About Artist in the School

Artist in the School provides high quality, engaging  and culturally diverse programming in schools across the territory.  Over the course of the 2023-24 school year,  37 artists travelled the Yukon to deliver over 2,300 arts encounters to elementary and secondary school students.

The Artist in the School (AIS) program is designed to

  • Give Yukon school children the opportunity to learn to work with a variety of art forms and media, and to be inspired by respected, professional and practicing artists. 
  • Facilitate students’ access to a multidisciplinary range of dance, theatre, music, literary, media and visual arts.
  • Foster a lifelong appreciation of the arts in children and youth. 
  • Provide many of the Yukon’s professional Artists with exposure and the opportunity for employment throughout the school year, as well as opportunities to utilize and enhance their instructing skills. 
  • Support high quality, challenging and culturally diverse arts programming for young people by providing arts opportunities, exposure and resources for students, teachers, and artists throughout the Yukon.

The Artist in the School Program (AIS) has been in existence since the mid-1980s. It is available to all Yukon elementary and secondary schools including 21 schools in Whitehorse and 14 in the communities. 

The program is funded through the Government of Yukon and administered by the Yukon Art Society/Arts Underground.

About Yukon Art Society /Arts Underground

The Yukon Art Society (YAS) was founded in April of 1970. Not only is it the oldest visual arts organization in the Yukon, but with a membership of around 150 members, it is the largest. The size and longevity of YAS can be explained in part by our inclusiveness policy. 

Arts Underground is a community space dedicated to the exploration, teaching and presentation of visual arts and heritage through a partnership between the Yukon Art Society (YAS), Yukon Arts Centre (YAC), Friends of the Yukon Archives Society (FOYAS) and MacBride Museum of Yukon History. The space and utilities are generously donated by the Hougen Group of Companies, which was instrumental in the formation of Arts Underground. 

About the AIS Coordinator 

Marlene Collins is a multidisciplinary artist and longtime Yukoner with an extensive history coordinating and initiating a variety of programs and projects. The Artist in the School Program and Arts Underground studio are venues through which Marlene has offered classes and camps. Children are a much loved and important part of that.

Within her personal practice she enjoys discovering and working with different mediums - she is definitely up for a challenge and interested in hearing about what inspires you!