Yellowknife (Feb 25/05) - With the goal of cataloguing all NWT artists, representatives from RWED's Arts and Fine Crafts sector were in town last week to stir up interest in the project.

"We need to have this information all on one site," explained Arts and Fine Crafts specialist Carla Wallis, to a group of artists assembled at Aurora College.

Carla Wallis, left, RWED Arts and Fine Crafts Sector Specialist, and Camilla MacEachern, RWED research assistant, are pleased about an upcoming online artists database they are working on, which will showcase the talents of NWT artists. - Jason Unrau/NNSL photo

"The long-term vision is a sustainable site."

Whether one's speciality is beading, acting, making music or painting, the goal of Wallis and her colleague Camilla MacEachern - who designed the Website - is to provide an online resource, that be accessed by tourists, producers, art collectors and anybody else interested in learning more about arts in the NWT.

According to Wallis, there will be no charge for artists who want to be listed in the database and individual artists will eventually be able to modify their own listings from any computer terminal in the world.

Artists included in the database will be able to showcase their wares in picture, audio or video formats.

Fred Trimble, a soapstone artist from Inuvik who sells his art in several southern galleries, including New York and Toronto, found the project was intriguing, though he had a few concerns after seeing the demonstration.

"Anytime you can get a list of artists together is a good thing," Trimble said.

"But getting my name on the database and having it stay is my concern. If I decide to move back to B.C., I still want to be recognized as an NWT artist."

As of press time, information on eligibility for aboriginal and non-aboriginal artists to be included on the site was not available.

Though it's not part of any RWED "artists' database policy," it is worth noting that transplanted Northerners are only eligible for NWT Arts Council funding after they have lived in the North for two years.