KLONDIKE INSTITUTE OF ART & CULTURE

CHOIR WORKSHOP with KHARI
2025-02-14 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Whitehorse) | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
CHOIR WORKSHOP with KHARI
Co-presented with Dawson City Music Festival

In advance of his performance at KIAC on Saturday, join acclaimed soul and gospel singer Khari Wendell McClelland for a participatory choral workshop. Learn to harmonize in a group setting with a master of the tradition. All welcome. No experience necessary.

Email production@dcmf.com to sign up!

Friday, February 14th7pm at KIACFree!

Workshop participants will also receive free admission to Khari’s performance on February 15th (and may even have the opportunity to perform!)

Khari Wendell McClelland Celebrating 20 Years of DCMF’s Songwriter-in-Residence Program
2025-02-15 19:30 - 22:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
Saturday, February 15, 2025
Dënäkär Zho / KIAC Ballroom
Doors at 7:30 PM, Music at 8:00 PM
To buy tickets, click here!
In 2025, the Dawson City Music Festival (DCMF) will celebrate 20 years of its Songwriter-in-Residence program. To mark this milestone, KIAC and DCMF have teamed up for a concert series that brings back some of the most beloved participants from the past two decades.
The second show in the series features a full-band performance by Khari Wendell McClelland from Vancouver (BC). Khari was DCMF’s 10th Songwriter-in-Residence in 2015. He made a lasting impression on the Dawson community, organizing a choir that continued to perform together long after his residency.
We are excited to welcome Khari back to Dawson City for a weeklong mini-residency. Stay tuned for more details on how you can get involved beyond his performance on February 15th.
ABOUT KHARI WENDELL MCCLELLAND
Originally from Detroit, Khari Wendell McClelland has become a darling on the Canadian music scene, with critics praising his performances as a clever mix of soul and gospel. Khari’s songwriting crosses genres and generations, joyfully invoking the spirit of his ancestors who straddled the US-Canadian border in efforts to escape slavery and discrimination. His music draws from this rich history, integrating the rhythms and folklore of early African-Americans with contemporary sounds and stories of struggle. Recently, Khari received critical acclaim for his Freedom Singer project, recreating the music fugitive slaves carried on their journey north into Canada. Khari also performs with the Roots Gospel group The Sojourners. Whether on stage or in the studio, Khari’s passion for community, equality and justice is palpable, as is his belief in the redemptive power of music.
Thanks to our funders and partners:
Canada Council for the Arts | Government of Canada | Yukon Government | Park Canada | North Klondyke Highway Music Society

Opera Night at the Pit
2025-02-19 20:00 - 22:00 | Westminster Hotel (The Pit), 975 Third Ave, Dawson City, Yukon, Canada
Join us for a special one-night-only event at The Pit in Dawson City! Opera Pub brings the excitement of opera to this intimate, cozy venue for an unforgettable evening.

Enjoy impromptu performances of stunning arias, art songs, and ensembles, all showcasing incredible talent in a relaxed, vibrant setting. Don’t miss your chance to experience opera like never before, up close and personal, in the heart of Dawson City

Re:Imagine | Re:Create - Reclaimed Public Art Residency OPEN CALL!
2025-02-21 - 2025-03-18 | ODD Gallery
Program Description
The ODD Gallery, in collaboration with STEPS (Sustainable Thinking & Expressions in Public Spaces), is pleased to present Re:Imagine | Re:Create, a public art initiative that champions sustainability, creative reuse, and community engagement. This program will commission the creation of an original site-specific public artworks utilizing reclaimed materials sourced from various locations across Dawson City, including the municipal dump, Thrift Store, Free Store, local construction sites, mis-tint paint from Home Hardware, and donations from voluntary community members. This initiative seeks to engage an artist with a demonstrated history of working with reclaimed materials, ensuring the final artworks are not only structurally sound but also conceptually rigorous, inclusive, and accessible to a diverse audience. The selected artist will be challenged to consider both the environmental implications of material reuse and the social narratives embedded within the salvaged objects, transforming discarded materials into evocative public art installations that foster dialogue and reflection. The completed works will be temporarily installed on the Dawson City dike as part of the Yukon Riverside Arts Festival (YRAF) taking place June 12 – 15, 2025. By activating this prominent public space with thought-provoking and environmentally conscious art, Re:Imagine | Re:Create aims to highlight the potential of creative sustainability while deepening community connections to both the artistic process and the local landscape.
This project is supported by STEPS Public Art, the TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment and the Canadian Council for the Arts.
Please see our Public Art -> OPEN CALL – Re:Imagine | Re:Create page for full details on how and when to apply.

