Artist covers old gas station with huge blanket

"This is much more meaningful than making objects in the studio with the door closed, and has so much more impact than any of my sculptures could have in a museum or gallery," Marsh said.

The project cost about $29,000, much of it her own money. There were also grants and contributions from individuals and businesses.

Marsh's plan was to cover a barn until she drove by the gas station one day in March 2007 and had an impulse. She tracked down the gas station owner and got permission to use his property. Then she went to the DeWitt Planning Board to get approval.

Richard Robb, DeWitt's commissioner of development and operation, said the planning board members at first thought Marsh's idea was humorous. Then they became skeptical. But as they talked with Marsh, they realized she had a well-conceived plan.

"Our board is not known for going for the offbeat like this, but they said, 'By all means,'" Robb said. "We've been pleased about it. ... We've certainly heard a predominance of positive feedback, especially once people understand what it's for."

The aging station, which closed four years ago, sits on a traffic island at a neighborhood crossroads, across the street from a dental office and shopping plaza, just down the road from the neatly trimmed, Syracuse University-owned Drumlins Country Club.

A steady stream of people stop to look at it, town officials said. Parents stop with their children. Local schools have brought classes to see the building. The blanket went on in mid-April and will stay on through mid-July.

Friends told Donna Lacey about the dressed-up gas station.

"It's a great project," said Lacey, a 45-year-old service coordinator for disable people, who stopped by on a recent sunny day. "Aesthetically, it's wonderful. It's so colorful and vibrant. And what a cool way to make a statement."

Amy Theel stopped by with her son Ethan, a second-grader at Ed Smith Elementary School in Syracuse, one of the schools that helped in the project. Ethan found his panel and pointed it out to his mother, who was impressed so many people from around the world had contributed.