Swimming into the past
Despite unseasonably cold winds and unusually choppy waves, intermedia artist Paul Walde dove into the waters of Algonquin Park’s Canoe Lake on July 8 and, after months of preparation, completed the first stage of The Tom Thomson Centennial Swim. Occurring on...
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Canadian comedy star & Phoenix alum Chris Wilson joins Air Farce
Looking for a fun —and funny — way to celebrate Canada 150? Spend July 1 with Department of Theatre alumnus Chris Wilson on CBC TV’s Air Farce Canada 150 special. Wilson, best known as one-half of the multiple award-winning comedy duo Peter N’ Chris, is one of two new...
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Patrick Du Wors is the only Canadian accepted at 2017 World Stage Design in Taiwan
When it comes to outstanding alumni, it’s hard to beat award-winning theatrical designer Patrick Du Wors. Not only has he made a name for himself on both national and international stages, he was recently hired as the new assistant professor of design for the...
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Experiences of migrant youth explored in new play
How can theatre activate the experiences of migrant youth, while at the same time providing a window into the experiences they face while assimilating into a new culture, new society and new city? Questions like this are at the heart of a new Applied Theatre...
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Visual Arts student keeps sex safe . . . and cute
Third year Visual Arts student Cassidy Luteijn is making the news as one of the finalists for a Canada 150 condom wrapper design contest. Her uniquely “Canadian” imagery includes a hippy beaver and a moose draped in underwear. As she explains in this interview in the...
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Two artists, one lake, 100 years apart
On July 8, 1917, iconic Canadian painter Tom Thomson drowned in Algonquin Park's Canoe Lake. Now, on the 100th anniversary of Thomson’s death, intermedia artist and Visual Arts chair Paul Walde will swim the length of Canoe Lake — accompanied by a synchronized swim...
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Maestro Timothy Vernon becomes Honorary Doctor of Music
When this year's group of graduating Fine Arts students cross the stage of UVic's Farquhar Auditorium on June 13, they'll find themselves in the presence of a true master — or maestro — as Timothy Vernon will also be receiving an Honorary Doctor of Music (DMus) on the...
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Graduating Visual Arts project a bold step forward
It sounds like a riddle: what has six legs, was built for camping and can walk on its own? The answer, however, is no joke — it’s actually the incredibly complex final project of Visual Arts BFA graduate Xiao Xue. Aptly titled “Something to Ponder On: A Walking...
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Music research leads to REACH Award
She has helped uncover the forgotten works of suppressed composers and played alongside the likes of the National Orchestra of Taiwan and the Moody Blues. Now, the research and creative practice of School of Music flute professor and music scholar Suzanne Snizek is...
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Applied Theatre offers hope to many
Most people likely see theatre as a form of entertainment, but for anyone working with global refugees and internally displaced persons, theatre can also offer a sense of hope and community. Consider the global impact of the work of UVic applied theatre PhD student...
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UNO Fest thick with Fine Arts talent
From the underground to the mainstream, Intrepid Theatre’s annual UNO Fest is a hotbed of contemporary solo theatre and performance. Originally launched by Theatre alumna Janet Munsil in the basement of Victoria’s Bedford Hotel in 1997, UNO Fest is celebrating 20...
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2017 MFA show is Pending Approval
Looking for the very best in emerging contemporary art practice? Don’t miss the annual MFA exhibition at UVic’s Department of Visual Arts. Ironically titled Pending Approval, this year’s MFA exhibit features work by five graduating artists: Evan Locke, Heather Koning,...
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Composer uses major award to explore global migration
Internationally recognized composer and School of Music Associate Professor Dániel Péter Biró can now add one of North America’s most prestigious awards to his list of honours — the Guggenheim Fellowship. And he’ll be using the one-year award worth $50,000 US to...
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Visual Arts BFA show is both an exhibit and course
The end of the academic year also means the start of the annual Visual Arts BFA show—which, for the current crop of graduating students, means Another Year. The BFA grad show is always one of the highlights of the year here in Fine Arts, and the current exhibition is...
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Event in Victoria’s queer history inspires new play & course
A new play written by Department of Theatre professor Jennifer Wise and performed by Theatre students celebrates a little-known event in Victoria’s gay history. Wise's A Queer Trial tells the real-life story of John Butt, an openly gay Victoria man who, in 1860, was...
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MFA Lindsay Delaronde named Victoria’s Indigenous Artist in Residence
The city’s visual arts scene became even more inclusive with the March 8 news that Lindsay Delaronde has been named Victoria’s inaugural Indigenous Artist in Residence. Delaronde, an Iroquois Mohawk woman born and raised on the Kahnawake reservation outside of...