We’re looking forward to reviewing all potential proposals!

About STEPS

STEPS Public Art is a Canadian charity and social enterprise. STEPS offers services in public art management, hoarding exhibits, cultural planning, and artist capacity building. Our charitable programs support artists and foster vibrant and inclusive communities across the country. www.stepspublicart.org

Opera Residency Presentation: Karim Al-Zand's The Book of Tales & Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle
2025-02-21 19:00 - 21:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
Doors and Reception at 7:00
at the KIAC Ballroom / Dënäkär Zho
Performances to follow
Admission by Donation
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Join us for an extraordinary evening of music, and a pre-show reception hosted by The Yukon Arts Centre, that blends innovative new work with a new spin on an opera classic. The night will feature newly composed excerpts by the talented Karim Al-Zand, offering a fresh and captivating perspective on contemporary opera.
Following this exciting premiere, the evening will continue with an in-concert performance of Béla Bartók’s haunting and intense Bluebeard’s Castle. This masterwork will be sung in English, to tell a contemporary love story shadowed by dementia.
Don’t miss this exceptional evening where the cutting edge of contemporary composition meets a 20th-century opera masterpiece, creating a truly unforgettable experience.
Featuring:
Elizabeth Polese, Soprano
Rachael McAuley, Mezzo-Soprano
Connor Hoppenbrouwers, Baritone
Karim Al-Zand, Composer
Spencer Kryzanowski, Conductor/Pianist
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This presentation is the culmination of a week-long residency co-presented by the Yukon Arts Centre in the KIAC Ballroom at Dënäkär Zho
This immersive one-week residency offers a unique opportunity for an opera composer to delve deeply into their creative process, collaborate with performers, and refine their compositions in a supportive and inspiring environment. During the residency, composers will have access to a range of resources, including rehearsal space and professional musicians to bring their work to life.
The residency provides the time and space needed for composers to experiment, explore new ideas, and push the boundaries of their work. At the end of the week, there will be an informal presentation of the work-in-progress, offering a chance to hear their compositions come to life and gather valuable audience feedback.
This residency is designed to support and nurture emerging opera composers by providing a focused, creative atmosphere to take their projects to the next level.

Danceathon: A KIAC Fundraiser!
2025-02-22 20:00 - 2025-02-23 01:00 | Diamond Tooth Gerties, 4th Ave, Dawson City, Canada
DANCEATHON: A KIAC Fundraiser!
Saturday, Feb 22nd. Entry by donation, cash only!
Doors @ 8pm, Dancing @ 9pm.
So you think you can dance? Do you have what it takes to dance longer than anyone else in town? Grab a partner, sign up at the door, and see who has the footwork to be the last team standing!
Participate to win some great prizes and remember, dance moves are not judged, just movement!
Not interested in dancing? Door prizes and raffles are also available! Some of these prizes include:

3 Air North travel vouchers, 2 of $100 value and 1 valued at up to $1300

Mystery box from Bonanza Market, $100 value

3 RSS Woodshop prizes

Interested in volunteering? Please click here!
If you require accommodations to participate, email kiac@kiac.ca or call 867-993-5005

Susan Schuppli: SOVA Artist-in-Residence Artist Talk
2025-02-26 18:00 - 20:00 | Yukon School of Visual Arts (SOVA), 982 Third Ave, Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Y0B1G0, Canada
Dr. Susan Schuppli is a researcher and artist based in the UK. She is Professor and Director of the Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths University of London and is also an investigative researcher with the human rights agency Forensic Architecture recipient of the 2024 Right Livelihood Award. Susan Schuppli’s fieldwork and documentary film practice is situated at the intersections between environmental struggles, climate science, and affected communities with a contemporary focus on the cryosphere and the politics of cold.

