YukonSOVA Student Wins BMO 1st Art Contest

August 16, 2011

Graham Rudge, a student at the Yukon School of Visual Arts (YukonSOVA), has won a $2500.00 recognition award in the BMO 1st Art! Invitational Student Art Competition.  Rudge’s piece, titled, “Circuit Skull”, was among 250 entries from post-secondary visual arts schools across the country. The piece was chosen along with 12 other finalists, representative for each province and territory.

Rudge fabricated the skull with a mosaic of recycled computer circuit components and speakers to make it a functional 3-D piece. Part of the YukonSOVA curriculum includes working with recycled items from the Dawson City landfill.  “Circuit Skull” is a commentary on the issue of the emerging human bond with technology.

Born and raised in the Yukon, Rudge has always been interested in creative self-expression and wanted to pursue his studies in the Yukon Territory. After graduating from high school, Rudge left his family farm near Whitehorse to spend a year in Dawson City at the College art program where he pursued his inventive interests. “Art school is for an artist what a personal trainer is for a body builder. [Yukon]SOVA encouraged me to expand and try new art styles, and allowed me to explore my own artistic sense”, Rudge explained.

Rudge will travel to the BMO exhibit in October to see his and the other finalist pieces on display at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA). More information about the BMO 1st Art Contest can be found at

http://www.bmo.com/bmo/files/images/7/1/BMOfirstArt.html

YukonSOVA offers students a foundational year of study in a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) or Bachelor of Design degrees (BDes). Foundation year credits are transferable to their partner institutions: Emily Carr University,Vancouver;  Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary; Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD), Toronto; and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD), Halifax.  YukonSova is a joint venture with Dawson City Arts Society, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation, and Yukon College. Programs begin in September. More information on YukonSOVA is available at http://yukonsova.ca/

Ann Bowen
Coordinator, College Relations
Yukon College
867 668 8786
abowen@yukoncollege.yk.ca