Writing & Reading!

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Hello, my name is Allyson Menzies, and I am a part time student at SOVA. I am currently enrolled in the English 120 and loving every minute of it. I’ll be sharing a bit about the class and our writing assignments.

I am really enjoying the writing assignments that we have been given this semester. They have been thought provoking as well as enjoyable to write about. Writing critical analysis of an art object and a close reading of a poem are excellent examples of a the kind of mind stimulating assignments we are given. I particularly enjoyed writing the analysis of an art object. I chose to write about my antique piano. I learned so much about the history of the piano and the mechanics behind it, as well as gained knowledge about the design and craftsmanship that went into the production of the piano. I now have a greater appreciation for the instrument sitting in my home.

The most recent assignment we have been given, is to re-write a myth, or in my case, a fairy tale. I chose to re-write my all time favourite story, Peter Pan. For as long I can remember, the story of Peter Pan has captivated me and influenced a number of Halloween costumes. I remember being very young and wondering what would have happened if Wendy and the Lost Boys stayed in Neverland instead of going back to London with Wendy’s family. I am so excited to get the chance to re-write this classic tale, but from the perspective of Wendy. I get to create the ending I have fantasized about for years to life.

Wendy Darling by Oliver Herford, “The Peter Pan Alphabet”, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1907

We have also been assigned the novel Through Black Spruce written by Joseph Boyden. I am only half way through the book, but so far it has been a wonderful read. I am looking forward to the future class discussion we will be having, and hearing my class mates take on the novel. One of the things I really like about this English class are the discussions we have. The conversations are always interesting and something to look forward to.

The last three months have flown by. It is hard to believe that the fall semester is almost over, and the December break is just around the corner. Being a student in Dawson has been great and I feel so privileged that I got to be apart of this amazing program. I am very excited to see what my other class mates have created in their other courses this semester, at open house on Thursday December 13th. Thanks for reading my blog post and make sure to check back for more exciting SOVA stories!

Death to Cultural Knowledge? No Way…

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by Isabel Ford

Just as environmental degradation is rearing its ugly head, so is the exponential extinction of humanity’s multifaceted world of culture and language. Of the roughly 6,000 languages being spoken in your lifetime, nearly half will not be passed down to the future generation. If one zooms out of the human perception of time and takes a look at what is going on, we can see that of the effect of 300 years of industrialization and globalization has allowed for nearly half of humanity’s cultures to go extinct!

However, as poet and anthropologist Wade Davis puts it, “This does not have to happen. These peoples are not failed attempts at being modern, quaint and colourful and destined to fade away as if by natural law. In every case, these are dynamic, living peoples being driven out of existence by identifiable forces. That’s actually an optimistic observation, because it suggests that if human beings are the agents of cultural destruction, we can also be, and must be, the facilitators of cultural survival.”

(Click here for an amazing video of Wade Davis giving a talk called “Cultures at the far edge of the world”)

The Tr’ondek Hwech’in culture is a culture threatened to become extinct. There are only a few Han (Han is the native language spoken by communities in Dawson City, Yukon and Eagle, Alaska) speakers left, due to the immense changes during the gold rush. However, the Tr’ondek Hwech’in have created many safeguards for the protection of their culture including adult language classes, a language program for youth at the Robert Service school in Dawson, and a bi-annual gathering at Moosehide (a little downstream on the Yukon River) in the summer.

Our English class got a chance to meet Tr’ondek Hwech’in beader, Dolores Anderson, last Monday night. She showed us some amazing beadwork that her grandmother, mother and she had done.

An example of Dolores Anderson’s beadwork – detail of a baby belt

Dolores talked about how her family passed down little tips and special meanings for her beadwork, and how she has been doing the same with her daughters and granddaughter.

Dolores Anderson is giving breath to her tradition one bead at a time; a wonderful example for those who wish to keep old knowledge alive.

Freeze Up, Artist Talks, Working with Glue, Life Drawings

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Hello all and welcome to this week’s blog posting. My name is Robert. I am a Foundation Year SOVA student and I will be taking you on a virtual tour of this past week at the Yukon School of Visual Arts.

Yukon River freezing

Well there’s no denying that winter has arrived in full force. The ferry has been pulled and the Yukon river has transformed itself into a floating parade of ice chunks. With temperatures dropping below -25 Celsius it is time to hunker down and embrace the cold dark winter.

