Yellowknife (July 02/04) - A mural by Dawn Oman once graced the wall of the now demolished Canadian Tire building on Franklin Avenue.

Now artist Diane Boudreau wants to create an outdoor art gallery this summer using the construction fence surrounding the property, which is the site for the new federal building.

"I want to make it alive," she said.

Starting next Thursday, Boudreau will set up an outdoor studio on 50th Street close to 52nd Avenue, behind The Sportsman, to begin painting segments of the mural. The first pieces should start appearing on the fence by Monday, July 12.

Boudreau's theme will be the natural landscape.

"As a biologist, I'm interested in animals, vegetation and minerals," she said.

With segments portraying ravens, fish or forest, for example, Boudreau will try to make a composition on the fence with these elements.

She's asking businesses to fund the art project by purchasing a segment of the mural that will feature their business' name. The mural will stay on the fence for 14 to 18 months.

Boudreau applied for, but hasn't received any, government grants for the project. So the mural is entirely dependent on donations, in cash or in goods.

"I have no budget to buy materials," she said.

"I'm hoping business will invest in public art."

Boudreau has paint, but needs plywood or other recycled construction materials to paint on.

The Sportsman donated the site for the outdoor studio, and two businesses have already purchased segments. Two other Yellowknife artists, Goota Ashoona and Terry Pamplin, have expressed interest in adding their creations to the fence.

Last summer, Boudreau created a floating dragonfly raft out of corks and launched it in the pond beside the visitors' centre. She recently led workshops in painting insects on t-shirts at the Nunavut Arts Festival in Rankin Inlet.

This weekend, she was invited to the Open Sky Festival at Fort Simpson to build a rock sculpture of a fish. Boudreau worked with people with special needs on her dragonfly project, and invites all Yellowknifers who would like to help out to come to her outdoor studio and spend a few hours painting a panel for the "gallery."

When the fence finally comes down sometime next year, the purchased panels will be returned to the businesses who bought them, and the rest will be sold at a public auction to raise money for a permanent indoor studio space.