Creative projects have been exhibited throughout Europe, Asia, Canada, and the US. She has published widely within the context of media and politics and is author of the book, Material Witness: Media, Forensics, Evidence published by MIT Press in 2020.

Supported by Yukon School of Visual Arts, the Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), YukonU, with funding support from a Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Connections Grant / Toronto Biennial of Art.

OVERVIEW

Dr. Susan Schuppli will be working in collaboration with students from SOVA in Nicole’s 4D Studio class on her project SOUNDING ICE: sensing frozen flows. Via sound and various field recording strategies, the project explores the signals of climate change found in and around the Yukon and Klondike Rivers—their confluences and histories.

The practice of ‘sounding’ refers both to the taking of depth measurements in a body of water as well as the sourcing of ‘evidence’ needed in a preliminary step towards taking action. This project and forthcoming website will document our collective efforts to ‘sound out’ local expressions and histories of the environment—Earth evidence—and its urgent calls to action.

My earlier work as an artist-researcher and writer explored material evidence, specifically the ways in which non-human witnesses, enter into trials and tribunals to testify to historical events, in particular those involving political violence, ethnic conflict, and war crimes. This work assumed many different modes of communication from legal analysis and public advocacy to theoretical reflection and creative exploration. Current research and artistic production expands these investigations to examine how environmental systems and the transformations brought about by global warming are generating new forms of evidence; creating, in effect, a planetary archive of material witnesses.

https://susanschuppli.com

Coffee House & Open Mic Night (Featuring Spoken Word & Poetry)
2025-03-01 19:00 - 21:30 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
Join us for a family-friendly Open Mic Night at KIAC. Everyone is welcome to perform or simply enjoy.

This month we are celebrating poetry and spoken word!

We encourage folks to bring a piece of writing to read. We’ll even have a special reading by visiting poet Joanna Lilley (and perhaps participants of her workshop – ‘You’re a poet and deep down you know it’)

To register for this workshop, follow this link – https://kiac.ca/calen…/poetry-workshop-with-joanna-lilley/

Classic Cinema: Pather Panchali
2025-03-02 19:00 - 21:30 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
Pather Panchali
Dir. Satyajit Ray
India | 1955 | 125m
Doors 6:30, film at 7:00
Free (cash concession)
This March 2nd, KIAC Classic Film presents a screening of Pather Panchali (1955) in the KIAC/Dënäkär Zho Ballroom. Starring and directed by complete unknown amateurs, “Song of the Little Road” will have you marveling at its realistic storytelling and Ray’s groundbreaking direction and Subrata Mitra’s gorgeous cinematography. You’ll be immersed in the lives of a poor family in a Bengali village, and while you wonder how their concerns are not all that different from your own. Meanwhile, Ravi Shankar’s bumping score never lets up.

‘LOOK UP’ by Open Pit Theatre (3 performances)
2025-03-07 18:00 - 21:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
LIMITED CAPACITY – Each performance accommodates 9 people
To buy tickets, click here!
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Fri, March 7
performances at 6:00, 7:00, 8:00
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OPEN PIT THEATRE
Open Pit Theatre was founded in 2011 with the desire to create new and innovative theatre shows that explore contemporary northern themes and alternative approaches to making theatre. Co-Artistic Directors Genevieve Doyon and Jessica Hickman have created many original plays including the verbatim piece Busted Up: A Yukon Story and a mask and puppetry show called Radio Silence which have both toured the country. Open Pit Theatre is currently gearing up for their first international tour to Osaka, Japan in August 2025.
LOOK UP
Look Up is a series of intimate short performances which combines live visual animation, storytelling and live foley soundscape. Look Up aspires to bring everyone back to the simple magic of storytelling. Everything you will see is analog and happening right then and there. There will be no “play” button to hit, and no computers in sight.
Conceived and created by Geneviève Doyon
Performed by Alita Powell and Geneviève Doyon
Creative Collaborator: Brian Fidler
Visual Designers: Virginie Hamel, Jessica Hickman
Sound Design: Hannah Mazurek
Set Design: Selene Vakharia
Things to know
Two short pieces will be shown at every performance.
Friday evening is geared towards adults
Saturday matinee are geared towards children aged 5 and up.
Audiences will need to lie down on mats on the ground and get back up again.
Funded by
Lotteries Yukon
New Horizons for Seniors, Government of Canada
Sponsored by the Guild
The Guild Hall
Thank you!
Copper Ridge Place
Yukon Arts Centre
The Downtown Hotel
Open Pit Theatre’s board of directors: Caili Steel, Valerie Herdes, Kinesi Mills, Nicole Schafenacker, Josée Bergeron
The seed for the show Look Up was planted when Genevieve saw a drawing on the ceiling above her hospital bed in 2017. That simple drawing of a sunset accompanied by the words “This will not last forever” resonated with her in a profound way. Years later, she approached visual artist and dear friend Virginie Hamel to finally start tackling the creative concept that had inhabited her ever since: “Let’s make a show for audiences lying on their backs”.

