New York City is home to hundreds, if not thousands, of art galleries, plus museums, libraries and other public places that show art.

That wasn’t the case in 1900, when there were only a handful of art venues, said artist Gary T. Erbe.

With such limited ways to show works, artists clamored to get into the National Academy of Design’s shows, which attracted dealers, art critics and the buying public. Just being included gave an artist a certain amount of prestige.

But the National Academy, which still exists primarily as an educational institution, had this annoying habit of accepting more works for its shows than it had room to hang. Many artists would be flush with the excitement of acceptance only to attend the show and search in vain for their works.

"Some artists decided it was time for another organization," Erbe, president of Allied Artists of America, said at a recent reception for Allied artists exhibiting at the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown.

Founded in 1914 by 12 artists, Allied maintains an all-American roster of 300 full members and 700 associate members, but it opens up its annual show to artists from all over the world. Typically, more than 1,000 works are submitted, and 200 to 250 are chosen.

Exhibiting in an Allied show can be an artist’s entry into the New York art scene, which is no small feat for any artist.

But Erbe, of Union City, N.J., doesn’t want Allied to let prestige get in the way of artist promotion.

"I don’t want people to know of us as a snobbish organization, as a cliquish organization," said Erbe, who has been president since 1994.

Erbe is a painter but he also likes to promote the works of other artists. Through his 18-year association with Dr. Louis A. Zona, executive director of the Butler, Erbe was able to find a new venue for Allied artists.

"I’ve seen so many things happen to this museum," Erbe said, noting the museum’s various physical expansions as well as that of the collection. "Not only is Lou a great director, he’s sensitive to artists."

A trompe l’oeil -- or visual deception -- painter, Erbe had shows at the Butler in 1985 and 1995 and has works in the Butler’s permanent collection.

He invited Zona to jury an Allied show, where Erbe was able to promote his belief in the high quality of Allied’s artists.

Zona was familiar with a number of Allied artists, including Everett Raymond Kinstler and Fred Staloff, who have had shows at the Butler, Joseph Sheppard, who created a key work included in the Butler’s 1992 "The Artist at Ringside" exhibition, and Elizabeth and Thomas Torak, who frequently contribute to the Butler’s National Midyear Show.

Zona said the quality of Allied’s artists convinced him to bring a show to Youngstown.