Fine Arts Wellness Day is back
Start the semester with a healthy mindset at the annual Fine Arts Wellness Day, running 11am-2pm on Wednesday, Jan 16 in the Fine Arts lobby. All Art History & Visual Studies, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts & Writing students are welcome to drop by to sign up for a free...
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Faculty concert series a January highlight
2019 is off to a harmonious start, thanks to a stellar series of faculty concerts at the School of Music. But while all of these performances feature current teaching faculty, there are also a number of concerts and recitals featuring current students and alumni. Be...
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Top 10 Fine Arts stories of 2018
There was certainly no shortage of Fine Arts news in 2018, given that we tracked nearly 300 local, national and international media stories about the creative activities of our faculty, alumni, students and staff . . . and those are just the stories we know about....
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Try this art history holiday quiz!
Nothing says the holidays quite like a quiz—whether it’s focused on movies, carols or the roots of traditions, a holiday quiz has become a staple for most people. With that in mind, the annual Art History & Visual Studies Christmas Quiz is back to challenge your visual knowledge.
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Syrian quartet escapes ravages of war for fellowship at UVic
The dramatic story of a Syrian guitar quartet escaping the ongoing destruction of the Syrian civil war for a fellowship at the University of Victoria offers a remarkable message about the power of music, hope and determination. Alexander Dunn, an internationally renowned guitarist and instructor with UVic’s School of Music for nearly three decades, played a vital role in bringing the Orontes Guitar Quartet to the university as recipients of a prestigious Artist Protection Fund Fellowship grant.
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TubaChristmas a “sonic hug” for the city
For 40 years now, tuba and euphonium players from all across Vancouver Island and beyond have been gathering at Market Square in downtown Victoria for one of the city’s most anticipated holiday traditions. TubaChristmas returns to once again raise money for the Times Colonist Christmas Fund, a charity that assists the people most in need in the Greater-Victoria community.
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Final novel by celebrated Indigenous author Richard Wagamese launched at UVic
From telling stories that helped us understand what it meant to be Canadian to inspiring future generations of writers, Richard Wagamase was one of Canada’s most beloved authors. His death in 2017 at just 61 was a profound loss for our country’s literary culture, and...
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The Drowsy Chaperone a smash success!
The response to Phoenix's current production of The Drowsy Chaperone, directed by Jacques Lemay, has been fantastic. From audiences to reviewers alike, this production is being hailed as one of the Phoenix's best shows ever! It's such a hit, in fact, that the show is...
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Writing alumna wins second Giller Prize in seven years
Internationally acclaimed Department of Writing alumna and Greater Victoria-based author Esi Edugyan has won the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize for her latest novel, Washington Black. Edugyan wins $100,000 on this, the 25th anniversary of Canada's richest literary...
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AHVS professor Carolyn Butler-Palmer advised on new $10 bill Copy
When Art History & Visual Studies professor Carolyn Butler-Palmer received an email from the Bank of Canada back in 2017, she didn’t put much stock in it. “To be honest, I thought it was a scam email,” she laughs, “but in fact they wanted to speak to me as an art historian.”
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A shifting focus: from photography to film
Like many outstanding students, the term “overachiever” is a good fit for graduating international Visual Arts major Guochen Wang.
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Leader in Art Song performance receives honourary degree
One of the world’s great interpreters of the German art song tradition known as Lieder and one of the most frequently recorded lieder singers of modern times, Mitsuko Shirai is acclaimed worldwide for her extraordinary performances and recordings of songs by Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf, and others.
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UVic hosts 2018 Building Reconciliation Forum
UVic is this year’s host for the fourth annual Building Reconciliation Forum, in partnership with Universities Canada, the national organization for Canadian universities, and Fine Arts will be hosting a panel discussion on First Nations Art Practice & Reconciliation.
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New artist residency strengthens connections between art & science
Victoria-based artist Colton Hash is the inaugural recipient of an Artist-in-Residence program announced today by the Faculty of Fine Arts and Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), a UVic initiative. The new ONC residency will strengthen connections between art and science, and broaden perspectives on major issues ranging from technology and the environment to biodiversity and healthy communities.
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Jazz ensemble offers new soundtrack for silent classic
How do you improve on one of the greatest films ever made? If you’re the UVIc Jazz Ensemble, you “comprovise” a new score to be played alongside a screening of the 1925 Russian silent classic Battleship Potemkin. For jazz ensemble leader and School of Music professor...
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New adjunct professor heading up Canadian-born Broadway hit at the Phoenix
“Mix ups, mayhem and a gay wedding… of course the phrase gay wedding has a different meaning now… but back then it just meant fun, that’s all this show is – fun!” says the Man in the Chair as he reads the back of the record cover of his favourite musical from 1928: The Drowsy Chaperone. But this fictitious musical is the foundation for the real 2006 Broadway hit musical of the same name, running at the Phoenix Theatre from November 8 to 24.
