Roy Henry Vickers awarded Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts
Roy Henry Vickers is a celebrated Indigenous artist, author, printmaker and storyteller of Tsimshian, Haida, Heiltsuk, Wuikinuxv and English descent. He is a Member of the Order of Canada, the Order of BC and a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2019,...
Eeman Masood’s digital tree grows in New York City
New York City’s “Midnight Moment” is the world's largest and longest-running digital public art program. Since 2012, over 100 contemporary artists have presented their work to millions of viewers on one of the most iconic public canvases: the electronic billboards of...
Three instructors earn teaching accolades
Congratulations go out to three Fine Arts instructors who earned accolades for their teaching this month: Ambreen Hussaini (left) won the Andy Farquharson Teaching Excellence Award at UVic's REACH Awards, while Michael Reed received the Fine Arts Award for Teaching...
Research funding focuses on Indigenous artistic responses to plastic pollution
While there is a growing awareness of the global impact of plastic pollution, the most ubiquitous visuals we have of the harms of litter and microplastics alike may be of tropical sea turtles, polluted beaches, and damaged coral reefs. Few consider the critical impact...
Research funding focuses on developing innovative Indigenous robotic technologies
Carey Newman working on his Totem 2.0 system developed with Camosun Innovates (photo: Camosun College)Department of Visual Arts and Art History & Visual Studies professor Carey Newman was announced on May 13 as the recipient of new funding from the Social...
Visual Art MFAs exhibit featured at downtown gallery
Art by Visual Arts MFA Moozhan Ahmadzadegan at the Hourglass (photo: Shay Ball)Back in February, we announced that Visual Arts is now a partner with the new Hourglass studio developed by Vancouver Island Visual Arts Society, who also run downtown's ambitious 80-artist...
Naming A Crisis uses art to address overdose deaths
Organizers Stephanie Harrington (left) & Amanda Farrell-Low in front of Laura Dutton's installation Tuesday April 14 marked 10 years since BC declared the overdose crisis a public health emergency, and more than 18,000 people have died from toxic drugs: a decade...
Annual BFA exhibit showcases student success
While the spring semester is ending, graduating art students are busy transforming the Visual Arts building into a gallery for their annual BFA exhibition, this year called Say When — a title chosen by the BFA class themselves. Sarah Massey, a student on the exhibit's...
Visual Arts joins new downtown studio
We’re excited that UVic's Visual Arts department is part of Victoria's newest collective studio and gallery space: The Hourglass. Developed by Vancouver Island Visual Arts Society (who also run downtown's ambitious 80-artist Rockslide Gallery), with support from the...
Take our Spring 2026 student survey!
1969 was a year of transformation: the moon landing, the Stonewall riots, Woodstock, Ottawa’s National Arts Centre opens, Margaret Atwood publishes her first novel, Canada becomes officially bilingual . . . amidst that time of change, Fine Arts emerged as UVic’s...
Paul Walde on how art can shape our relationship with the environment
Weather is one of the forces that shape our daily lives, yet we rarely think of it in terms of art. But for award-winning intermedia artist, composer, curator and University of Victoria Department of Visual Arts professor Paul Walde, weather is so much more than just...
Win $1,000 in the Community Impact Award!
Who wants to win $1,000? You do, of course!! Since 2021, we've given out over $15,000 to 13 students in our annual donor-funded Fine Arts Community Impact Award! If you're a UVic Fine Arts undergrad (any year) who has been creatively active outside of your classes,...
Orion guest artist Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie
All are welcome to hear visiting Orion Series visiting artist Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie, a professor at the University of California, speak on “The Concreteness of Imagination”: 6:30pm Thursday, March 12 in room A162 of the Visual Arts Building. Free & open to all....
Orion Guest: poet Kaie Kellough
All are welcome to hear visiting Orion Series poet, sound artist and writer Kaie Kellough when he speaks on “Self Inside Sound”: 7pm, Wednesday March 4, in the New Student Lounge, main floor of The Mearns Centre – McPherson Library. Free & open to all. Kaie...
Bringing Regalia to Life Community Feast
AHVS professor Mique'l Dangeli with a piece of new regalia (photo: Claudia Phillips)Have you ever seen Indigenous regalia danced into life? On March 5, the Indigenous dance group Git Hayetsk (People of the Copper Shield) will be performing in the Indigenous Law wing...
Visiting professor Mike Ananny reckons with Generative AI
Faster than many predicted (or wanted), Generative Artificial Intelligence is upon us. It brings a mix of emotions, a shared sense of uncertainty and a persistent question of what we can and should do — individually and collectively — about technological change that...
