Hundreds of people lined up outside the Art Gallery of Alberta in downtown Edmonton this weekend to get their works into its last big exhibit before it's closed to make way for the gallery's new home.

The exhibit is called Free For All and anyone who can carry their work in through the front door has been promised a place in the show.

"We've cleared all the walls upstairs to make way for this show and we are inviting everybody in," Markus Miller, assistant curator at the public gallery, said in an interview with CBC Radio.

"We weren't really sure what to expect, but we've got this kind of crazy crowd and … this is just a fantastic show of support for us and we're very pleased," he said.

People kept warm with big cups of coffee as they waited their turn to get paintings, sculptures and other works into the museum.

Artists have until Tuesday to get their work into the display. "We're hoping for really interesting juxtapositions," Miller said, adding that the exhibit gives the public a chance to see a range of local talent.

"We made a big point of inviting the professional artists in town because we want everybody. We want, you know, my little boy who's seven years old and I want him beside … one of the professionals artists in town and I think that those kinds of crazy juxtapositions could be really interesting for everybody."

The exhibit opens March 3 and runs until March 24.

Prizes will be awarded at the close of the show. Then the bulldozers move in to level the gallery to make way for a new building.

The new $88-million building, designed by U.S. architect Randall Stout, features stainless steel curves and 10,000 square feet of gallery space.

dude, that's awesome....the should be a permantent gallery like that in many places, it would help the publicity of some artists who have trouble getting their art work out to the public.