‘LOOK UP’ by Open Pit Theatre (3 Kid-friendly performances)
2025-03-08 11:00 - 14:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
LIMITED CAPACITY – Each performance accommodates 9 people
To buy tickets, click here!
—
Sat, March 8
performances at 11:00, 12:00, 1:00
—
OPEN PIT THEATRE
Open Pit Theatre was founded in 2011 with the desire to create new and innovative theatre shows that explore contemporary northern themes and alternative approaches to making theatre. Co-Artistic Directors Genevieve Doyon and Jessica Hickman have created many original plays including the verbatim piece Busted Up: A Yukon Story and a mask and puppetry show called Radio Silence which have both toured the country. Open Pit Theatre is currently gearing up for their first international tour to Osaka, Japan in August 2025.
LOOK UP
Look Up is a series of intimate short performances which combines live visual animation, storytelling and live foley soundscape. Look Up aspires to bring everyone back to the simple magic of storytelling. Everything you will see is analog and happening right then and there. There will be no “play” button to hit, and no computers in sight.
Conceived and created by Geneviève Doyon
Performed by Alita Powell and Geneviève Doyon
Creative Collaborator: Brian Fidler
Visual Designers: Virginie Hamel, Jessica Hickman
Sound Design: Hannah Mazurek
Set Design: Selene Vakharia
Things to know
Two short pieces will be shown at every performance.
Friday evening is geared towards adults
Saturday matinee are geared towards children aged 5 and up.
Audiences will need to lie down on mats on the ground and get back up again.
Funded by
Lotteries Yukon
New Horizons for Seniors, Government of Canada
Sponsored by the Guild
The Guild Hall
Thank you!
Copper Ridge Place
Yukon Arts Centre
The Downtown Hotel
Open Pit Theatre’s board of directors: Caili Steel, Valerie Herdes, Kinesi Mills, Nicole Schafenacker, Josée Bergeron
The seed for the show Look Up was planted when Genevieve saw a drawing on the ceiling above her hospital bed in 2017. That simple drawing of a sunset accompanied by the words “This will not last forever” resonated with her in a profound way. Years later, she approached visual artist and dear friend Virginie Hamel to finally start tackling the creative concept that had inhabited her ever since: “Let’s make a show for audiences lying on their backs”.

Thaw-di-gras Snow Sculptin
2025-03-15 11:00 - 2025-03-16 14:00 | Diamond Tooth Gerties, 4th Ave, Dawson City, Canada
Snow Sculpting in the the Gerties Parking lot will start on Saturday Mach 15th and 11AM. There will be 8 snow blocks to carve. The blocks will be given out on a first come first serve basis.

What you’ll need:
Bring your own tools and equipment
Some tools will be provided.
Dress very warm
Bring water and food
Gertie’s Parking Lot

To Register: Registration Closed

Sponsors: Grenon Enterprises, Klondike Visitors Association, City of Dawson, KIAC, Robert Service School Shop Program

Coffee House & Open Mic Night: Thaw-Di-Gras Edition
2025-03-15 19:00 - 21:30 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
Share your talents or just hang out and enjoy! An all-ages Family-friendly Alcohol-free event!

