Tradition meets social media age in making of Northwestel’s 2016 directory cover art

Press Release

April 28, 2016

Whitehorse, YT — A beaded octopus bag made by Dease Lake artist Carmen Dennis will grace the cover of Northwestel’s Northern British Columbia and Yukon directories.

For winning artist Dennis, inspiration for her artwork comes from using popular social media platform Pinterest to catalogue examples of traditional Tahltan art forms.

While she had originally planned to create monochromatic-coloured bag to submit in the contest, the brightly coloured final product, titled Following Tradition, came about by a happy accident.

“When I was outlining the octopus bag, I knocked over my sister’s jar of fluorescent beads and they spilled onto my outline,” Dennis explained.

“I knew then that I had to use the bright colours.”

She is the sixth artist from British Columbia to win the competition, now in its 33rd year.

Since 1983, Northwestel has showcased work from Northern artists on the covers of its regional phone directories. This year’s winning artist was selected by Northwestel in consultation with Mary Bradshaw, Gallery Director for the Yukon Arts Centre.

“We are so proud to be able to showcase some of the best of Northern art and culture,” said Paul Flaherty, President and CEO of Northwestel.

“We had many fantastic entries, and Following Tradition really stood out this year. I want to thank Carmen Dennis for sharing with us her incredible example of Aboriginal artistry and skill which has always been a part of life in the North.”

Using creativity to relieve stress

Though Dennis has always had an eye for art, beadwork wasn’t on her radar until a few years ago.

“Now, I rarely drop my needle,” she said with a laugh.

When working full-time and raising her two daughters gets to be too much, she turns to art for relief.

“There is something calming about it — I can’t explain it. I bead every day.”

Swap your directory and support local schools

The new 2016/17 directories will be available at directory pick-up locations throughout Yukon and Northern British Columbia in the coming weeks. Outdated phone directories can be recycled to support local students through the Northwestel Directory Recycling Program until May 30, 2016.

Each year, local students collect outdated telephone directories for recycling, as a way to earn cash rewards from Northwestel to help fund school activities and purchases. Details about the Northwestel Directory Recycling Program, including a list of participating schools, are available at http://nwtel.leafsolutions.ca.

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