We want to have the maximum space for each artist to keep it consistent," Keith said. "The artists will have 12 to 15 feet each."

One gallery section will be reserved for featuring a particular artist or small group of artists each month. Formal openings will accompany those exhibits. Artists in the gallery also are required to rotate their artwork monthly, so repeat visitors can expect to see something new every time they enter.

"We have tons of ideas to get the community involved by having open invitation shows," Keith said. "But we want to give our artists who are sweating blood and tears the chance to feature their art before we bring in anyone who's not a member."

The gallery members are considering hosting art workshops, lectures, visiting artists and children's programs. And all the artists have to work shifts in the gallery.

"Anytime you come into the gallery, you can talk about art instead of talking to a salesperson," Keith said, "though I'm trying to convert them into salespeople."

The types of artwork that will be represented include oils, watercolors, pastels, mixed media, ceramics, photographs, prints, textiles, sculpture and jewelry.

Steamboatgallery.com, which is under construction, eventually will feature a virtual gallery and biography for each artist, and visitors will be able to view upcoming art events.

The gallery is at 1009 Lincoln Ave. in downtown Steamboat. Gallery artists spent last weekend painting the front of the old Steamboat Pilot printing facility and will be busy with renovations until the grand opening.

"We're going from a newspaper and printing building to a gallery," Keith said. "Aesthetics are not very important in the printing business except on the page."

Anyone interested in becoming a gallery member can call Zanobia Shalks at 871-8000.

- To reach Allison Plean, call 871-4204 or e-mail aplean@steamboatpilot.com