Skye Wallace: Celebrating 20 Years of DCMF’s Songwriter-in-Residence Program
2025-03-22 19:30 - 22:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
Saturday, March 22, 2025
Dënäkär Zho / KIAC Ballroom
Doors at 7:30 PM, Music at 8:00 PM
To buy tickets, click here!
In 2025, the Dawson City Music Festival (DCMF) will celebrate 20 years of its Songwriter-in-Residence program. To mark this milestone, KIAC and DCMF are teaming up for a concert series that brings back some of the most beloved participants from the past two decades.
The series ends with a bang on March 22nd with a performance by Skye Wallace (Toronto, ON). Skye was DCMF’s 13th Songwriter-in-Residence in 2018. During her short stay in Dawson, she dove headlong into Dawson culture, hosting a radio show on CFYT and even joining a curling team.
She makes her triumphant return to Dawson in March for a weeklong mini-residency. This time she is bringing with her one of the finest rock bands in the Country. The perfect way to complete this 20th Anniversary celebration!
ABOUT SKYE WALLACE
With a voice that soars and captivates, Skye Wallace has earned a reputation as one of Canada’s most compelling artists. Their blend of folk, rock, and alternative influences, along with their ability to craft emotive and impactful lyrics, has won critical acclaim and a devoted fan base. The Act of Living marks Wallace’s latest artistic evolution, offering an exploration of life’s most profound experiences, with songs that are both cathartic and reflective. Produced alongside Hawksley Workman and released on Tiny Kingdom, The Act of Living finds Skye fully embracing the grungy, unbridled enthusiasm of their live performances, as they invite listeners on a journey of near-death experiences, dream worlds, loss, and rebirth.
Thanks to our funders and partners:
Canada Council for the Arts | Government of Canada | Yukon Government | Park Canada | North Klondyke Highway Music Society

Classic Cinema: Being There
2025-03-23 19:00 - 21:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
Being There
Dir. Hal Ashby
USA | 1979 | 130m
Starring: Peter Sellers, Shirley Maclaine
Do you like to watch? This March 23rd, come and enjoy the KIAC Classic Films presentation of Being There (1979) starring Peter Sellers, Shirley Maclaine, Melvyn Douglas, and the impressive Biltmore Estate at the KIAC/Dënäkär Zho Ballroom. This Hal Ashby classic retelling of Jerzy Kosinski’s 1970 novel couldn’t be more relevant in the spring of 2025 as it beautifully reveals that we are all so drawn to the vague rhetoric and sculpted image of our screens and that none of us is actually really listening to one another.
Doors at 6:30
Free admission (Cash concession)

Hand-Building Pottery Drop-In
2025-03-24 18:00 - 21:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
Handbuilding Pottery Drop-In: Mondays, 6:30-9pm
Self-guided group studio time for those who have some knowledge and experience with pottery. Newcomers are welcome, though little instruction is provided. A volunteer is available to answer questions.
Clay available for purchase (cash only) at $5/quarter-bag, $15/half-bag or $30/full bag.
902 2nd Ave (at Princess St.) Please use the back door for classroom access.

FILM FEST CASINO NIGHT
2025-03-29 19:00 - 23:00 | Diamond Tooth Gerties, 4th Ave, Dawson City, Canada
Play Picture Movie Trivia.
Doors at 7pm at Diamond Tooth Gerties
You could Win film fest passes, cool swag & a YUKON SPA GIFT

$5/person to play. (you can play as teams)
Game will run on a loop so you can play anytime until 11pm
Special musical Guest Freddie Osson! (Performs at 9pm)
License #2025-020

CULT CINEMA at the ELDORADO
2025-03-30 19:30 - 21:30 | Eldorado Hotel, 3rd and Princess, Dawson City, Canada
All the Colors of the Dark

Directed by Sergio Martino • 1972 • Italy
Starring Edwige Fenech, George Hilton, George Rigaud
After suffering the loss of a child, a woman joins a Satanic cult with the hope of ridding herself of nightmarish dreams—but rather than easing her trauma, she soon finds her darkest, most disturbing fears coming to life. Featuring a striking performance from Edwige Fenech and directed by often-overlooked giallo master Sergio Martino, ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK (a.k.a. THEY’RE COMING TO GET YOU!) is a feverishly surreal immersion into a woman’s unraveling mind that, with its kaleidoscopic cinematography and trippy score by Bruno Nicolai, approaches full-on psychedelic freakout.