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“Our women have always carved”
The newest exhibit at UVic's Legacy Gallery Downtown seeks to correct gendered colonial myths with works by Ellen Neel, a woman carver of the Northwest Coast. Ellen Newman Neel (Kwagiulth, Kwickwasutaineuk and 'Namgis) is often described as the first Northwest Coast...
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Phoenix play proves that politics never really changes
Politics is a difficult game: there’s pressure to appease voters and deal with multitudes of issues and complaints, all while being sandwiched between different levels of government regulations. But while this all may sound terribly current, the latest Phoenix...
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50th anniversary Art History & Visual Studies exhibit encourages learning through looking
From Borneo textiles to the world’s largest button blanket, from a 15th century alabaster religious carving to a 19th-century lady’s pocket revolver, from anarchist manifestos to a Jim Carrey movie, the objects studied by art historians continue to change with the...
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Research and creative practice on view at Ideafest 2017
Ideafest — UVic's week-long free festival of world-changing ideas — is once again ready to welcome thinkers, innovators, artists and audiences to a fascinating range of events across campus. This year’s festival features hundreds of speakers, presenting on topics...
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Phoenix play Gut Girls offers a way of protesting gender inequality
When the cast and crew of the Department of Theatre play Gut Girls joined thousands of others at Victoria's Women's March on January 21, it was a case of life and art once again coming together. While the emancipation message of Gut Girls is told through the lives of...
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Where are the Indigenous women in Canadian art history?
What is the role of Indigenous women in Canadian art history? That's the issue under discussion at UVic's latest Distinguished Women Scholar Lecture. Presented by the Department of Art History & Visual Studies, the 2017 Distinguished Women Scholar Lecture features...
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Minor in Digital and Interactive Media in the Arts announced
Starting in May 2017, the Faculty of Fine Arts will begin offering a new minor in Digital and Interactive Media in the Arts (DIMA). DIMA will allow you to combine current electives with new training in interactive media as part of your UVic Bachelor degree. "Our minor...
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Conversations and Collaborations: 2017 Distinguished Alumni winner Althea Thauberger
Conversations, negotiations, collaborations — while these are the kind of skills often associated with the realms of politics or business, they can also be essential abilities for a particular kind of artist. Count Althea Thauberger among the latter. A gifted artist,...
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Joan MacLeod explores faith and family in “Gracie”
A young girl is born into a world full of faith and family, and as she grows from a child to a teenager, she faces increasing pressure to conform. But what if that 15-year-old is born into a tightly controlled fundamentalist polygamous community — will she dare to...
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Lafayette String Quartet celebrates Shostakovich
Learning an instrument is largely guided by both oral and aural tradition. From one generation to the next, teachers pass along the skills and techniques instilled in them by their mentors. Now, the School of Music’s internationally acclaimed Lafayette String Quartet...
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Alumni Week runs February 6-12
Help celebrate the impact of grads at UVic's 10th annual Alumni Week. More than a dozen free events — including talks, awards and workshops — highlight this event, running February 6 to 12, both on-campus and off. This year we focus on the vital impact of the...
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A full slate of exhibits by Visual Arts professors
Early 2017 is a busy time for our Department of Visual Arts professors, many of whom currently have exhibits both in and out of town at the moment. All too often, professors are only seen in the classroom, but these exhibits offer an invaluable opportunity to see...
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20 questions with Music student Margaret Lingas
Fourth-year School of Music voice student Margaret Lingas didn’t begin seriously training as a vocalist until she was 15 years old, getting her start with the Oxford Girls’ Choir back in 2006. Since then she’s been on a fast track to singing success, with an...
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Early 2017 media roundup
2017 is shaping up to be a busy year for Fine Arts faculty and alumni in the media. A number of stories have run in various media outlets in the last weeks of 2016 and early 2017, featuring representatives in all of our departments. Here's a quick roundup of who's...
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Phoenix frequent among 2016 Critic’s Choice winners
The 16th annual Victoria Critics' Choice Theatre Awards were announced on CBC Radio's On The Island at the end of December and, as always, there were plenty of Fine Arts alumni among the 2016 nominees and winners. We've got a breakdown of the awards below, but you can...
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Top 10 Fine Arts stories of 2016 – part two
With five departments offering concerts, theatrical productions, readings, exhibits, symposiums and lectures featuring the talents of our teaching faculty plus visiting artists, academics and other professionals, Fine Arts remains one of the most community-engaged...
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