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Visiting actor/playwright D’bi.Young Anitafrika focuses on diversity
From addressing the United Nations and touring the world as a dubpoet to being named a Canadian Poet of Honour and being nominated for nine Dora Awards in theatre (and winning three), D’bi.Young Anitafrika has carved her own niche in the world of Canadian arts. She...
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Songs, poems commemorate 100th anniversary of the end of WWI
The musical perspectives of some of the major countries involved in the Great War sets the stage for the fall concert by the School of Music’s Voice program on Friday, November 9, in a special concert commemorating the centenary of the end of WWI.
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Bill Gaston wins Victoria Book Prize
Department of Writing professor Bill Gaston has won the 2018 City of Victoria Butler Book Prize for his short-story collection The Mariner’s Guide to Self Sabotage (Douglas & McIntyre). Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps and co-sponsor Brian Butler presented Gaston with his...
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It’s that time of year for This Side of West
No question, UVic's Department of Writing has produced scores on notable alumni — see the current success of writers like the 2018 Man Booker finalist & Giller Prize shortlisted Esi Edugyan for one — but this week, current students will be in the spotlight when the...
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Wind & song highlighted in Faculty Chamber Music Series
Welcome the fall breezes with this special Faculty Chamber Music concert on Saturday, October 13. Wind and Song will highlight the School of Music’s brass, woodwind and voice faculty, along with some special guests, with a bold and surprising lineup of pieces. From...
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Flute concert offers rare & daring program
Prize-winning flutist Suzanne Snizek has a dedicated practice of bringing lesser-known and previously suppressed music to the concert stage. In a noon-hour Faculty Concert on Tuesday, October 9, Dr. Snizek will present a rare selection of music by Czech, Korean, Jewish and Soviet composers.
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Alumni show spotlights the ups & downs of new motherhood
From Jedi knights and gold-rush explorers to doomed puppets and romantic clowns, over the past 15 years Phoenix Theatre’s annual Spotlight on Alumni has presented a range of shows as diverse and accomplished as the graduates themselves. But this month, Phoenix is entering a world as strange and terrifying as any yet imagined: motherhood.
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Visiting Artists program a fall highlight
Always an exciting part of each semester, the long-running Visiting Artist program in the Department of Visual Arts has announced their fall lineup. Organized by Visual Arts instructor Doug Jarvis and MFA candidate Dani Proteau, all these illustrated talks take place...
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Dept of Writing busy at Victoria Festival of Authors
Looking to familiarize yourself with the fantastic range of talent associated with the Department of Writing? Don’t miss the third annual Victoria Festival of Authors, where the literary talents of Writing faculty and alumni will be showcased alongside top local and...
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Benjamin Butterfield named to Royal Society of Canada
Three University of Victoria faculty members have received the country’s highest academic honour, named 2018 fellows of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC). Among those elected to the RSC's distinguished ranks are School of Music professor Benjamin Butterfield, one of...
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Student reflections: A Series of Nudges
He told me about a violin teacher his daughter had had when she was growing up. The teacher hardly ever spoke, or directed; she simply supported his daughter’s arm, repositioned her bow hold . . . I asked if that was teaching; he asked what teaching is supposed to be....
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Visual Arts students & alumni colouring the city
The creative practice of Department of Visual Arts students and alumni are in the spotlight in a series of street-level artistic initiatives around Victoria right now — a number of which are sponsored by the City of Victoria itself. Hop on your bike or plan a walking tour to catch some of this inspiringly creative work in action.
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Fine Arts fantastic at Fringe Fest
If it's late August, it must be time for the Victoria Fringe Festival. Running August 22 to September 2, this annual explosion of live performance returns with 47 shows from around the globe in 12 venues, plus outdoor events for the whole family and late night...
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New donations benefit students
Never underestimate the impact a donation can have for students. For many, both undergraduate and graduate, it can make all the difference in their academic career. “As a student from a rural town and a lower income family, this scholarship will go a long way in...
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Bequest welcomes Cuarteto Chroma to a uniquely Canadian degree program
As the final notes vibrated through the concert hall, the first violinist stood to address the audience again. “Any other ideas for where we should sit?” he asked. Hands of audience members shot up, and a young student offered, “How about cello and viola at the front,...
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Theatre historian Sasha Kovacs joins Phoenix
While the Department of Theatre crossed the half-century mark with their 50th anniversary in 2016, they’ve already started planning for the future by welcoming a number of new professors to their teaching faculty. Due to a round of recent retirements that saw the likes of design professor Allan Stichbury, director Linda Hardy and theatre historian Jennifer Wise step down, they had the opportunity to bring in fresh talent in the guise of acclaimed designer Patrick DuWors, voice and speech expert Michael Elliott and theatre historian Sasha Kovacs.
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