In their place stands a fully functional art facility with crisp white walls, designer lighting and contemporary artwork.

With paint fumes still fresh in the air, volunteers and tenured staff are working away to not only complete their yearlong museum makeover but get the galleries ready for the much-anticipated "Touch my heART" exhibit running through Feb. 14.

A showcase of established and emerging local artists, the exhibit is anticipated to spark notice of the new look as well as strengthen community bonds.

" 'Touch my heART' is an opportunity to invest in some of the best art in the region, help the museum stay solvent and take part in a Los Gatos community experience," said Los Gatos Mayor Sandy Decker, who is also an honorary committee member for the fundraiser. "This event is Los Gatans doing what they do best—supporting each other."

The culmination of the two-week art display will occur on Valentine's Day. Wine and cheese will accompany live and silent auctions as well as a raffle of donated art pieces. Live auction items will include packages for local hotels, spa treatments and car wash passes for a year.

"This is a wonderful Valentine's event and a needed fundraiser," said Maralyn Miller, co-chairwoman of "Touch my heART." "It is very, very exciting. I hope it is so much fun we'll do it again next year."

A majority of the art revolves around love or Valentine-type themes; however, many methods and mediums will be on display.

"We have a really nice variety," said Laura Bajuk, executive director of the museum. "The pieces in the silent auction are beautiful. We have a lot of multimedia work ... I am thrilled to see the space used this way."

Displaying art wasn't too much of a problem for the museum in the past, but making it look good was another story. Poor lighting, shaggy carpet and brown overtones in the upstairs gallery prevented the true colors of the work from standing out.

But once current director Laura Bajuk was hired, the ball for renovation was set in motion.

"After the termites were gone and the roofs fixed, we analyzed how we could do our jobs better and maximize the space," Bajuk said. "Just because we did something one way for 20 years didn't mean we still needed to do it that way. We realized the best use of the space was for artwork, not nature."

With the exception of the wood ceiling in the upstairs gallery left alone, everything else was painted, pulled out and recarpeted.

This task was not done alone, or easily, however. A so-called "dream team" amassed by the museum, included locals such as Rick Tharp, Mike Manley, Doug Dodd and Terry Martin. With a combination of artistic, graphics and building skills, the dream team worked closely with the museum's board of directors to create an image and design concept for the site, with particular attention paid to the downstairs gallery space.

Included in the renovation was a complete overhaul of the former natural history display. Gone are the days of '60s light fixtures and feathered friends (they are stored for future display). Now the museum houses three gallery rooms, new carpeting, a handicap-accessible bathroom and entryway, sleek lighting fixtures and walls mounted with plastered, painted plywood better suited for hanging art. The back patio has also been tended to, receiving an updated look with stone benches, a three-tiered fountain and landscaping.

"Everyone had the feeling that the museum was rundown, that it was just old and tired," said Doug Dodd, a dream team member, custom furniture maker and newly selected museum board member. "You had the feeling that nothing changed, that nothing would ever change." Dodd said the dream team formed easily, comprised of a "nice core group with lots of talent" who began work immediately.

"We had complete freedom and we fed off that. The board set no limits on what we could do, aside from what was in reason with how much money we had," Dodd said.

Many dream team members worked full weekends on the project, donating their skills and talents while simultaneously drumming up community support and donations for the upgrades. Roughly a year later, the museum was ready to open and be embraced by the community.

And embraced it has been.

"The town has been extremely receptive to the changes," Dodd said. "People come in and are really supportive; they just say 'Wow!' when they see it."

With the museum operating at a higher level of service, a larger, more diverse collection is a possibility.

"The museum will now be able to raise the bar of sophistication in exhibiting," Decker said. "These changes are very important, as they allow the museum to go out and get artists that it couldn't exhibit before."

Exhibit co-chairwoman Miller agrees. "There have been fabulous changes, all of which the art community wanted for a long time. Now the museum is really growing, and hopefully this will allow us to have bigger and better shows."

While community support is key to this movement, interest from local artists is as well. "Hopefully when all these artists see the space gussied up, it will inflame the word of mouth," Bajuk said. "I think these changes do make a difference. A facility needs to be safe, secure, dry and comfortable for artwork to be there, and it also needs to be attractive. We are taking the steps to make that jump and make it work."

Despite the Art Museum of Los Gatos taking a night to kick up its heels and celebrate, it is only a temporary respite.

Eager to get a jump-start in educating about the arts while increasing the quality of work hosted by the galleries, curator Catherine Politopoulos explains that the museum is moving at a quick and lively pace.

"The museum is booked out for nearly two years," she said. "We are getting more artists than we can hold. It has been wonderful—we can actually be picky now."

The 'Touch my heART' exhibit will run through Feb. 14, with the fundraiser from 6 to 9 p.m. on Feb. 14. Tickets for the event are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Raffle tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20. Tickets are available at the Art Museum of Los Gatos and the History Museum of Los Gatos, as well as Tercera Gallery, Cotton Works, the Town of Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce and Gallery Saratoga. For more information, call 408.395.7373. The museum is located at 4 Tait Ave., at Main Street in downtown Los Gatos. The hours are Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.