New Date: Artist Talk: Yasmine Renaud
2025-03-31 19:00 - 20:30 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
Film Producing 101
Join Yasmine Renaud, KIAC’s current Artist in Residence, for a behind-the-scenes look at developing a film in the Yukon! Using her documentary project on the Klondike Ice Queens Hockey as a case study, Yasmine will cover pitching, funding, workflow, and more. Featuring a pitch deck materials, trailers, and real-world insights—don’t miss this informative session for aspiring filmmakers!

April Fool! Film Fest fundraiser at Bombay Peggy's
2025-04-01 17:00 - 19:00 | Bombay Peggy’s, Dawson City, YT, Y0B 1G0, Canada
April 1, 5-7pm!
Purveyor of Popcorn Dan Sokolowski will be bartending at Bombay Peggy’s!
All tips will go to the Dawson City International Short Film Festival!
Come on out, have a cocktail and support the filmfest! A Happy Hour to end all Happy Hours!

APPLICATIONS OPEN - YRAF 2025
2025-04-11 08:00 - 2025-05-26 17:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
YUKON RIVERSIDE ARTS FESTIVAL 2025

JUNE 12 – 15 / 2025 / DAWSON CITY, YUKON
Yukon Riverside Arts Festival (YRAF) is a celebration of art, music and summer in Canada’s North
Hosted annually by the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture
APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN NOW!
There are so many ways you can participate in the Yukon Riverside Arts Festival!
Be it as an artist or performer, a vendor, a workshop facilitator or a volunteer, there are activities to fit a wide range of interests and skills.
Visit our website at yraf.ca to find out more!

Film Workshop: Cameraless filmmaking
2025-04-15 18:30 - 2025-04-18 21:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
SCRATCH IT OUT!
A great opportunity for participants to make their own 35mm animated or experimental film without a camera and without processing film. Animators like Norman McLaren and Len Lye explored the technique of direct cinema in the 1930s and almost 90 years later, it still continuously surprises audiences.
The workshop will explore the multiple techniques of cameraless filmmaking and discover new ones along the way. Over the course of the week, participants will be introduced to materials and tools that can be applied effectively through scratching, painting and collage – directly on to the surface of motion picture film. We will also learn efficient methods of digitizing the work as moving image files using DIY scanning methods and re-purposing existing applications.
As the week progresses, we take our ideas further, shaping our projects with digital sound and music. And finally, we will give our project life, discovering new ways to implement finished films with popular digital editing and projection software.
The final workshop film will be shown at Sunday evening’s 8pm screening.
This workshop will take place in 3 parts, allowing participants to work extensively on their pieces of film with the mentor available for questions and advice.
In the KIAC CLassroom
Tuesday, April 15, 6-9pm
Wednesday, April 16, 6-9pm
Friday, April 18, Noon-3pm
Participants can come to one, 2 or all 3 sessions.
The workshop is free. Please register at filmfest@kiac.ca or 993-5005
Steven Woloshen was born in Laval, Canada in 1960. For more than 30 years, he has passionately created over 50 award-winning, abstract films and time-based installations for festivals, galleries and museums. Twice nominated for Canada’s Governor General’s award, he has received numerous research and creation grants and, most recently, was awarded the 2016 René Jodoin lifetime achievement award, 2015 Wiesbaden Lifetime Achievement Award. Woloshen is a teacher, film conservationist, animator, craftsman and the author of two books, Recipes for Reconstruction: The Cookbook for the Frugal Filmmaker (2010), a hands-on manual for decay, renewal and other handmade, analogue film techniques, and Scratch, Crackle & Pop! A Whole Grains Approach to Making Films without a Camera (2015). Under his own banner, Scratchatopia, Woloshen has hosted solo retrospectives and taught handmade filmmaking techniques at workshops and master classes in Argentina, Morocco, USA, Slovenia, Australia, France, Great Britain, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, Poland, Mexico as well as across Canada.

