YELLOWKNIFE - Michelle McDuff, manager of Northern Images, a gallery on Franklin Avenue, rose quickly to the top.

"Like most people coming to the North, I walked in and was instantly offered a job," said McDuff, who began working as a sales associate four years ago and within two months became manager of the store.

Northern Images manager Michelle McDuff shows off Kimmirut artist Simeonie Killiktee's stone bear sculpture. - Alix McNaught/NNSL photo

"I find Inuit art so incredibly accessible," she added. "It's non-pretentious and it's easy to appreciate and easy to kind of fall in love with. But still, I have lots to learn."

There are two employees at Northern Images: McDuff and a full-time sales associate.

"We are owned by the Arctic Co-operatives Limited, which is the exact same company who owns the co-op grocery stores, just like the Yellowknife Direct Charge Co-op. So as a retail location for art, we are here representing the members in the communities who are part of the co-op, who need to sell their art. So the impetus for the Northern Images stores came from members in the communities needing a place to sell their art, that they control," said McDuff.

An average day at Northern Images is split between the gallery aspects of the store and the monetary ones, as Northern Images also runs a cash transfer system.

"Essentially what that means is people who come to visit from the communities can receive a cheque that has been sent through our system to them," said McDuff, adding that it is an unusual practice for an art gallery, but not for a co-op art gallery.

"Our main staples are sculpture and prints, and then we have also, supporting Yellowknife and the Dene artists, things like birch-bark baskets, moccasins, mitts, fur," she said.

"First and foremost, of course, we're here for customers. So we're here to sell, display and talk about art. That 's what we do the most and have the most fun at. We have a very good time telling people about Yellowknife, about the North and about the art that's here."

The store also does a lot of shipping, so this Yellowknifer reporter tried her hand at packing art. A beautiful stone polar bear sculpture, to be precise.

According to McDuff, the goal is to make the sculpture pretty much resemble a ball, so that no delicate pieces are sticking out. Using bubble wrap and crumpled paper, which McDuff said is an excellent shock absorber, we wrapped up the bear carving until it resembled nothing more than a large, well-padded blob.

McDuff said she enjoys watching people fall in love with a piece of art and take it home.

"I love it," she said. "It is never, ever a dull moment, and after four years, I have done it all. I shovel the walk if I need to, I can frame if I need to, and I think most fun is connecting with people over art."

As for the bear sculpture, it is now on its way, safely wrapped, to British Columbia.