VISITORS to the Nottingham Contemporary felt "inspired" and "proud" after it opened its doors for the first time on Saturday.

People queued in good spirits despite the stormy weather to catch their first glimpse inside the £20m art gallery.

It has opened with an exhibition of Yorkshire artist David Hockney's work from 1960 to 1968, alongside an exhibition by American artist Frances Stark.

Matt Antoniak, 18, from Ravenshead, said: "It makes me feel proud it's in Nottingham. I really liked the skylights, they made it feel vast and important."

His mother, Jeanette, 46, said: "We really liked Frances Stark. The blank canvases really suited the white, almost clinical feeling of the room.

"The Hockney exhibition was quite exciting – to see them in real life!"

The queue appeared to be moving fast with people waiting five to 10 minutes to get inside.

Zarina Beg, 25, from Wollaton, said it was fantastic to see the original of Hockney's well-known work A Bigger Splash.

She said: "The gallery has really good space, it's got a relaxed but very friendly atmosphere. A lot of galleries can feel very cold."

Her mother Samina Khalique Beg, 50, said she was inspired by the gallery.

"What I was fascinated by was the way Hockney tackled water. I don't think water is any easy feat to get on paper but he's managed it so easily. It's invigorating," she said.

The mother and daughter were among hundreds of people who wrote on a sofa in the gallery – a project by Nottingham Contemporary youth art group Get Involved 17.

Samina wrote "Art is the essence of me, it's what makes me tick", and Zarina simply wrote, "Sit here".

Member of Get Involved 17, Leila Rosa Newton, 16, of Hyson Green, said: "One day it would be my dream to have an exhibition here, it's really good for me to get this experience."

The gallery attracted people of all ages from across the county.

Eight year-old Lucy Bowskill, from Farnsfield, said: "I really like it. It's got sparkly pictures and I like the big open spaces."

It is estimated the first show alone will contribute £1 million to the local economy.

Experience Nottinghamshire predicts that in the first 10 weeks over 250,000 people will visit the gallery.

More than 500 local craftsmen and women worked to create the four-storey building in what had been caves, cellars and a derelict 1896 railway cutting and tunnel.