Yukon Prize for Visual Arts 2025 Finalists Exhibition
Sep 11 – Nov 14
Now in its third biennial edition, the prestigious Yukon Prize for Visual Arts has announced the six finalists who will be featured in a curated exhibition at the Yukon Arts Centre opening Sep 11.
The short list reveals a wide-ranging breadth of talent and disciplines. Artists include semi-abstract landscape painter Jane Isakson, who incorporates geometric shapes and shifting perspectives; textile artist Meshell Melvin, who uses stitched lines and collaged fabric to portray people, homes and landscapes in the North; and Jackie Olson, a painter from Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation who merges industrial and natural materials to create paintings that explore reclamation and industrial destruction.
Multidisciplinary and collaborative artists include Vuntut Gwitchin artist Jeneen Frei Njootli, who tackles geopolitics and the politics of Indigenous art through sound-based performances, textiles and mixed-media installations; and Aubyn O’Grady, a frequent and enthusiastic collaborator whose research-creation practice focuses on artist-led art schools, the ethics of site-specific artworks, and artist engagements with rural places.
On the fashion front is Secwépemc artist and designer Randi Nelson, who combines European patterns and antique beads with traditional Indigenous materials like smoked hide, quills, shells and caribou hair to create innovative works.
The Yukon Prize was co-founded by Julie Jai and David Trick, who sponsor the award. Selected by a three-person jury of notable curators, the prizewinner will be announced during the Yukon Prize Celebration Evening on Oct 4. This spectacular and ticketed event, the highlight of the three-day Yukon Prize Weekend, will include dance performances by the Dakhká Khwáan Dancers and Erica Dee Mah and a reception with culinary creations by six local chefs inspired by each artist’s work.
Yukon Prize Celebration Evening and ticketed reception Oct 4, 6–9pm