T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss speaks at Activism & the Arts lecture series
Save the date for our annual donor-funded Lehan Family Activism & the Arts Lecture Series: this year, we present ethnobotanist, artist and community-based educator T’uy’t’tanat- Cease Wyss speaking on the topic of “Diaspora of Ancient Technologies and the Future...
Small data Gen-AI workshop
Training the Muse: A workshop on small data Gen-AI for artistic practices Generative AI tools have become increasingly visible in artistic practice, however, most artists encounter AI through large-scale corporate platforms trained on massive, opaque datasets. These...
Join us for student wellness day Feb 9
Feeling stressed or overwhelmed? Need a break between classes? Don't miss Fine Arts Student Wellness Day, running 8:30am-4:30pm Mon, Feb 9. Everything's free! Activities and events will be happening around the Fine Arts complex, so drop in for whatever best works for...
Sounding Grounds festival debuts
Sounding Grounds is a gathering of new music, experimental sound and interdisciplinary art. Running Jan 30-Feb 1 at UVic's School of Music, this multi-day festival is a meeting place for UVic’s most adventurous creators. Featuring student and faculty composers,...
Upcoming Indigenous events & workshops
Fine Arts Indigenous Resurgence Coordinator Karla Point has been busy organizing her latest series of workshops, lunchtime talks and special guest visits for the Winter semester. Here's what's coming up, but more will be added as details get solidified. Fine Arts...
A Bridge Between Two Worlds: Kirk McNally’s new ADCARA role
While new hires are a regular part of faculty life, it’s rare that we see the creation of entirely new administrative roles. One of the Faculty highlights of 2025 was the inauguration of two brand-new Associate Dean positions: Associate Dean Indigenous, held by...
Paul Walde exhibit focuses on weather & water
Opening on January 15 at downtown’s Legacy Gallery is Paul Walde: Weather Conditions, a double exhibit of site-specific video installations by Visual Arts professor Paul Walde, curated by the Art History & Visual Studies department’s Williams Legacy Chair,...
2025: Year in Review
It’s hard to believe 2025 is already over: some years crawl like watching paint dry on a canvas, while others speed by at the rate of a can’t-put-it-down bestseller. Given that the 2000s will likely come to be known as the century when attention spans reduced faster...
Artist-researcher Joel Ong imagines creative approaches to the environment
By its very definition, ArtScience is an inherently collaborative field. Integrating arts practices with scientific knowledge requires a fusing of the subjective with the objective, the emotional with the analytical, creating an exploratory community founded in...
Robert Amos receives Honorary DFA
An artist, art historian, author and arts writer, Robert Amos has dedicated most of the past four decades to documenting — both journalistically and visually — Victoria’s visual arts scene, whether with the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Times Colonist newspaper...
Call for grad student proposals: 2026 ONC ArtScience Fellowship Program
UVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) are now calling for graduate student applications for the paid 2026 ONC ArtScience Fellowship program. The application period closes on December 23, 2025. The ArtScience Fellowship strengthens connections...
Visual Arts MFA student earns Audain Award
Edith Skeard (centre) receiving the Audain AwardCongratulations go out to Visual Arts MFA candidate Edith Skeard on being named one of five BC graduate students to receive a $7,500 Travel Award from the Audain Foundation on Sept 26. As a complement to the prestigious...
Inaugural JRSP residency showcases new sculptural work
A sculptural installation by Canadian artist Siobhan Humston will be on view exclusively at UVic from October 9-14, showcasing the results of a new artist-scholar residency created in association with the Jeffrey Rubinoff Foundation and UVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts....
2025 ONC ArtScience Fellow debuts exhibit
When Parvin Hasani applied for the 2025 ArtScience Fellowship with Ocean Networks Canada — the sixth Fine Arts graduate student to hold this position — she proposed exploring the extreme ecosystems of deep-sea hydrothermal vents via her sculptural practice. Now, after...
historicizing the present through art
When Sm Łoodm ‘Nüüsm (Mique’l Dangeli) was hired in 2024 as a professor of Indigenous Arts in our Art History & Visual Studies department, the Ts’msyen scholar knew it would be a good fit. “I liked the fact that it isn’t just about art history here, it’s also...
One-day art action supports Indigenous sovereignty
First it was taking an orchestra onto the surface of a glacier, then it was putting a glittering digital projection into the background of a Metallica video. Now, two University of Victoria art professors are using their unique creative talents to join over 100 people...