Calvin Morberg Is Carving His Way Into the Next Generation of Masters

Dear reader,

Calvin Morberg is a name worth learning now, before everyone else catches up.

He’s a traditionally trained wood carver based in Whitehorse, working out of a Tlingit carving tradition that goes back thousands of years. What sets him apart isn’t just the skill, it’s the discipline behind it. Morberg spent years studying the old masters who built the foundations of this art form before he ever considered himself ready to add to it. He’s said his greatest satisfaction isn’t making something new for its own sake, it’s carrying a living tradition forward for the next generation of artists and collectors.

In 2021, he took that discipline further. Morberg apprenticed for a full year under Brian Walker, a respected Yukon elder and one of the region’s most accomplished coppersmiths, to learn copper repoussé, a demanding technique that involves hammering malleable metal from the reverse side to raise a design in relief on the front. It’s slow, exacting work, and it connects directly to something the Tlingit have practiced since before European contact: mining raw copper from Yukon creek deposits and forging it into tools, weapons, and ceremonial copper shields known as tinaa.

The apprenticeship culminated in Morberg’s first solo exhibition, at the Yukon Arts Centre in March 2022, which included a highly detailed copper totem made in collaboration with Walker himself. His current exhibition, *Formline Visions*, is the fuller statement of that year’s work: copper repoussé pieces alongside his wood sculpture, an Eagle Warrior Helmet, three birch masks, and two carved and painted panels, each one blending wood and metal into a single form.

Calvin Morberg is quickly gaining recognition as one of the most compelling emerging voices in Indigenous art today.

His work is a powerful fusion of ancestral knowledge and contemporary expression, rooted deeply in the rich carving traditions of his Tlingit heritage.

Born and raised in the Yukon, Calvin Morberg is a proud member of the Dak’lawèidí (Eagle Clan) of the Inland Tlingit Nation.

Inspired early on by master carver Alex Dickson, Morberg honed his skills under the mentorship of renowned Yukon artists. His medium of choice—wood and copper—reflects both the natural abundance of his homeland and the historical materials used by his ancestors. In 2021, he undertook a year-long apprenticeship with respected elder and coppersmith Brian Walker, mastering the intricate repoussé technique. The result was Formline Visions, his first solo exhibition at the Yukon Arts Centre, which showcased a breathtaking blend of copper and wood sculptures, including an Eagle Warrior Helmet and a series of birch masks.

Morberg’s art has traveled far beyond the Yukon. He’s represented Canada in international exhibitions from Arizona to Russia, and even competed in snow carving festivals in China and Quebec. Yet, at the heart of his work is a simple, powerful mission: to carry forward the traditions of his people. “This work runs through my blood,” he says. “It makes me proud of where I come from. It gives me strength”

Drawing from Yukon’s landscapes and the intergenerational transmission of knowledge, Morberg’s art offers viewers a rare glimpse into the living pulse of Tlingit carving traditions—carried forward with bold innovation.

As Morberg continues to evolve, his pieces speak not only to the resilience of Indigenous identity but also to the future of First Nations art—bold, rooted, and unapologetically alive.

The artist in profile.

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