Six Finalists Announced for the 2023 Yukon Prize for Visual Arts

Images (left to right, top to bottom): Kaylyn Baker, Jeffrey Langille, Rebekah Miller, Cole Pauls, Omar Reyna, Alainnah Whachell.

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

The organizers of the Yukon Prize for Visual Arts have announced the six finalists for the biennial Yukon Prize, juried by three outstanding Canadian arts professionals.

The six finalists are:

• Kaylyn Baker, Selkirk First Nation Citizen, residing in Whitehorse, YT
• Jeffrey Langille, Dawson City, YT
• Rebekah Miller, Dawson City, YT
• Cole Pauls, Champagne Aishihik Citizen and Tahltan, residing in Vancouver, BC
• Omar Reyna, Whitehorse, YT
• Alainnah Whachell, Whitehorse, YT

Biographies and photos of the artists’ artworks are available at www.yukonprize.ca

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 receive $3,000 each.

Over 60 Yukon artists applied for the Yukon Prize in an open competition that closed on February 28, 2023.

Images (left to right): Dr Heather Igloliorte, Michelle Jacques, Sarah Milroy

The finalists were chosen by a jury of three well-known arts professionals from outside the Yukon. They are:

• Dr Heather Igloliorte (Inuk-Newfoundlander, Nunatsiavut) is the University Research Chair in Circumpolar Indigenous Arts at Concordia University in Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal.
• Michelle Jacques is the Head of Exhibitions and Collections/Chief Curator at Remai Modern, which is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of Métis, in Saskatoon.
• Sarah Milroy is the Chief Curator of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario, previously served as art critic of the Globe and Mail (2001-2011) and was editor and publisher of Canadian Art (1991-1996).

The Yukon Prize Celebration Weekend will take place from September 14-17, 2023 in Whitehorse, coinciding with the opening of a curated exhibition of the finalists’ work at the Yukon Arts Centre. A gala event to announce the recipient and celebrate Yukon visual arts is planned for September 16 in Whitehorse.

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, the Yukon Arts Centre, and a dedicated team of volunteers.

For Media Inquiries
Julie Jai, Co-founder of the Yukon Prize
(416) 553-3315 | julie.jai@gmail.com

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