LENOX — With the annual late September Apple Squeeze a nonstarter this year because of the COVID pandemic, the chamber of commerce is lining up a small-scale event to comply with social distancing guidelines.

The Lenox Art Walk this weekend will feature "safely distanced art villages," said Jennifer Nacht, the chamber's executive director.

Works by 35 area artists will be on display throughout the downtown historic district, including sculptures, paintings, drawings, photographs, ceramics, textiles and jewelry. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

For a $200 weekend participation fee, each artist was provided a 10-foot-by-10-foot location to set up a tent with socially distanced space.

Artists are grouped into six small display "villages" to create a safe walk for visitors to browse and potentially purchase artwork, Nacht said. The event also is intended to help drive customer traffic to restaurants, retailers and galleries that have been affected by pandemic-related restrictions, she added.

Locations include Lilac Park, the Roche Reading Park at the Lenox Library, the lot off Housatonic Street that hosts the weekly Lenox Farmers Market, the area behind Nejaime's Wine Cellar in the Village Center parking lot, a section behind the Firefly restaurant, another site on Church Street and one on Walker Street near the firehouse.

Each "village" will be staffed by volunteer monitors to ensure that social distancing guidelines and mask requirements are being observed.

Specific galleries are pinpointed on a walking map available at the chamber's Lenox Visitor Center at Housatonic and Main streets. They include the American Craftsman Gallery, The Janet Pumphrey Gallery, Sohn Fine Art, 4 for Art, and the Tom Fiorini Sculpture Park.

The event is co-presented by the chamber, the American Craftsman Gallery and the Lenox Cultural District.

The chamber also is sponsoring a Lenox Tent Sale on Oct. 10-12, promising "hundreds of unique finds for the sophisticated shopper in walkable downtown Lenox."

Clarence Fanto can be reached at cfanto@yahoo.com, on Twitter @BE_cfanto or at 413-637-2551