The work of an artist with a long history and love for the Yukon is being featured on Northwestel’s 2009 Yukon and Northern British Columbia directory cover.

Daphne Mennell has lived and worked in the Yukon for the past thirty years. Her oil on canvas painting Reflections on Crater Lake, Chilkoot Pass will appear on the 2009 directory covers. The original work was unveiled today at a Business After Hours celebration, hosted jointly by Northwestel and the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce at the Yukon Artists At Work Gallery, just south of Whitehorse.

“We are very pleased to have this beautiful piece of art enlivening our directory cover for Yukon and northern B.C.,” said Paul Flaherty, Northwestel President and Chief Executive Officer. “This striking landscape is so evocative of the natural beauty and wilderness of the Yukon, which is part of what makes life in the North so enriching for all of us. We are also pleased to host this event at the Yukon Artists At Work Gallery, which works hard to showcase the work of our local artists.”

Before moving to the Yukon, Daphne Mennell lived in Toronto, Montreal, Banff and Smithers, B.C., as well as the Bahamas and Wales. She was first drawn to the territory three decades ago by the prospect of teaching at an alternative high school in Carcross. Today, she lives with her family near Carcross in the Southern Lakes area of the Yukon.

“The Yukon is my home and with every passing year I find myself becoming more and more attached to the people and the land here,” said Mennell. “I feel very grateful to be surrounded by such beauty and friendliness. The landscapes supply endless inspiration and invitation for study, which I then interpret in my work. The piece that will appear on the directory cover expresses both the beauty of the area around Crater Lake and the significance of the Chilkoot Trail to the history of the Yukon.”

Mennell works in media such as oil, watercolour, acrylic, silk, metal, papier mache, soapstone and stained glass. She also teaches art courses and organizes art retreats in the Yukon and Alaska. In addition, she composes music and teaches piano using the Suzuki method.

Northwestel has been featuring original works by northern artists on the covers of its three telephone directories since 1983. For the past eight years, the selection has been made through an artwork competition. The winning artist for each of Northwestel’s directories this year received a prize award of $2000.00.

The new 2009 directories will be available shortly at Northwestel payment agents and other community outlets.

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.