The Jersey City Artists Studio Tour is back this weekend for its 23rd year.

This year, the event — a collaboration between the local nonprofit Pro Arts Jersey City and the city’s Division of Cultural Affairs — is expected by many in Jersey City’s burgeoning arts community to showcase the scene’s recent tremendous growth.

With hundreds of artists opening their studios or showing work, several powerhouse group shows and performing artists joining in on the fun, the free, self-guided, two-day event will provide a hearty sampling of what the city has to offer.

“Jersey City has been a frequent fixture in New York City news recently, and I want us to be recognized as a cultural destination to our neighbors across the Hudson,” said Studio Tour Coordinator Luca Cusolito.

Cusolito, who is also a visual artist and curator, says the tour will show Jersey City’s hunger for more art and, more important, more art venues.

“There is a need for venues to showcase artwork and affordable studio and living workspace within our community, and artists are utilizing mixed use spaces such as restaurants and public domains with mural programs to creatively to bridge this gap,” she said. “I feel that we’re long overdue. The advancement of White Eagle Hall and SILVERMAN’s proposed Provost Square is an encouraging step in our city’s cultural growth on these fronts.”

There is hope, she says, in plans for venues in Downtown Jersey City like White Eagle Hall and Provost Square as well as in the success of the recently codified Riverview Arts District in the Heights and growing arts communities in Bergen-Lafayette and Greenville.

The tour kicks off tonight with a party at the TenMarc Building, 430 Communipaw Ave., with 17 group exhibitions including the Pro Arts JC Members Show; “In the Boudoir” curated by Andrea Morin; and “Nostalgia” by Instigatorzine.

The Smoove Sailors, Nobuki and others will perform.

Complimentary shuttle buses will run between the Grove Street PATH Station and TenMarc between 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.

“There is an incredible amount of art to take in over the weekend,” said Cusolito, who hopes the shows carry momentum through October. “I hope the tour showcases our vibrant arts culture and entices those that have not yet experienced it to partake in our incredible scene.”

The tour itself will be tomorrow and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. See ProArtsJerseyCity.org for more information. Maps will be available at City Hall, 280 Grove St., and the Grove Street PATH Station, Grove Street and Christopher Columbus Drive.