The Yukon Arts Centre unveiled an exciting 2013/2014 arts and theatre season Wednesday afternoon.

Events will kick off tonight with two films presented by the Available Light Cinema.

On the arts side, Hannah Jickling will present the results of her art and orienteering project, starting next week before the main gallery season gets underway in mid-September.

Come Sept. 12, the gallery will transition to a series of solo exhibitions featuring a variety of media.

They will include carving, digital 3D and video works, light sculptures, handmade paper sculptures and watercolours.

Mary Bradshaw, the centre's public gallery curator, explained the importance of solo shows at a news conference before presenting the gallery's upcoming calendar.

"Group or themed exhibitions are great; it's a really interesting way to look at a subject from a number of angles, but solo shows really offer artists a chance to really delve in and really expand their work,” Bradshaw told the crowd of 40 or so seated on the centre's stage for the announcement.

"It's important for their careers, but I think it's also a really nice way for us to delve in and see a body of work,” she added.

The September-to November run will see three solo shows, including Reflections on Form by local artist Ken Anderson.

In Praise of Evanescence: Space, Time, and Image of the Everyday by Yam Lau and Percept by James Nizam will also be exhibited.

Moving into late November to the end of February 2014, audiences will see shows by Jane Isakson and Jennifer Walden.

Michele Karch-Ackerman, Helen O'Connor and Rosemary Scanlon will close the season.

Eric Epstein, the centre's artistic director, presented the theatre side of the new season calendar.

He noted he's just returned from festivals in Edmonton and Toronto, where he'd been seeking inspiration for the 2014/2015 season.

New this year is that the centre will partner with local theatre companies, Nakai and Gwaandak, on two separate occasions.

The centre will host next year's Nakai Pivot Festival from Jan. 21-26, featuring shows Huff, How to Disappear Completely and Blue Box. The festival will also feature local productions to be announced.

Gwaandak Theatre and the centre will co-present The Hours that Remain by New Harlem Productions and Body 13 by the Waterloo, Ont. region's MT Space.

The theatre season will also feature shows about the events surrounding the G20 Summit in Toronto and the mass arrests that followed, and Hawksley Workman's theatre production The God that Comes.

In music, late September will feature a Kim Barlow send-off show, as she will soon move to Nova Scotia.

Early October will be marked by Old Cabin's CD release concert.

Later in the season, Yukoners will also see David Myles and Martha Wainwright,.

On The Old Fire Hall stage will be Sarah MacDougall and C.R. Avery.

The Metropolitan Opera in HD presentations this year will include Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky and Tosca by Puccini, among others.

Al Cushing, the arts centre's CEO, highlighted the significant impact of arts and culture on the Canadian economy. He then thanked the many volunteers and sponsors who help make what the centre does possible.

"I don't have the figures just for Yukon but nationally, arts and culture is 3.4 per cent of our gross domestic product,” he said.

Katie Newman, the centre's marketing and development co-ordinator, noted there are still sponsorship opportunities available.

For more information on the upcoming season, visit yukonartscentre.com

For the Yukon's French-speaking community, the site will be partially translated into French this year.