Ask Nancy Wellington Bookhart what can be done with an open space and she will tell you "a lot."

Ms. Bookhart, an assistant professor of art at Paine College, is creating an art gallery within the open spaces of the campus's Collins-Callaway Library.

"This is completely different and definitely outside the box of a traditional gallery space," she said. "It's going to be what I call an open-air gallery, meaning that it will be outside of an enclosed space within a building."

The project, Portals of Illumination, will feature artwork in the library's vestibule and on the walls of the second-floor hallways. Currently, there are only a few pieces of artwork in each area.

"I want people to look at these areas as more than hallways or entrances in the library," Ms. Bookhart said. "I want them to respect the space as if they are walking into an internationally known art museum, and to study each piece in a serene and thoughtful atmosphere."

Many pieces of artwork that are stored at the library will become part of the gallery's permanent collection, along with acquisitions from Paine College students and alumni and other Augusta artists.

Other exhibitions will include printmaking, photography, painting and works by visiting artists.

Ms. Bookhart hopes that the open-air gallery will become a learning tool for students and the community.

"This will expose individuals to the aesthetic level of the development of man, their thoughts, feelings and experiences," she said. "Before writing existed, we were already telling the history of man in the caves through artwork. I want people to reconnect to the visual language through this gallery."

The process will begin this month and the transformation is expected to be complete by September.

Reach Nikasha Dicks at (706) 823-3336 or nikasha.dicks@augustachronicle.com.