Riff Sessions

September 26, 2026 from 11 am-3 pm at Birchwood

We’re hosting riff sessions for local artists and arts organizations to talk through pieces, projects, programs, grants, residencies or anything else with Aubyn O’Grady and Jackie Olson. Eight sessions of 30 minutes each will be available - registration to claim a session is appreciated, but you’re also welcome to drop-in and meet the artists throughout.

Aubyn O’Grady

Aubyn is an artist, researcher, and educator whose interdisciplinary academic and art works exist in the space between performance and pedagogy. Her doctoral dissertation, Storying the Yukon School of Visual Arts with a Mediate-Ore (University of Toronto, 2023), produced the first critical history of a northern Canadian art school and has informed curricular shifts toward Indigenous worldviews and land-based pedagogy. Aubyn’s research-creation practice examines artist-led schools, extractive landscapes, and the ethics of site-specific and land-based artmaking in northern contexts. Her art practice requires frequent and enthusiastic collaborations, and the Dawson City League of Lady Wrestlers (2013–2017), became a nationally recognised performance project.

Aubyn was the winner of the 2025 Yukon Prize for Visual Arts, and has been the Program Director & Chair of the Yukon School of Visual Arts since 2018.

Jackie Olson

Jackie was born and raised in Dawson City and is a citizen of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation. Her journey led her to Whitehorse for a significant three-year period, working with the Yukon Indian Arts and Craft society (1995-1998). This experience, coupled with studying at Camosun College (Victoria, BC), ignited her interest in Arts Administration. Initially viewing it as a means to enhance her professional skills, Jackie discovered her true passion for creating art during her arts administration training at Camosun. Pursuing this newfound passion, she furthered her education at the Alberta College of Art, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts. For Jackie, process, whether it is traditional or contemporary is the most important part of creating. Tanning a hide or making paper from fibres is a long and physically hard process, which gives her the time to meditate on future works.

Jackie teaches the Expanded Field Course at SOVA, and 2D in the SOVA Foundation Year.