Ken Bolton
Behind The Curtain Columnist Ken Bolton profiles people in the Yukon arts scene whose jobs normally don’t put them into the spotlight.
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Behind The Curtain
Issue: 2015-10-08 PHOTO: Peter Long
Duncan Sinclair - Instrument of Change
Your first perception of Duncan Sinclair may be of a reserved, buttoned-down guy – a civil servant, most likely. You wouldn't be wrong. Sinclair spent decades in the territorial public service, rising through the ranks before retiring in 2002 as ... Read more
Issue: 2015-07-09 PHOTO: Tony Gonda
Laurel Parry - Loud and Proud
On her first day as a government arts consultant in 1987, Laurel Parry was ushered to a desk that held a typewriter, a large black ceramic ashtray, and an in-box loaded with letters and materials from Yukon artists. Read more
Issue: 2015-05-21 PHOTO: Bruce Barrett
Marjolène Gauthier - Finding the Balance
Marjolène Gauthier doesn’t accept the idea that the territory’s small population means arts organizers don’t need to improve how they serve their customers. “What I really hate to hear is, ‘Oh, we’ve been doing that forever. Read more
Issue: 2015-05-14 PHOTO: Karen Dubois
Karen Dubois - Warming to Her Job
Karen Dubois knows how she wants to be remembered when she eventually leaves her job as executive director of the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture (KIAC) in Dawson City. “I hope my legacy is going to be a new furnace for this building. Read more
Issue: 2015-04-09 PHOTO: Silke Gade
Dieter Gade - On Air and On the Map
When Dieter Gade worked for a big TV station in Germany, he had no inkling he would one day manage a radio station in a semi-remote corner of Canada’s Yukon. Gade and his wife, Silke, were both engineers in their home country. Read more
Michele Emslie Loves Art
Michele Emslie doesn’t even try to disguise her enthusiasm for her job as an arts administrator. “I love art. I love artists. I love what they give to the world,” she declares. Read more
Greg Hakonson - One Man’s Dream Of The Arts As An Economic Engine For Dawson City
The way Greg Hakonson tells it, the Dawson City Arts Society (DCAS) had its beginnings in a chance encounter with his across-the-street neighbor, artist John Steins. Read more
Andrea Simpson-Fowler has a Passion for Dance — and for Building Communities
There’s a moment near the end of the TEDx talk Andrea Simpson-Fowler gave in Whitehorse last year that explains in a nutshell what her life’s work is all about. “Kids can become extraordinary people with unique skills, while learning how to build, Read more
Dan Sokolowski Can’t Stay Away from the Dempster
Dan Sokolowski doesn’t disguise his fascination with the Dempster Highway area.“There’s something in the air that makes you feel the people that have been before you, or the caribou that have been through there, but you can’t see,” he says. Read more
Yukon Arts Centre CEO Al Cushing jokes that a fortune cookie clinched the decision to come North
Al Cushing sits on a bench in historic King’s Square in Saint John, New Brunswick, reminiscing about his high school grad party on this very spot. It was a blistering day, and the hotel where the event was scheduled had no air conditioning. Read more
July 31, 2014
For Patti Flather, Gwaandak is about building connections by sharing our stories
When Patti Flather left Vancouver for the Yukon, she had no thoughts of becoming a playwright, let alone co-founder and artistic director of a busy theatre company. Read more
July 10 Issue
Barbara Chamberlin defies categorization
If it’s April and you’re hoping to hear Barbara Chamberlin perform, forget about it. “April is just a killer month,” she says. “I wouldn’t even try to play out that month. It would just be too hard for me.” Read more
June 2014
David Skelton Nakai Theatre’s artistic director
A high-school excursion to a Toronto production of Peter Shaffer’s play, Equus, is what triggered David Skelton’s fascination with theatrical design. Read more
June 12
Andrew Connors behind the camera or behind a desk
If you ask Andrew Connors to explain the appeal of film, the answer is simple and direct. “It transports me,” he says without hesitation. A self-professed “art nerd” who loves to read, Connors sees a strong parallel between the storytelling power o Read more
PHOTO: Scott Price
Mary Bradshaw sees her curator’s role as a bridge between artists and the public
Tourism officials in Barbados market their island as “Distinctively Charming”. But when Mary Bradshaw was weighing the option of a Barbadian internship against one in Whitehorse, she opted for the distinctive charm of the Yukon. Read more
Photo by Rick Massie
Jenny Hamilton is usually behind the scenes at the Guild Hall... but not always
Jenny Hamilton didn’t waste much time heeding Horace Greeley’s advice to go West young. She was just 14 days old when she arrived in Whitehorse with her parents from her Prince Edward Island birthplace. Read more