Lancaster's popular First Fridays have now morphed into the more intimate Artists' Saturday.

The event is billed as a chance for art lovers to get a more personal experience with artists than offered on First Fridays.

"On First Fridays, artists don't always have the chance to spend a long time talking with people," said Elizabeth Todd Lambert, president and CEO of LancasterARTS. "This is a good chance for people who are more into art, have a passion for collecting or just enjoy being around it to explore topics with an artist and have more in-depth conversations than they can on First Friday."

An impressive roster is lined up for the first Artists' Saturday event, which is expected to be revived four times a year. Galleries, museums and gift shops throughout downtown Lancaster are planning artist demonstrations or discussions, including: Timothy Hoover at The Infantree Gallery, George Sorrels at Lancaster Galleries, Debi Hartranft at Living Light Gallery, Tom Babec at Eggs-Actly Right Gifts and Charlie Barton at BUiLDiNG Character, among others.

Six sites plan artists' demonstrations. And Parlor Art Space at 320 Laurel St. is the site of the first Artist Zoo, a live-action art project by six artists described as "Equal parts chaos, the 'exquisite corpse,' and genuine fine art techniques, the six will spend four hours making art together or apart, in or outside the gallery space. The artists may or may not collaborate or get along."

Alternative country band Craven Family Band will play at Parlor, where gallery owner Clifford Eberly plans to film the "zoo" action and replay it during April's First Friday. The zoo includes Eberly, Becky Blosser, Drew Garner, Harriet Hacker, Kris Harzinski and Christian Herr. Their creations also will be displayed at First Friday.

Lambertson said she hopes the event takes some of the mystery out of art and makes people more comfortable with the idea of getting into the art scene.

"Art isn't a snobby world, really. But sometimes people might feel that way," she said. "This event is all about the artists and their work and less of a social outing than First Friday is."

For a complete list of events taking place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and a map of participating locations, visit www.lancasterarts.com.

Or just pick a few and stop in to see what's happening. Other sites include: Red Raven, Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, Metropolis, Lancaster Museum of Art's two locations on North Lime and North Queen streets, Keystone Art & Culture Center, Julia Swartz Gallery, Isadore Gallery, Gallery 2, Galerie Michelle, Framing Concept, Gallery 141, The Dude Shop, Demuth Museum, City Folk, Christiane David Gallery and Gallery dePaul.

Artists' Saturday, featuring more than 30 artists at 23 venues, with demonstrations, gallery talks and more, Sat., 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Downtown Lancaster, free, 509-2787.

E-mail: slindt@lnpnews.com