RACINE - Downtown will lose a high-end, Main Street art gallery by year's end unless Downtown Racine Corp. can find a buyer to take it over.

"For rent" signs have gone up on the windows of Monfort's Fine Art Gallery, 430 Main St. It is now open only Fridays and Saturdays.

The owners, Ray and Miriam Hoyum, previously opened a sister Monfort's gallery in Atlanta, DRC Executive Director Devin Sutherland said.

Their daughter, Jennifer Hoyum, is no longer living in Racine to run this gallery, and the family apparently has decided to drop this one, Sutherland said. The recession was apparently another factor in their decision, he added.

The building owner, Steve Norovich, said the lease runs out Dec. 31 and the gallery would close by then unless sold.

Sutherland said he is talking to potential prospects to take over Monfort's. He said the Hoyums intend to make their decision by mid-December about whether to sell or close the gallery.

The Hoyums originally opened on the third floor of 1 Main St. in late 2003. They later moved to 423 Main St. and finally into 430 Main St., the former Pastiche Gallery & Gifts in mid-2007.

The approximately 4,200-square-foot gallery occupies what was formerly a Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop.

The Hoyums could not be reached for comment.