26th Dawson City International Short Film Festival
2025-04-17 - 2025-04-21 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
Its Film Fest time!
The 26th Dawson City Film Fest is coming up (April 17-20). Start planning your weekend!
Want to get an early start? Sign up for our pre-festival workshop. SCRATCH IT OUT! is a hands on cameraless filmmaking experience with renowned filmmaker Steven Woloshen. Starting on Tuesday April 15, you can create you own film by drawing, scratching and painting directly onto 35mm film. There are 3 sessions (April 15, 15 and 18) and you can attend 1, 2 or all 3! It’s free. To sign up email filmfest@kiac.ca.
The festival starts Thursday April 17th with a special showing of the film OLD CROW: A PHILOSOPHY. Directors Erika Tizaya-Tramm and Daniel Janke will be in attendance.
The weekend is full of films, installations, projections, and our now famous Perogie Street Feast, with food and live music out on Princess street on the Sunday afternoon.
Passes available at KIAC, online or at the door.
Individual screening tickets available at the door (cash or credit).
Please arrive early.
Check out all the action on our website!

Thanks to all our funders and supporters!
Yukon Government, Canada Council for the Arts, Telefilm Canada, Heritage Canada, NorthwesTel Community TV, Yukon Energy, Klondike Visitors Association, Newmont Coffee, Schmidt Mining, Air North, Yukon Brewing, Reel Canada, Red Mammoth Bistro, Bombay Peggy’s, NVD Hotels, Parks Canada, SPYA, Yukon Film Society, Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre, Yukon School of Visual Arts, NFB, City of Dawson, Gold Rush, Eldo Enns, Dawson City General Store, johnsteins.com, Arctic Star Printing, Bonanza Market, Lulu Keating, Evan Rensch Appreciation Society, Yukon Spa, Yukon Birch Syrup.
We are humbled to hold our festival on the traditional territory of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in.

C.A. & Sonny / Lina & Ryan Live Concert at Dënäkär Zho / KIAC Ballroom
2025-04-25 20:00 - 22:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
Join us for an old-time, country, fiddle, and folk hootenanny.
Admission by donation at the door
Doors open – 7:30 / Music – 8:00
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C.A. & Sonny
An Ottawa-based duo focused on preserving the tradition of Folk music. Using a variety of stringed instruments, C.A. & Sonny sing songs, crack jokes, and tell tales of yesteryear. Their musicality is balanced expertly with their laid back performance, showcasing an enormous repertoire of antiquated melodies and stories, as well as some songs of their own.
Lina & Ryan blend old-time, bluegrass, and country traditions with rich harmonies and timeless melodies. Lina, originally from France, and Ryan, a Montreal native now based in the Yukon, met at local jam sessions and quickly began collaborating. Since then, they’ve performed at Vancouver Island’s Woodstove Music Festival, toured in France, and held a residency at Dawson City’s own Bombay Peggys. With their debut EP set for release in Fall 2025, the duo continues to craft music that captures the heart of traditional roots music.
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Thanks to our funders: Yukon Government, Government of Canada, and Canada Council for the Arts

Sarah MacDougall Live Concert at Dënäkär Zho / KIAC Ballroom
2025-05-02 19:30 - 22:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
Doors – 7:30 / Music – 8:00
Admission by donation at the door
Multiple Award winning singer/songwriter Sarah MacDougall is known for her poetic songs and passionate performances. Sarah mixes folk, pop, and rock elements into her infectious, often epic songs. Born in Sweden, now based in Canada, Swedish magazine Nöjesguiden declared her: “one of Sweden’s best singer/songwriters’ and Rootstime Belgium described her as ‘One of the greatest talents of our era”.

Sarah has played festivals such as Iceland Airwaves, Edmonton Folk Festival, Reeperbahn, and has shared the stage with artists such as Bruce Cockburn, Tallest Man on Earth, Buffy St. Marie, Passenger, and more.
Her most recent release, ‘All The Hours I Have Left To Tell You Anything’ is a record about strength, identity, death, the breakdown of relationships, birth, and the ghosts we honor and carry throughout. It is Sarah’s fourth record. It was written in the midst of the death of her grandparents, the birth of her niece, and a break up. The nine songs are also influenced by the places that made her and changed her: the dark beauty of Scandinavia the vastness of the Canadian North .
Sarah is working on a new album, set to be released 2024/2025.
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Opening up is Bird Feet:
Bird Feet is an evolving experimental sound project by Kim Edgar. Using looper pedals, synths, and other weird effects, they create hypnotic and ritualistic live loops and then sing weird songs overtop! They released their first full length album, Mercury, in spring of 2024
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Thanks to our funders: Yukon Government, Government of Canada, Canada Council for the Arts
Special thanks to the Dawson City Music Festival Association for bringing Sarah up to participate in their Goldensides Studio programming.