That being said the creative energy flowing from the 2D studio couldn’t be warmer. We are nearing the end of ‘Life Drawings’ as part of our 2D course work. The results and progression made by SOVA students have been nothing short of fantastic! We have been experimenting with new mediums and pushing ourselves beyond the familiar and comfortable. I guess you call this personal growth…

Life Drawings

We have been challenging convention in our 3D lab as well, working with hot glue, wax, clay, and Sculpty. We’ve been producing works along the themes of transformation, hybrid forms, body parts, and wax forms. This is my first time experimenting with these mediums and have enjoyed the challenges and limitations of each material. The diversity of the finished projects are quite the eyeful. From sculpted hermaphrodites to wax flower arrangements, our 3D class is full of surprises.

Working with glue

Dawson City was very fortunate to have KIAC Artist in Residence Sarah Burwash speak at the Odd Fellows Ballroom on Thursday night.  Sarah’s presentation involved a slide-show showcasing some of her work, and stories of her creative journey through her artistic career.  Sarah’s presentation was interesting and impressive. I really enjoyed her style of work  and was definitely feeling inspired after I left. Great to see such a good turn out.

Sarah showed a brief clip from her animation "Salty." See more of her work at www.sarahburwash.com

Thanks very much for reading. Check out next week’s blog with more stories and events happening at SOVA. Cheers, Robert.

Let It Snow!

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Howdy, I am Darcie Bernhardt and I am giving you my perspective here at SOVA. I am definitely not new to the North; in fact I grew up in Tuktoyaktuk, which means “looks like a Caribou” in Inuvaluktun (pop quiz next week). In this blog I will reflect my some of my experiences and thoughts throughout the month, yes, I know very exciting.  On Sunday I will e-mail your quiz.

I found it nice to see the frosted trees on top the mountains every morning.  I’m very thrilled to experience the winter here in Dawson City, perhaps too excited that I’m practically waiting at the windows. It’s not the snow itself but what it represents, memories to begin and to be cherished. Yet, the one thing I forgot to bring was my winter boots.

Do you see what I see? Snow!

Our second field trip was at Tombstone and there were only two words for that trip: breath taking, literally.  It was a reminder that I am clearly out of shape to climb mountains but not the locals and their wiener dogs.  The landscape was very captivating and the bright reds, yellow, and orange made it even better.  At the end of the hike we were heading back to town a mixture of snow and hail was trailing right behind us.  I thought for sure the snow would follow. It’s easy to understand why so many people from all across Canada to come the Yukon.

I automatically thought of the song by Marvin Gaye "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"

On Tuesday, we had the town tour. I can tell you it was Alappaa, which means, “It’s cold” (remember, pop quiz)!  There was a fog throughout the tour and it looked like we had our very own cloud.  Plus, the trees on top the mountains were frosted like something out of a magazine.  The tour was quite insightful and gave me better view of Dawson and how much history is behind every building that I finally got to see.  I found that the whole tour was an example of how welcoming the town is to others.  It seemed like very building we went into was colder than the last one and was the same temperature outside.  Especially, the old theatre (the Palace Grande) was a little darker experience because they had already shut down the lights for the winter.  Everything was hazy while we were in the theatre and it seemed like it was a dream because our guide was dressed in the early 1920s style.

On our way to the spooky theatre.

Throughout this week we have had rainy weather and I can tell you, I’m getting quite sick of it.  Overall, I’m enjoying my time and excited to create, learn, and prosper with my talented classmates.  Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy!

 

The Dawson Scene Newspaper

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Hello everyone, my name is Suzanne Roberts, and I am currently attending SOVA’s foundational year program here in Dawson City. I am writing an update on how the second week of school has gone, however, for this blog entry I decided to create a fake newspaper called the Dawson Scene. The majority of the paper is supposed to be a funny twist on how a town full of art students operates. Hope you enjoy and understand that even though the articles are based on projects we did, or events we attended, they are in no way fully true.

Sincerely,

Suzanne R.

Dawson Revisioned

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Hello and welcome everyone, my name is Sean Warnick. Though I am not new to Dawson City, I am new to the Yukon School of Visual Art (SOVA). With being a new student to SOVA, I get to experience Dawson in a whole new way, i.e. getting up before noon!

We have started our regular school schedule, and we are all settling in pretty well I must say. The weekend before classes started, we as a group were privileged enough to experience some amazing day trips that I had not had the pleasure of doing before now (even though I’ve lived here on and off again for five years).

