Malcolm Gorrill
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Aug10/01) - A husband and wife team are taking over two key posts with the Great Northern Arts Festival.

As of July 25, Darrin White replaced Tanya Van Valkenburg as executive director, and Gail Hodder took over from Marilyn Dzaman as artistic director.

White and Hodder served as assistants to Van Valkenburg and Dzaman during the 13th annual festival, which wrapped up July 22. They moved to Inuvik last fall to teach the jewelry program at Aurora College, and said their first festival was thrilling and exhausting.

"It was a fantastic event," Hodder said.

"As artists ourselves, we're always thinking and dreaming up plans to do craft sales or art sales or stone symposiums, and now we're in Inuvik and it exists here. So it's quite amazing."

Hodder and White both carve in stone and they taught in the Eastern Arctic for two years before moving to Inuvik.

"There were a few glitches in the system, but I think that is to be expected with something that huge, White said last week. "We just worked through them."

White said his job will focus on funding and administration. He said that for the next little while he'll explain to festival sponsors how their money was spent, and he said that Hodder will help with that task by providing anecdotal information.

White will then seek funding from previous sponsors, and try to secure new ones.

Hodder said she'll be dealing with matters pertaining to the artists themselves, such as contacting them, as well as accommodations and security. She said she'll also try to solve any problems that happened last time, as she looks ahead to the 2002 festival.

"Gail and I have some fresh ideas," White said. "We do things probably a little differently -- not necessarily better -- but differently than Tanya and Marilyn."

However, Hodder said, "we want the artists to know there's not going to be any drastic, strange changes. Now that we're stepping in to be decision makers, we're very excited about the next festival."

White agreed.

"It's so thrilling to be involved with something this successful, and has the history that it does have, and has such potential to just keep building."