Chris Puglia
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 02/02) - Dawn Oman had an unexpected smile on her face Saturday as she looked at the destruction of a building that once contained her artwork.

In 1996, Oman was asked to paint a mural on the wall of the Canadian Tire building.

"The Festival of the Midnight Sun had phoned me up because I had done their logo and they were smitten with the colourful ways I do things," said Oman.

Oman first thought she would be painting only one panel of the wall facing Franklin Ave.

"They said they wanted the whole wall and I said 'oh my God'."

So Oman spread the project over three years, during which time it became a community effort.

"When anyone who was walking by would volunteer, I'd say paint that blue or paint that red and they would," said Oman.

Each volunteer then had their name painted on the corner of one of the panels.

And while Oman had mixed emotions about the demolition prior to Saturday, pieces of the wall will be seen around the city.

Oman said a piece will hopefully go to the new building. The federal government owns the property and plans to erect a four- to five-storey building and turn it into office space.

One piece will also be donated to the NWT Council for Persons with Disabilities for their celebrity auction. And many other individuals have expressed interest in purchasing pieces of the wall.

"It means so much to a lot of people in Yellowknife. It will be well missed by many people including me," she said.

"I'm just glad some of them can be saved."