Put six artists in one cramped room, give them some art supplies, and what do you get?

A zoo. And a very colorful one at that.

Artist Zoo '08, at the Parlor Art Space, is one of the special showcases in the first-ever Artists' Saturday, taking place this weekend in downtown Lancaster.

After the event was publicized among gallery owners, Clifford Eberly, the proprietor of Parlor Art Space, was having lunch with two fellow artists, Harriet Hacker and Kris Harzinski. They were trying to brainstorm some ideas on how to participate.

When someone mentioned having more than one artist, and having them work on site, Harzinski replied, "Oh, kind of like a zoo," Eberly recalled.

And now there is no turning back.

The six participating artists are challenged to create entire pieces, working alone or together, from start to finish while visitors watch during the event's four hours, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Craven Family Band will add country alternative music to the mix.

In addition to Eberly, Hacker and Harzinski, the other three are printmaker Christian Herr, painter Drew Garner and Becky Blosser, a multi-disciplinary installation artist. Eberly works in sculpture and on canvas; Hacker draws and paints; and Harzinski is also an installation artist.

Count on some craziness in the collaboration.

In fact, Eberly envisions them as working in a style used by surrealists in the 1920s called "exquisite corpse." In this collaborative vein, based on a parlor game, artists add to each other's work, for better or worse, depending upon their points of view.

Either way, it should make for some interesting results.

"It could be chaotic as well," says Eberly. "With so many personalities in one room, things could get explosive."

Still, he's looking forward to that element of surprise. "As long as no one gets hurt," he adds wryly.

Seriously, though, he views the Artist Zoo as "sort of like a micro art colony" that gives artists a chance to create together.

"I wanted to take the seriousness out of art-making and also de-romanticize the idea of the artist as working in solitude and bring people together to work together and collaborate," Eberly says.

He plans to have the entire event videotaped and run that videotape during the April 4th First Friday gallery hours from 5-10 p.m. The works created Saturday will be on display until April 11.

And if the artists don't prey on each other too savagely, the Artist Zoo could be an annual or biannual event.