Culturally Rewarding Art Experiences in the Yukon Territory
ACS Magazine Nov/Dec 2017 Issue - The Yukon Territory
Suzanne Paleczny gracing the front cover of the ACS Magazine
Exploring the culturally rewarding art experiences in the Yukon Territory with Suzanne Paleczny gracing the front cover of the ACS Magazine November/December 2017 Issue at acs-mag.com. Published by Renée LaVerné Rose (Publisher & Editor-in-Chief).
Renée LaVerné Rose
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
ACS Magazine
With the world news shifting from one endless cycle of tragic events to another (mass shootings, record breaking hurricane season, record breaking wild fires, growing world conflicts, an increasingly divided America, witnessing the devastating effects from climate change, etc.) I thought it were fitting to conclude ACS Magazine’s calendar year with an uplifting issue.
Devoting the entire ACS Magazine to the Yukon Territory has been extremely refreshing and cleansing to the soul. As I poured through each artist personal history, art career and their passionate statements regarding the Yukon Territory, I experienced an inner peace, personal harmony, a spiritual rejuvenation, a surge of energy, and sense of higher purpose. It is encouraging to know that there are still some places on the face of the earth where human self-destruction has not sucked out the positive energy forces and the essence of the territory remains pure. That along informs me there is time to reverse our destructive path.
The pure essence of the Yukon Territory reminds me why I was determined to make this issue come alive; why I was so compelled to share this beauty with the world at this point and time; and why I felt this issue serve as catalyst that shifts us toward a healing direction. This is the energy and nature beauty that resonates from in the Yukon territory.
I would like to give special thanks to Serena Kovalosky (Curator, Cultural Project Developer & Artful Vagabond Productions) for her consulting expertise plus sharing her extraordinary connection to the Yukon and connecting ACS Magazine with these amazing artists.
Serena Kovalosky, Senior Consulting Editor Photo by Christian Kuntz
Senior Consulting Editor’s Note It is a great honor to be the guest co-editor of this issue of ACS Magazine, featuring artists from Canada’s Yukon Territory.
As a curator and cultural project developer in the northeast United States, I was invited several years ago by Canadian curator Harreson Tanner on a two-week curatorial tour of the Yukon, along with Yukon photographer Christian Kuntz. As we visited artists’ studios from Whitehorse to Dawson to Ross River, I experienced the Yukon in an extraordinary way - through the stories and artwork of each of these talented artists.
The Yukon wilderness is never far from one’s doorstep, even in the city of Whitehorse. It is a presence that is part of life here, even for short-time visitors, and that presence is felt in the work of its artists.
Far from being mere observers, the artists are as honest and wild as the Yukon itself. Their passion for their work runs deep as it is intricately woven into their daily lives. Inspiration arrives on the wings of ravens or in a herd of migrating caribou. It is found on the branches of snow-laden trees, in the breathtaking landscape and in the people who call the Yukon home. It is painted on canvas, carved in bone, molded in clay, captured on camera. It carries the stories of First Nations elders and the realities of contemporary life.
At the same time, the work transcends this “sense of place,” as all great art does, offering new ways to experience the world and insights into our own relationship with the earth and each other.
I am grateful for the generosity we experienced as these artists welcomed us into their studios and am excited to see them brought together on these pages. It is a pleasure to also include artists I have only recently encountered and added to this group, knowing there are many more I have yet to discover.
Many thanks to Harreson Tanner, who is as passionate about the Yukon as he is about its artists. A very special thanks to ACS Magazine Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Renée LaVerné Rose for this extraordinary opportunity and whose bold and innovative vision continues to bring culture, diversity and art together in unique ways.
Enjoy the experience!
