Downtown Brooklyn hands artists a blank canvas.

A vacant stretch of retail spaces along Flatbush Avenue has been reborn as vibrant art galleries as part of a Downtown Brooklyn Partnership initiative that is enlivening empty storefronts and boosting foot traffic.

Called "Your Art Here," the Partnership is working with property owners in the district to transform empty street-front spaces into temporary art galleries displaying eye catching contemporary visual and performing arts projects.

The initiative emphasizes progranmaing that is publicly accessible and prioritizes uses that include open exhibition hours, educational programming and performances. The first location under this program is six consecutive storefronts at 395 Flatbush Avenue Extension, totaling 10,000 square feet, which presents significant exposure for the artists and activates the darkened storefronts for pedestrians.

"Downtown Brooklyn has not been immune to the recession's impact causing some retail spaces to remain on the market longer, this program helps showcase those locations to potential retailers," said Joe Chan, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.

"In today's economy, it is crucial that property owners explore creative ways to market their spaces and support the livelihood of the local business community. Furthermore, this initiative is part of a broader effort to highlight the dynamic arts scene and create new possibilities for artists in Downtown Brooklyn."

"Our goal is to creatively enliven underutilized storefronts and provide a new outlet for the arts community while making a unique experience for Downtown Brooklyn residents and visitors," said Katie Dixon, director of cultural development at the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.

"Given the vibrancy and success of Brooklyn's cultural community, we expect 'Your Art Here' to have a tremendous response from property owners, artists and the public. This is an exciting opportunity to support local artists, provide greater public access to contemporary art and to provide new educational activities and opportunities in the arts for local students."

The spaces at 395 Flatbush Avenue Extension, owned by Fulton DeKalb Associates, will be transformed by the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, with the help of The New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA), a collective of galleries and artists working to make contemporary art more accessible to the general public.

The exhibition will feature sculpture and paintings by emerging artists, some of whom are Brooklyn-based. Exhibits include light and water-themed sculpture from artists Rachel Owens, Mike Womack, Matthew Lusk, and Urban River Arts along with visually stimulating paintings by Erik Parker, Kenny Scharf and Renaldo Davidson.

NADA and the Partnership will manage these spaces which will be publicly accessible Friday-Sunday, through January 10, 2010. Throughout the week, the exhibition will be lit and highly visible from the street.

"The 395 project is great for many reasons, but foremost to me is the different kind of exposure," said artist Rachel Owens, who has a sculpture on display in a 395 Flatbush Avenue Extension gallery.

"People are walking in and are interested about the work. Sometimes galleries and museums make people feel intimidated and distanced from the art and the artist. These nontraditional exhibition sites break down that distance and people feel free to ask questions, to participate, to enjoy the work."

Downtown Brooklyn is home to over 100,000 office workers, eight universities and colleges with more than 57,000 students, one of the busiest retail corridors in the nation and over 40 arts and cultural organizations. Since 2006, over 2.4 billion has been invested in Downtown Brooklyn from the private sector.

By 2010, the development currently underway will add nearly 5,000 residential units, 630,000 square feet of commercial space and 1,120 hotel rooms.

The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership is a nonprofit, local development corporation created to foster the continued growth of the city's third-largest business district.