“One day, I'm going to have nothing left but my artwork, and I hope that will speak for itself,” muses Dustin Sheldon. He is a practicing artist who was born in Victoria and raised in Whitehorse. He is Teslin Tlingit and a member of the wolf clan. Leading by example, he is determined to improve the arts scene in his home territory after seeing so many people who have moved away and some who have passed away. He longs for more connection, support and brightness within the arts community.

“I believe in community change as a grassroots movement.”

After high school, Sheldon attended the only art school in the Yukon, taking the only fine arts program, a one year certificate. He was the only First Nations person in his program. Normally, students continue their studies at other schools. “I'm just an undergrad with one year of post secondary, and here I'm killing it, doing big, badass art projects that I have no right doing,” he beams.

As an independent contractor in the arts sector, Sheldon makes a living doing design and other arts-based work. He made totem poles for Parks Canada, he has an upcoming mural project, he is creating merchandise to sell online and is perfecting his mixtape. The way he describes his professional journey, one day, he woke up and decided to pursue self-employment and he’s been doing it ever since.

In terms of his personal philosophy, Sheldon believes hard work pays off. He was inspired by a Buckminister Fuller quote, “The future belongs to those who design it”. He thinks about how he himself has helped design architecture locally, including the cultural center, lending his imagination to the project and others.  

Thinking about education, Sheldon was initially reluctant to pursue his education given his family history of residential school trauma. The idea of having to leave the territory to pursue his education while seeing outsiders take opportunities has also been hard. Working within the colonial structures of nonprofits brings its own challenges. With all of that considered, Sheldon has considered continuing his education in Alaska, where one of the historic chiefs was said to have sent his people’s songs and culture at a time when their people were being relocated. It’s also where there are some recordings of his great grandmother. He feels the tug of familial obligation to carry the torch in that way, enriching himself culturally and exploring his roots there.

Something Sheldon’s loved doing professionally is graphic illustration. Most recently, he’s created a tourism banner which will be flying in the coming year. Illustration started as a childhood passion, capturing video game characters with doodles on a page to document notes in game play. He used to draw in a style between realistic and animated and now he’s trying to draw more true to life portraits. He is very detail-oriented in his creations.

His advice to aspiring artists is, “In the process of making a comic book, there's someone who does the drafting, someone who does the inking, and then another person who puts the letters into the boxes, it's a very tiered process. Everyone has different skill sets that contribute to that project but you can be the best in your field at one thing and then the worst at another. It's really important not to be too hard on yourself. Understand that these things take time, to not give up. The hard work pays off, and your portfolio will speak for itself. When you have all these amazing credentials or just creations to show off to the world, your art will find its right audience. That's the important thing to remember. There's 7 billion people, probably going to be 8 billion soon, and still growing. There's something for everyone. Don't be discouraged when somebody says, ‘Get a real job. Or, Art’s just a hobby, or you can do it part time.’ If it's really your passion, it will pull you in. One day you'll just wake up and be like, ‘I did it!’”

As far as obstacles, Sheldon struggled with the lack of post secondary pathways in his territory and the cobbled together grant based funding in the nonprofit sector. To survive, Sheldon found he had to be versatile. “You have to kind of be a jack of all trades. You have to wear a lot of hats and be different. It's a learning experience and I think that's the important thing, that you know you have to be open to learning when it comes to the art sector,” he reflects. What he encourages having perspective about is the lack of opportunity people see in the North, where he says, “If there's nothing there, then that means there's room for something in the future. Yukon is a great place to come up and start a business despite the state of the economy, which is really kind of head scratching to think about,” he offers.

To balance his mental health, Sheldon sleeps, listens to meditation videos, and finds solace in the night, his favourite time of day. Night time gives him a break from the busyness and lets him see the stars. He also practices gratitude and exercises self-compassion. The art of old masters gives him hope, too.

As far as inspiration, Sheldon looks to the words of hope of video game and manga characters who encouraged him not to give up. He is also inspired by success stories that he hears. Illustrator Gustave Doré inspires him stylistically as does John Howe. All of that inspiration has sparked a dream in his heart of a Red Seal arts program with paid apprenticeships for First Nations carving, arts and languages so artists can thrive.  

One day Dustin Sheldon knows he will only have his art and he hopes it will speak for itself. Until then, he’s building an artistic legacy, contributing to the local arts community and upleveling his skills to keep getting better every day. Seeing room for growth where others see lack, his imagination is as endless as his love for home.

Thank you to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article!