MARY BRADSHAW, GALLERY DIRECTOR, YUKON ARTS CENTRE

Mary Bradshaw, director of the gallery at the Yukon Arts Centre.

Originally from Tofino on Vancouver Island, Mary Bradshaw has worked in the Yukon arts community since 2004. After a stint coordinating the Odd Gallery for the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture in Dawson City, Bradshaw returned to the Yukon Arts Centre in Whitehorse as Acting Curator. When the Centre re-envisioned that role as Director, Bradshaw was hired. Now, she’s seeking curators to collaborate on shows for the only Class A gallery north of 60.

Galleries West: How would these collaborations work?

Mary Bradshaw: I see us collaborating when it comes to the educational programming, catalogue production and so on. With the choice of artists, the curators will have their artistic freedom.

GW: What curatorial interests does the Yukon Arts Centre have?

MB: We’d like to explore many areas including contemporary craft, new media, storytelling, connections between the three territories and possibly artists from other circumpolar countries.

GW: How will this curatorial practice bring national and international artists to the Yukon?

MB: Curators have links and knowledge of their own regional art scenes, as well as more widely in their fields of interest. We’ll utilize these to bring in artists we might not have had access to or even known.

GW: How will the program promote the work of Yukon artists outside the region?

MB: Each curator will spend time here. Every show has to incorporate Yukon talent, so it will be the curators’ job to get out and meet Yukon artists. GW: What other results do you hope to get from these shows?

MB: It’s my sincere hope that this will give Yukon artists the chance to see their work in the context of national work, and in turn to build a wider awareness of Yukon art.

GW: How do you see the role of Northern art in the wider contemporary arts scene?

MB: The North is an important part of the Canadian identity, so northern art will always have a role and place on the Canadian art scene. But what is ‘Northern Art’? I think when southern Canadians picture Northern art, they think of the amazing work coming out of the Eastern Arctic. (Sobey Award winner) Annie Pootoogook is the shining example, along with the more traditional Inuit printmakers and carvers. I don’t think people have a sense of the art scene in the Yukon. We have an amazing range and variety of work: from contemporary painting to Doug Smarch Jr.’s film installations, to exquisite fine craft, animation, performance, and traditional carving. The Yukon’s diversity is a testament to the strength of our art community but it also makes us very hard to define. There isn’t a readily available ‘Yukon Style.’ I hope that is what will make it exciting for visiting curators.