Last Coffee House & Open Mic Night of the Season!
2025-05-10 19:00 - 21:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
Join us to celebrate an amazing Coffee House & Open Mic Night season. Thanks to the volunteer crew who have run these events all winter (and for many many years!)
Come perform or just enjoy the vibes.

Community Screening: Mammoth Hunters
2025-05-15 19:00 - 21:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
A sneak peak at
Mammoth Hunters
2025, Yukon
Fritz Mueller, Teresa Earle
In the summer of 2022, a miner struck more than gold in Canada’s Yukon. A fully preserved infant woolly mammoth that died 36,000 years ago protruded from the Arctic permafrost, her flesh still pink and green grass in her belly. Mammoth Hunters is a feature documentary that takes us on a journey back through time as we join five mammoth lovers –– scientists, artists and citizen detectives –– to solve the riddle of these ancient and charismatic animals. Like a puzzle itself, the film blends ecology, history, spirituality and the mystery that is deep time to reveal the bonds that link humanity to these Ice Age giants.
Filmmakers Fritz Mueller & Teresa Earle and subjects from the film in attendance for a Q&A.
$10 in advance or at the door
(Cash Concessions)

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE - Hal Fortin B2B Andrew Maize ARTIST TALK
2025-05-28 19:00 - 21:00 | ODD Gallery
Wednesday, May 28th, 7pm – 9pm
KIAC Dënäkär Zho ODD Gallery
HAL FORTIN
Hal Fortin is a prairie artist working directly with the circular economy of everyday objects, some inherited and some found. These domestically- scaled works are created through sculpture, printmaking and drawing, delivering environments made strange.
ANDREW MAIZE
Andrew will talk about his playful, collaborative and improvisational approach to making art, that is contingent on the relationships between environmental, social and material situations. He’ll share some questions and insights into with indeterminacy and unknowability in artistic practice, and some recent work that involve kinetic sculptures, improvised performance and experimental drawing techniques.

Dawson City Summer Concert Series
2025-06-06 12:00 - 13:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
The Dawson City Summer Concert Series is a free lunch-time music series that takes places each Friday from 12:00-1:00pm, at the gazebo on the Dawson City Waterfront.

Can’t make it in person? Tune into CFYT 106.9FM in Dawson City, or at CFYT.ca anywhere in the world.

Come out and enjoy the music all summer long in beautiful Dawson City!

2025 Line Up
June 6 – Alex MacNeilJune 13 – KeziahJune 20 – Kevin Barr & Boyd Benjamin Featuring the Dawson City Youth FiddlersJune 27 – KABNJul 4 – Brigitte JardinJuly 11 – CalhounJuly 25 – Dena ZagiAugust 1 – HendrikaAugust 8 – Miranda Ceara & the Odd Fellows OrchestraAugust 15 – Caleb Tomlinson and The Perseids

The Dawson City Summer Concert Series is made possible because of the support of the following:Klondike Visitors Association, Klondike Institute of Art & Culture, Yukon Government – Arts Fund, City of Dawson Community Grants, and Parks Canada – Klondike National Historic Sites
For more information go to: www.DawsonCity.ca/music

ARTIST TALK - Beyond the Algorithm: Art, Ethics, and AI with Cat Bluemke
2025-06-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC), 902 2nd Avenue, Dawson City
How can artists harness artificial intelligence as a meaningful tool rather than a threat? Join artist and educator Cat Bluemke for an engaging talk exploring her evolving practice at the intersection of emerging technologies, game design, and critical art-making. Drawing from years of boundary-pushing work, Bluemke will share her journey and speak directly to the promises and perils of AI in creative spaces.
Through personal insight and practical examples, this talk explores how AI can support artistic autonomy, community engagement, and collective authorship—without erasing the ethics of intellectual labor. Aimed at artists, technologists, and skeptics alike, the conversation will also address pressing concerns around copyright, consent, and the commercialization of generative tools.
The session includes a 30-minute presentation of Bluemke’s work, a 15-minute reflection on AI as a creative medium, and a 20-30-minute open Q&A where attendees are encouraged to ask hard questions and challenge assumptions.
