The Ted Harrison artist retreat will be seeking an alternate source for its approximately $35,000 in funding this year.

The retreat, located in a log cabin on Crag Lake outside Carcross, is an open studio space and temporary accommodation for artists seeking to work in the seclusion of the Yukon wilderness.

The organization has been the recipient of both territorial and federal funding in years past but this year, the board of directors which governs the facility hasn't sought government funding.

"The Ted Harrison Artist Retreat is a classic square peg in a round hole,” said Liz Hanson, the territorial opposition leader and a retreat board member for the last decade.

"We didn't apply for government funding this year. We've learned through the years that we don't fit the model of many of the grants available, and we believe the integrity of the program is too important to compromise, so we want to take a step back and see where we really fit,” she told the Star today.

The $35,000 figure, Hanson said, is an estimate, and will mostly go to operations costs, such as heating and fuel, water delivery and the price of maintaining the nearly 15-year-old building.

"It's really a fairly bare-bones operation,” she said.

The board will be exploring further grant funding from the private sector, something it has received in the past and will also be soliciting private donations and partnerships as well.

"We think we have explored most of the partnerships available,” said Hanson.

"We are always open, though.”

The program is one of a kind in the area and valuable for both local artists and for artists who may want to work in the territory, said Hanson.

"The value of the retreat is really one of those intangibles,” she said.

"It really speaks to the place of art in society. I love art; I am not an artist, but every time there is an artist there, we are exposed to a different aspect of the world, seen through different eyes, and the Yukon seen through different eyes.”

That's the purpose of the facility, said Hanson.

Harrison lived in the Yukon between 1967 and 1993 and has since moved to Victoria.

He is known for depicting the Yukon wilderness, particularly through the use of colours inspired by the landscape.

"Harrison came to the Yukon a classically trained artist,” said Hanson.

"He had to learn to deconstruct here, he learned to think and paint differently from being here and he wanted other artists to have the same experience.”

The group will also be seeking six or seven new board members for the coming year, said Hanson.