For Anne Baumgartner and Pam Gray, two artists sharing a cramped and cluttered Ballard studio around the corner from Cafe Bambino with a handful of other artists, it must be hard to see good space go to waste.

On June 1, Baumgartner and Gray will be putting up the first stages of their "On the Fence" installation at the future Avalon Ballard and former Sunset Bowl site at 1400 N.W. Market St., which has sat vacant since the former bowling alley was torn down in January.

The two artists, who have shared their studio space for three years and known each other for a decade since they were Seattle Public Schools teachers, had an idea they thought would be cool for an empty lot.

After receiving one of four grants for outdoor installations from Seattle Print Arts in March, Gray and Baumgartner set out to look for a usable lot in Ballard.

Baumgartner said they didn't think the project would happen at first because coordinating with property representatives and liability issues were proving to be difficult.

But, a friend in real estate knew the Avalon Ballard representatives, and after Baumgartner and Gray showed what they were about as artists and that they weren't going for shock value or a political message, Avalon Ballard agreed to the project, Baumgartner said.

She said AvalonBay Communities, developer of Avalon Ballard, wanted to give back to the community and is supporting the project via supplies and maintenance. One representative said he can't wait to bring his children to see "On the Fence," Baumgartner said.

"On the Fence" will cover sections of the chain-link fence surrounding the site on the corner of 14th Avenue and Market Street with panels. Each panel will use cardboard and found paper and plastic materials to create a collage representing a letter of the alphabet and incorporating some Ballard imagery.

Gray said it is hard to start a project this big, but centering it around letters gave them a starting point.

They wanted the panels to be cohesive and relate to each other while being accessible to everyone, including children and people who only have a moment to glance at the project, Baumgartner said.

She said they will be installing the first four or five panels June 1 but hope to have all 26 letters eventually.

"I'll tell you right now, X and I are not easy," Gray said.

Despite the difficulties of working on such a large installation in such a small studio, Baumgartner and Gray said the project has already been rewarding.

When the artists put up a sample panel for two hours on April 29, it was a traffic stopper, Gray said. She said everyone wanted to know what was going on.

Through preparations for the project, Baumgartner and Gray have gotten to know the community better, including the East Ballard Community Association and local business owners, which has been rewarding, Gray said.

The East Ballard Community Association's Shannon Dunn said she is excited for the project to go up.

"I appreciate it," Dunn said. "That someone is taking the time and energy to turn this dead space into something vibrant."

She said "On the Fence" is an excellent demonstration of civic action and civic pride in one's community.

"I hope that it's an example to other people in the community who have ideas they would like to see realized," Dunn said.

Baumgartner said she hopes the community will take ownership of "On the Fence" and help maintain it. They applied for a grant from the city they hope to use to provide more community aspects for the project, including a July party for the neighborhood, she said.

Baumgartner encouraged Ballard residents to visit the "On the Fence" blog to suggest Ballard imagery that could be used with each letter.

Though the six-story, 271-unit, mixed-use Avalon Ballard development passed final reviews in November 2009, allowing construction to begin at any time, AvalonBay representative Derek Bottles told the Ballard News-Tribune in January that there is no timeline for when construction get underway.

For more information on Gray and Baumgartner's "On the Fence," visit the project's blog or stop by the lot at 1400 N.W. Market St. starting June 1 to see the first panels.