Category: Art & Artists

The Igloo Church in Inuvik, NWT

One of the most iconic and beloved buildings in the circumpolar North is Inuvik’s Roman Catholic church, Our Lady of Victory, commonly called “the Igloo Church” because of its shape. I told my friend Tyson that my #1 wish was to see inside the church again and photograph it...
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Exploring downtown Inuvik, NWT

In this post I’m going to assemble three little tours of downtown Inuvik, starting at 9:35 pm after getting back from Tuktoyaktuk, with a look at some of the public art downtown. First is a mural painted by Brian Macdonald in 1994 – it shows the Rec Hall, constructed...
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Lumel Studios creates a glass memorial trolley

I wrote this post and had it basically ready to post on January 5, 2021, but just didn’t know what to do with it. But today is the third anniversary of the day the glass trolley was delivered, and looking at the draft version of the post anew, I...
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Cremation ashes turned into a glass memorial

Dealing with death is a very personal experience, handled in an infinite variety of ways. People thinking about dying, and those dealing with the death of a loved one, have their own ideas about what to do with the body. Some choose burial, most of the others choose cremation....
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The Ghost Creek Railway and other public art in Whitehorse

The past week, I’ve been exploring the world of public art in Whitehorse. I’ve put a lot of miles on by car and on foot, and have been quite amazed at the amount of art to be enjoyed for free around the city. The main thing that I’ve accomplished...
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Leave No Trace – Stop building cairns / inukshuks

Has the wilderness for many people just become a unique place to take a quick selfie before rushing back to the latte shop to post the image to Facebook? Is that “wilderness experience” even better when you’ve left your mark by building cairns? Or is having respect for incredible...
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Exploring Amsterdam

On our final cruise day, we sailed along a series of canals to reach Amsterdam, then took a couple of Uniworld tours, one official and one unofficial. During the night we passed a great deal of industrial activity, including this nuclear plant. I didn’t see this, but the photo...
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A day of discovery in Vancouver

On Monday we had a broad overview of Vancouver, yesterday we visited a few of the many attractions to see the details. This was the view from our 9th-floor room at the Westin Bayshore. A local we chatted with yesterday pointed out that while the downtown areas of many...
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Off on the next Adventure – Whitehorse to Vancouver

Cathy and I left Whitehorse yestderday to begin a 4-day exploration of Vancouver followed by an Alaska cruise and land tour with 4 friends from Ontario. We picked up our house-sitter just before 07:00 and a few minutes later were at the Whitehorse airport where check-in at the Air...
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A totem pole day in Ketchikan

As I start writing this post, it’s Monday night at midnight and the music from the Universe Lounge right above me is making the walls of my cabin vibrate. I’m willing to bet that there are a few passengers in cabins near mine whose travel agents didn’t warn them...
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