Created at the Canyon
The Yukon Conservation Society’s annual art-in-nature event: supporting local artists practicing sustainable art and providing opportunities for residents to connect with nature.
What is Created at the Canyon?
Created at the Canyon (C@C) is a free event that aims to connect Yukoners with our landscape and history through creative media, as well as to support local artists that practice sustainable art forms and explore the landscape, heritage, and history of the area through their art.
Check out the Featured Artists for Created at the Canyon 2024!
Cheryl McLean - Creative Workshop Leader
Cheryl McLean is a fish skin tanner, teacher and student, having first discovered the almost lost skill about 5 years ago. Cheryl is originally from Northern BC and is of mixed European and Beaver Cree ancestry, although she has not had any real connection to the Beaver Cree community.
In 1987, Cheryl left Nanaimo, BC and moved to the Yukon to work in Old Crow. For the first time in her life, she felt she had come home!
In the Yukon, Cheryl was formally adopted by the Annie Smith/Judy Gingell (KDFN) family and had responsibilities within the Gaanaxtedi and Crow clans
Cheryl retired in 2020 and has since immersed herself in fish skin tanning. Like coming to the Yukon, when Cheryl discovered fish skin tanning, she felt like she had come home.
Tammy Wood - Creative Workshop Leader
Tammy Wood is a Metis artist living and working in Whitehorse for 19 years. Her primary art form is of both traditional and contemporary. Tammy believes that beading and working with traditional materials is a profound healer, gives space for those to find inner peace, self-reflection, deep thought and love for oneself. It allows Tammy to engage her mind and create something beautiful from within for others to cherish and love.
Alaena Warner - Creative Workshop Leader
The boreal forest has been at work in Alaena’s imagination since her earliest years. She uses several mediums, including painting, drawing and embroidery to tell stories which feature local plants and animals. Alaena likes to use art to guide children’s learning about their environment.
Clayton Conner - Demonstration Artist
Clayton is a professional mural artist who moved to the Yukon from California 12 years ago. He has focused the last decade of his career creating large scale public art in Indigenous communities all across Alaska, from the Bering Sea, to Fairbanks, Haines, and Skagway. It is at the latter that he began his artistic campaign across Alaska. His work focuses on the creation of massive murals honouring the culture, history, subsistence life, and elders of those communities. As a non-Indigenous artist, the respect he carries for the stories he paints has turned his heart into an integral part of the land. Clayton also enjoys teaching art, sharing his passion for its creation, and inspiring the spark of creativity in others.
Sadie Segriff - Demonstration Artist
Sadie Segriff is an artist raised and based in Whitehorse, the Traditional and current Territory of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. In April 2019, Sadie co-founded Off Course Footing, a collective that operates to bring dance out of a traditional theatre or studio setting, and to the general public by using pre-existing available space within the natural world. Sadie is a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Performance Dance Program. In September, Sadie will begin their second bachelor's degree at Concordia University in Intermedia Studio Arts.
Photo by Zoe Bourget
Kelsey Jeanne Bush - Demonstration Artist
Kelsey Jeanne is an emerging artist led by her passion for storytelling. Inspired by her friendships, community, and the natural world, she writes to explore themes of healing, recovery, and authenticity. With a background in media and journalism from Western University, Kelsey was exposed to creative thinkers and inspiring media, solidifying her belief in herself as an artist.
Kelsey's work spans various mediums, from writing to bold mixed-media visuals, with a focus on sustainability. She transforms everyday upcycled items into beautiful pieces of art. In her free time, you can find her hiking in the mountains, by a lake, or immersed in collaging, painting, pressing flowers, taking photos, and journaling.
As her landscapes change, so does her art, but her inspiration remains constant—finding the beauty around her.
Join Kelsey Jeanne on her artistic journey.
Check Out Previous Created at the Canyon Events
Created at the Canyon 2023
At the 12th annual Created at the Canyon, YCS sponsored seven local artists to share their craft and connection to nature, and to engage the community with their creative process by providing the public the opportunity to participate.
Celebrated Yukon history and culture often minimizes or excludes Indigenous perspectives, focusing mainly on the Klondike Gold Rush through the lens of Yukon settlers. With 2023 marking the 125th anniversary of the Yukon, we were determined to amplify Indigenous perspectives, culture and creativity.
Thank you to the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre for hosting 2023’s exhibit and for playing an instrumental role in connecting with First Nation artists.
Created at the Canyon 2022
Featured Artists: Eila Vallevand, Tyson Isted, Dayo Osinubi, Lara Melnik, Ava P.Christl and Matthew Toothill
The short film was created by Sarah-Juliet Nadler as part of her internship with Yukon Conservation Society, in partnership with Fleming College's Environmental Visual Communications Program