The artist whose work is featured on Northwestel’s new Northwest Territories directory cover was celebrated at today’s opening of a new exhibit at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife.

The exhibit features twenty-nine pieces of art from Northwestel’s corporate art collection, all created by N.W.T. artists, including this year’s directory art.  The company is also creating two other exhibits, one each in Iqaluit and Whitehorse, which will open later this year. The exhibit in each city will showcase art from that region and will include artwork featured on Northwestel’s directories, as well as pieces that were purchased separately. All the work was done by northern artists living within Northwestel’s operating area. 

“We wanted to provide an opportunity to showcase some of the magnificent northern artwork that Northwestel has collected over the past two and a half decades,” said Paul Flaherty, Northwestel President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our corporate art collection got its start in 1983, when we decided to feature original northern artwork on our directory covers. In that year, we broke with the established tradition amongst Canadian telecommunications companies, which was to feature photographic, graphic or line images on their covers. We began our own unique tradition, which provided another forum for us to support and promote the work of northern artists.”

The exhibit opens today and continues until May 29^th.  It can be viewed in the Centre’s Mezzanine Gallery, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 12 noon to 5 p.m. on weekends.

“This exhibit has come together beautifully,” said Terry Pamplin, Exhibit Designer at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. “It’s wonderful to see these familiar pieces of art, which many of us will recall from past directory covers, all in one place. It’s especially impressive to see the work in its original form. Although the directory covers have been beautiful, it’s a whole different experience to see the original pieces. You get a new appreciation for the work when you see the size, texture and colour of the pieces in person.”

The painting being featured on the 2009-2010 N.W.T. directory cover, entitled Herd Migration, was created by Yellowknife artist Jennifer Walden.

Herd Migration is acrylic on canvas and features a close-up view of a herd of migrating caribou.

“In all my work, I try to represent what I feel about a place through colour, texture and line,” said Walden. “In this painting, I wanted to give viewers the experience of being on the tundra, caught in the midst of a caribou herd in a chaotic moment of migration. I hope it helps people to imagine the smell of the air, the feel of all those bodies in motion, the breathing of the caribou and the ground shaking beneath their feet. My goal is to use art, such as this piece and others, to transport people to places they might not otherwise see.”

Originally from southern Ontario, Walden lived overseas for a number of years in Tanzania and India and then returned to Canada to attend university, first studying art, and then theatre and set design. She currently lives in Yellowknife, teaching art and painting for a living.

Northwestel provides complete telecommunications solutions in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon, northern British Columbia and High Level, Alberta. The company’s operations span nearly 4 million square kilometres of the most remote and rugged areas of Canada.