Yellowknife (Sep 08/06) - Each weekday afternoon, right about 1 p.m, a blue tarp makes its way skywards, supported by poles, ropes, and a little luck.

"It's our roof," says Diane Boudreau, the artist behind Urban Art, the seasonal art workshop that has spent the last three years at the (somewhat) vacant lot on 50th Street and 52nd Avenue.

Diane Boudreau dusts off a raven painting she has been completing for Urban Art, which has entered its third year on the corner of 50th Street and 52nd Avenue. - Adam Johnson/NNSL photo

When the weather is kind, Boudreau, aided by a rotating cast of assistants, helpers and fellow artists, designs and adorns slabs of donated plywood. The sturdy artworks are then installed on the side of Centre Square Mall, facing the parking lot on 50th Street, each sponsored by a local business.

"It's an association between art and business," she said. "It's a chance for artists to promote themselves."

In previous years, Boudreau approached businesses in the beginning of the summer, when Urban Art begins, to sponsor the works that will be displayed. This year, she's coming at it backwards, "bugging" businesses to sponsor works after they have been completed.

"So I have to be convincing," she said.

This is the first year the project has received funding from the NWT Arts Council, something Boudreau said has taken some of the strain off the project.

"It's still the only application (process) that is open to a variety of art," she said. The Urban Art project is a little too "alternative" for most funding sources, she said.

Additional funding comes from a simple, but elegant, idea. Boudreau collects donated bottles in a parked trailer in Old Town. Locales are adorned with paintings and a simple phrase: "Thank you for supporting Urban Art."

Some of Boudreau's helpers come from local group homes and shelters, coming to pass the time painting, or drilling corks for future projects. In 2004, Boudreau strung thousands of corks together to create a raft.

"I never pretend to help anyone," she said simply. "I just keep them busy, and they help me a lot."

She said she and her crew hope to expand the work space in the future, which might mean moving to a new location.

"We want to stay outside, with a roof and no walls," she said, though she admitted the roof could use an upgrade.

"You should come by when it's windy, you can't hear anything," she said with a laugh.