During next weekend's ArtWalk in downtown Lancaster, you won't just be looking at the art — you'll be a part of it.

Community-made paintings will be one byproduct of the hands-on, interactive events offered by several galleries and studios around town Saturday and Sunday.

For example, you can step into the paint-flecked shoes of Jackson Pollock, helping to create one of several paintings on the second floor of Tellus360/Gallery360, 24 E. King St., from noon to 3 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday.

Annie Schwartz, of Tellus360, said 11 stretched canvases of various sizes will be placed on the floor, and visitors can take turns dripping various colors of donated house paint onto the canvases, experiencing Pollock's technique.

"This is an opportunity to learn something new and different," said Jessica Oehme, director of Lancaster Creative Factory, which is co-sponsoring the painting event, "and something that kind of takes you out of the realm of traditional painting."

"We're still looking for [paint] donations" Schwartz said. "People can bring in leftover cans from their garage. Any color."

Once dry, the community-created canvases will hang at Tellus360, Oehme said, with a list of the names of those who helped paint them.

Once you've played Pollock there, you can head over to Allen Miller Arts, 117 E. Chestnut St., to run your hands over a group of paintings created in a similar style.

Co-owner Kevin Miller said his gallery will feature Robert F. Allen's abstract impressionist "Homage to Pollock" acrylic paintings, which Miller said are very highly textured.

"Texture is part of the experience," Miller said, "and we will encourage people to touch the paintings" to feel the "richness and fullness" of the work.

Also at the gallery, he said, Jerry Lee Miller will emcee an interactive music-and-dance event at the gallery from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday titled "Connect the Dots of Extreme Weather and Climate Change." At 2 p.m., Zita Angelo will teach a World Dance workshop for visitors.

At Annex 24 Gallery, 24 W. Walnut St., one of the decorative boards on the gallery's front facade will be replaced with a community canvas, created by ArtWalk patrons.

Owner Vanessa Reisig said visitors will use a variety of colorful paints to put their handprints on a 4-by-8-foot piece of plywood.

"There will be all different colors and all different shapes and sizes — cute little pudgy hands and big farm hands," Reisig said. "It'll bring the community together by making their mark."

Reisig said children can also make sculptures out of toothpicks and marshmallows throughout the weekend.

The Julia Swartz Gallery, 17 N. Prince St., will host a group painting as well.

Julia Swartz will start a 16-by-24-inch oil painting with "a little bit of background, maybe a horizon, a sky and a foreground," said Terry Swartz, her husband and gallery partner.

Then it's up to ArtWalk participants to use the artist's paint and brushes to add a few strokes, or even create a whole flower, Swartz said. The finished painting will be donated to Water Street Rescue Mission.

Carlo Jury, who operates Carlo Jury Ceramics from his studio at Kevin Lehman's Pottery, 560 S. Prince St., will conduct a Throw-a-Thon during both days of ArtWalk.

For $25 per piece, those who visit the studio can pick the type of bowl, vase, mug, cup or bottle they want Jury to create. He will then make the ceramic item as the customer watches.

 "They get a sense of the process," Jury said.

Visitors can choose among some basic glaze colors, such as red, blue or green, he said, though the color may look different once the piece has been fired.

ArtWalk visitors can also try their hand at throwing pottery, using wheels and clay provided at the studio.

At Art and Glassworks, 319 N. Queen St., kids "from 6 to 106" can build a "fairy house" or "gnome home" from natural materials, including pine cones, sticks and stones, employee Jackie Kissel said. The activity will take place in the courtyard from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

And finally, while you're meandering around ArtWalk, the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen wants you to preserve the weekend in cellphone pictures.

Your smartphone, Instagram or other images of anything interesting you see between gallery stops — from people to architecture — could become part of a "Lancaster Photo Walk" online photo exhibit, said Nick Mohler, program director for the guild, which organizes ArtWalk.

Shutterbugs should Tweet the photos using the hashtag #lancphotowalk, Mohler said.

"We're going to curate together kind of an online exhibition of the best images on our website" after ArtWalk is over, Mohler said.

ArtWalk runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. For information on special events and participating galleries, visit lancasterartwalk.org.