InsideOut
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Yukon Artists @ Work Cooperative 4129 4 Avenue, Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 1H7
Marie-Hélène Comeau, "The Crocus," 2021
design for building cut out for "InsideOut ," 2021
InsideOut features both original and re-imagined art.
If you live in Whitehorse, you have likely seen that the bright blue Yukon Artists at Work (YAAW) gallery on Fourth and Wood Street got even more colourful this summer. YAAW artists worked with about 40 Yukon seniors to paint dozens of plywood cut-outs depicting Yukon animals, plants, and other northern features. The installation was mounted on the exterior of the gallery building. The project was funded through the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors initiative.
In October, you’ll have a chance to see the original art on which the plywood cut-outs were based.
The show, InsideOut, will be mounted in the solo gallery at Yukon Artists at Work as part of Culture Days, a national initiative that celebrates Canadian arts and culture.
“The theme for this year’s Culture Days is ‘re-imaged’,” said Janet Patterson, curator of the October show. “With that in mind, we think this exhibit is a perfect fit, since the plywood installation was a re-imagining of original art pieces.”
“The purpose of the show is two-fold,” Patterson said. “We had planned an open house at the end of June to celebrate the new outdoor exhibit, but we cancelled it after a spike in COVID cases here in the Yukon. The October show gives us a chance to have that celebration, albeit belatedly. It also allows us to show off the beautiful art that was the inspiration for the exterior installation.”
The outside exhibit was the brainchild of artists Leslie Leong and Martha Ritchie. In speaking about the installation, Leong says, “I knew it would be a great way to engage our community of artists with seniors in the Yukon. Taking pandemic precautions, the project was designed to involve seniors in a large collective project by working in small groups creating the painted cut-outs. That’s why we called it Creating Together, Apart. Now we have the most colourful building in Whitehorse to be enjoyed by all.”
Leong’s original work will be featured in the October show, along with that of about a dozen other Yukon Artists at Work members.
While you are welcome to come see the show throughout most of October, there will be a special open house on October 9th where there will be snacks and some of the artists will be in attendance to answer any questions you might have.