Finalists Announced for the 2025 Yukon Prize for Visual Arts

Images (left to right) – Top row: Jeneen Frei Njootli, Jane Isakson, Meshell Melvin. Bottom row: Randi Nelson, Aubyn O’Grady, Jackie Olson.

Finalists Announced for $20,000 Yukon Prize for Visual Arts

The Yukon Prize for Visual Arts has announced the finalists for the 2025 Yukon Prize, juried by three outstanding Canadian arts professionals.

The six finalists are:

• Jane Isakson, Whitehorse YT
• Meshell Melvin, Whitehorse YT
• Randi Nelson, Secwépemc artist from St’uxwtéws First Nation, Whitehorse, YT
• Jeneen Frei Njootli, Vuntut Gwitchin artist, Old Crow YT
• Aubyn O’Grady, Dawson YT
• Jackie Olson, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation, Dawson YT

Biographies and photos of the artists’ artworks are available on the Yukon Prize website.

60 Yukon artists applied for the Yukon Prize in an open competition that closed on November 15, 2024.

Images (left to right): Sarah Moore Fillmore, CEO of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Jean-François Bélisle, Director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada. Dr. Heather Igloliorte, Professor, Visual Arts Department, University of Victoria.

Thirteen longlisted artists were chosen by a jury of three well-known arts professionals from outside the Yukon. The six finalists were selected from the longlisted artists by the jury:

• Jean-François Bélisle, Director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada
• Sarah Moore Fillmore, CEO of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
• Dr. Heather Igloliorte, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Decolonial and Transformational Indigenous Art Practices and Professor, Visual Arts Department, University of Victoria, Inuk-Newfoundlander, Nunatsiavut

All six finalists will be included in a curated group exhibition at the Yukon Arts Centre Gallery in Whitehorse, opening on September 11. A gala celebration to announce the top prize recipient and celebrate Yukon’s visual, performing and culinary arts will take place as part of the Yukon Prize Festival Weekend, October 3-5 in Whitehorse. The longlisted artists will be included in a curated group exhibition at Arts Underground, opening on Friday, October 3. More information about the Festival Weekend is available here.

The Yukon Prize for Visual Arts is a biennial award that recognizes excellence by Yukon visual artists. The Yukon Prize is intended to be a catalyst for the promotion of Yukon visual arts and to inspire connections between Yukon artists and the visual arts community in the rest of Canada. The Prize provides $20,000 to one Yukon artist to help them focus full-time on creating art. Five other finalists will each receive $3,000.

The Yukon Prize for Visual Arts is privately sponsored and is a partnership of co-founders Julie Jai and David Trick, the Yukon Arts Foundation and the Yukon Arts Centre. Support for the 2025 Yukon Prize comes from the Yukon Government, Lotteries Yukon, Air North, Power Corporation of Canada, Whitehorse Motors, the City of Whitehorse, Casino Mining, Preview Magazine, more than 50 individual donors, and a dedicated team of volunteers.

For media inquiries:
Julie Jai, Co-founder
(416) 553-3315 | julie.jai@gmail.com

For high-resolution photos of the artists and their art, please contact:
Courtney Holmes, Project Manager
(867) 446-1669 | courtney@yukonprize.ca

Web: www.yukonprize.ca
Instagram: @yukonprize
Facebook: @yukonprize