Another COVID-19 Disappointment

In January this year I blogged about Artist Residencies and my plan to apply to them. The Residency that I blogged about then was one that Algonquin Provincial Park puts on. So far I haven't seen the call for application for that residency so as yet I haven't applied. In truth, there may not be one this year.

However, in January, I did apply to another residency. This one had me really excited. It was called the Chilkoot Trail Artist Residency and the application was for the 2021 year. If you have ever read anything about the Yukon Gold Rush, you will have read about the Chilkoot Trail. This trail starts in Dyea, Alaska and goes through British Columbia ending at Dawson City, Yukon. It is the route the prospectors took to find their fortune in gold. It was a difficult trail through the mountains mostly done on foot or with horses that got them to Bennett, BC where the journey continued on the water at Lake Bennett. I have always been interested in the gold rush stories and the development of cities and towns along the route that have mostly now become ghost towns. The landscape in the area is beautiful and rough.

The Chilkoot Trail is managed by Parks Canada and the National Park Service and is a protected heritage site. Together these park services along with the Yukon Arts Centre and Skagway Arts Council extend the Artist Residency to interested artists.

There were two options: I could choose to walk the trail from Dyea to Bennett for 10 days, researching, sketching and engaging hikers along the way or I could camp based in Bennett, which is now a ghost town and do day trips on the trail while researching. At the end of the residency, I would have spent one day in Skagway working on my art and engaging the community in some creativity to familiarize them with the trail and another day in Whitehorse doing the same thing.

The application was extensive and I had to prove that I had some outdoor, back country experience.
There was also a bear safety orientation we would have had to take. I wasn't sure how I was going to get camping equipment, food, art materials (sewing machine, fabric, etc) along but I was allowed to bring someone with me and naturally I asked my daughter, Amy, who lived in the Yukon for several years.

Well, you can see how excited I was about this Artist In Residence Program because I spent a lot of time researching and dreaming. Yesterday, I received an email saying the Residency is cancelled for 2021. I can apply for another year but we'll see what the future brings. In this, God also has a plan although it is unknown to me and I will accept it. It was nice to dream.