'It's what I love doing': Tahltan carver to teach art to Yukon University students this fall

Marissa Meilleur · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 21, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

The First Nations Arts certificate programme is returning to Yukon University this fall. 

The program, which started soon earlier the pandemic, was paused successful 2023 erstwhile its pb instructor, Elizabeth Bosely, retired. It volition present instrumentality to the Ayamdigut field successful Whitehorse for the 2025-26 world year.

The certificate programme blends Indigenous ocular arts courses with concern classes to hole students to negociate a vocation successful the arts. 

Stephen Biggin-Pound, the university's seat of the schoolhouse of world and accomplishment development, said the programme was enactment connected hold while the assemblage searched for the close instructor.

"It's hard sometimes to prosecute the close oregon the close idiosyncratic for the role, and truthful we took immoderate clip to bash that, and I deliberation we've got that person," Biggin-Pound said.

Vernon Asp is the university's caller adjunct professor. Asp is an experienced Tahltan carver who was raised successful Mayo, Yukon.

He graduated from Yukon College (now Yukon University) in 2002 with a bachelor's grade from the Yukon Native Teacher Education Program. He besides attended the Kitaanmax Northwest Indigenous Art schoolhouse for carving and aboriginal earned a master's grade successful creation acquisition from the University of Victoria successful 2013.

Asp has since led carving and plan workshops and mentored emerging artists arsenic a featured teacher astatine the Sundog Retreat successful Yukon.

Asp volition beryllium teaching the program's tiny trade and carving module.

"I decided I wanted to beryllium portion of this program, due to the fact that this is my forte," Asp said. "It's what I emotion doing, Northwest Coast art, especially."

As portion of his module, Asp says students volition make stencils with Northwest Coast creation which volition beryllium applied to 4 antithetic projects specified arsenic hoodies, cradleboards, oregon carvings. 

Biggin-Pound says the programme is portion of the university's efforts to connection much taste programs.

"We, astatine Yukon University, successful trying to beforehand reconciliation, we privation to connection much programs that enactment Yukon First Nations, different than conscionable world programs," helium said. "This is simply a taste programme with an world constituent that truly supports Yukon First Nations to make their art, their culture, and perchance marque a concern retired of it."

Fine arts courses successful the programme see beadwork, sewing, accepted footwear, good craftwork, drafting and carving, and tiny crafts and merchandise development. 

English, mathematics and concern courses are besides required. Biggin-Pound says this allows the programme to beryllium recognized arsenic a certificate, which tin unfastened much opportunities for students aboriginal on.

Asp says the programme volition person a affirmative interaction connected students' lives, some wrong and extracurricular the classroom.

"The programme is incredibly important, due to the fact that it is an look of Indigenous identity," Asp said. "It helps to recovered students successful the areas of learning their civilization and balancing their lifestyle."

Biggin-Pound says the assemblage hopes to grow the programme implicit time.

"We'd similar to germinate that and perchance adhd much to the program, much years, much antithetic types of art, that benignant of thing."

Asp says the enlargement of the programme is "highly needed" to accommodate much extended projects.

"You request that clip to make richness of authenticity versus craft," helium said. "Craft is OK for making what I judge is called bread-and-butter, but good creation takes time."

The programme is accepting applications until July 16, with a headdress of 12 students. Preference volition beryllium fixed to Yukon First Nations and Indigenous students.