BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- You know art when you see it, they say, and you also know vacant storefronts paint an ugly picture of downtown's nascent renaissance. Operation New Birmingham wants to use one to combat the other.

ONB is planning to use empty buildings along 20th Street from First Avenue North to Linn Park as temporary galleries for Birmingham area artists.

About a dozen empty storefronts with windows that face the street will be used to display paintings, sculpture, multimedia and other forms of art, ONB's Robert Emerick said Wednesday. If demand warrants it, ONB will approach more property owners and expand the project. The idea, Emerick said, is to have those windows occupied before the holidays.

Birmingham artist Tia Gardner will curate the project, and ONB will launch a call for submissions within a couple of weeks, Emerick said. Interested artists should keep an eye on ONB's website and social media for details about how to participate, he said. Slated for a six-month run, the show may be extended if it's successful.

The project is aimed at "emerging artists," so high school and college students should take note, but it likely will be open to any artists who want to submit.

It's an idea that's proven successful in other cities. ONB looked at about 30 markets and found projects ranging from huge, elaborate shows in cities such as San Francisco to small town projects involving just a couple of storefronts.

"Ours probably will fall somewhere in between," he said.

This item appeared in The Insider, a weekly column in The Birmingham News.