Friday September the 7th, we were honoured to take a personal tour of Moosehide, the spiritual retreat and sanctuary of the Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation of the Dawson area. We gathered at the cultural centre, and toured the amazing northern doll collection, then made our way to the dock to take a stunning yet freezing boat ride up the Yukon River to the little piece of paradise, known as Moosehide.

I have been to Moosehide twice before this trip but both times were for the Moosehide Gathering, and never had I had the pleasure of being there on a quiet Friday afternoon. Our day consisted of a walking tour guided by someone who had grown up there, and let us in on a lot of personal stories which made this trip much more intimate. We were treated to a homemade lunch and had time to get to know one an other.

The morning before school officially started, we had a field trip to the historic Dredge #4, and it was the fourth last tour ever. We had an amazing time with our very knowledgable and charasmatic tour guide. After enjoying the tour and a small film, I couldn’t help feeling sad that future generations won’t be able to enjoy this historic spot as we have been able to. In the last week, I have probably learned more about Dawson City than in the years I had been here before.

I am looking forward to forming strong bonds with fellow students and teachers alike, as we embark on this incredible journey together in one of the most special places on earth. Good luck to everyone this year, and I am very happy to be here.

 

 

Summer Library Hours

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The Yukon SOVA Library houses an impressive collection of books, magazines and AV materials relating to a wide variety of fine arts subjects.  While the SOVA Library does not currently extend borrowing privileges to the public, we strongly encourage you to come upstairs and enjoy the collection in the library.

SOVA Library Hours:

Sunday 1 pm to 5 pm

Tuesday 4 pm to 8 pm

Wednesday 4 pm to 8 pm

Student Housing

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Do you have a house, apartment, guest room or rental unit available in Dawson City this winter?

The Yukon School of Visual Arts (SOVA) is compiling a list of housing options for the upcoming school term beginning September 2012.

If you have accommodations available and would like to be included on our student housing list, please contact SOVA staff at 993-6390 or email info [at] yukonsova.ca.

SOVA on the Radio

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This week, CBC Radio One host Dave White interviewed instructors and students for Airplay.  If you missed the live broadcasts, they are now posted online for your listening pleasure.

Instructor Charles Stankievech and students Kalyna Riis-Philips and Daniel Brown-Hozjan spoke with Dave about this year’s OVER THE WIRE project.  Listen here.

And then Dave spoke with instructor Veronica Verkley and students Elizabeth Houg and Paul Coles about the HIVE exhibition.  Listen here.

Both of these exhibitions are opening tonight, and we hope to see you there!

You can view HIVE in the Yukon SOVA Gallery (located at the corner of Queen St. and 3rd Avenue) from 7 to 8 pm, and then view the OVER THE WIRE project at the ODD Gallery (located at the corner of Princess and 2nd) from 8 to 9 pm.

The exhibitions will be showing until May 11th; gallery hours TBA.

Tonight in Old Crow…

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A selection of the best films from the Dawson City International Short Film Festival will be touring the Yukon over the next few weeks, starting tonight with a screening in Old Crow.

Included in the screening is The Working Cat’s Guide to the Yukon by SOVA instructor Veronica Verkley.  Veronica’s hilarious film won the Audience Favourite Award during the festival, as well as the 2nd place MITY (Made in the Yukon) Award in the professional category.

A film by one of our former students is included as well.  Aubyn O’Grady’s films are always very well received in Dawson, and her short sweet tale, Underdogs, is just delightful.

And your humble SOVA librarian is also quite honoured to have her short film, How To Make a Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Sandwich, in the program as well.  This film won the 2nd place MITY Award in the Emerging Artist category.

These three films are playing alongside some incredible selections–including heart-wrenching drama, touching documentaries and amazing animations–from the Yukon and the rest of the world.  If you weren’t lucky enough to join us for the Dawson City International Short Film Festival this year, you should certainly catch this Best Of tour when it passes through your community.  And then, of course, make plans to attend next year’s festival.

To find out more about where and when the tour is headed, please visit the DCISFF website and view the schedule.  Currently dates have been announced in Old Crow, Whitehorse, Pelly Crossing, Mayo and Watson Lake.

If you would like to find out more about the festival, you can also read about it on the KIAC Blog.  Current Berton House writer-in-residence Tim Falconer wrote about his experiences–including acting as “movie mule” for Veronica–here, here, here and here.  You can find my usual love letter to the festival here, and a couple of other posts here and here.