COEUR d'ALENE - We don't spare many calories contemplating the multitude working quietly around us.

Take the mailman, zoning board commissioners, volunteers at a homeless shelter.

But Barbara Mueller sees a commonality in them all.

Each bolsters the community in an incremental way, the Coeur d'Alene artist contends, collectively keeping our system of civilized survival humming.

"It's amazing the amount of people and energy that create where you live, where you and I get to walk every day," Mueller said.

She would like us to see that, too.

So she's going to show us.

Mueller is accepting nominations for community members to be featured in her upcoming art piece, "Portrait of a Town." The title is literal: Mueller will shoot photo portraits of more than 200 individuals in Coeur d'Alene and post them for a year on the side of a downtown building.

Video interviews of each subject will be accessible online, too, with details of their backgrounds and their reflections on the nature of Coeur d'Alene.

The purpose is to reveal the diversity of the Lake City's population, Mueller said. More than that, it's to celebrate the plethora of professionals, volunteers, artists and do-gooders who contribute to the city's spirit.

"I believe what makes up the heartbeat of Coeur d'Alene are small acts of kindness, bravery, tenacity and innovation from those who live here," said Mueller, who is a member of the Coeur d'Alene Arts Commission. "My small act of kindness is to reflect back my vision, using the tools in my toolbox."

Folks can nominate individuals to be photographed at www.portrait-of-a-town.com. There's no bullet list to qualify someone, Mueller said. She is merely looking for those who serve the community and show interest, in turn making the area interesting.

"I want to capture the mayor and the mail carrier, the hospice nurse and the skateboarder," Mueller said. "Just a montage of the town's humanity."

Nominations close on March 29. Mueller, who works as an artist outside of the business MSM Design she owns with her husband, Marty, said she and other collaborators will choose a board to pick from the nominees.

The self-taught photographer hopes to have the images posted and the associated website complete by June.

The portraits will wallpaper the side of the building at 309 Sherman Avenue, which houses the Pita Pit and borders Sherman Park.

Pat Krug, who co-owns the building with Pepper Smock, said it was easy to agree to the project.

"I just thought it was a wonderful idea, and has an opportunity to bring the community together," Krug said. "It benefits us as a whole to realize our community is the sum of many people all playing wonderful, special roles."

Mueller is a Chicago native who has lived in Kootenai County since 1980.

She has focused on landscapes in the past, she said, and decided to pursue a "human landscape" this time around.

"I want (locals) to be creative in their nominations, to really take a look at the people who surround them and what they do," she said. "This is an opportunity to celebrate what they do."