A unique art exhibit involving mannequins is opening in New City this weekend.

A total of 140 mannequins have been turned into displays of art for the exhibit - an unintended consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We took mannequins from bankrupt stores, dead mannequins and transformed them, gave them to artists who gave them new life. In all forms, in all shapes, we didn't influence them, we told them do whatever you want," says Dan Regan, of the Trudy and Daniel Regan Foundation.

Regan and his wife, Trudy, started the foundation several years ago after they retired as a way to give back to the artists community.

"With the virus a lot of them couldn't pay their mortgage and pay for their rent so we didn't want to give them pure charity, we wanted to give them something to work on," says Dan Regan. "How do you eat when you're trying to eat from the arts, very difficult. We tried to supplement them, but we couldn't support them all so we figured we'd get one big show and open it to the public."

Many of the artists who haven't had a showing or a reason to create in quite a while say the experience has reinvigorated them.