Orion Series presents Smum iem Matriarch Marilyn James

by | Apr 21, 2022 | Art History & Visual Studies, Events, Orion Series in Fine Arts, Research

The Orion
Lecture Series in Fine Arts

Through the generous support of the Orion Fund in Fine Arts, the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, is pleased to present:

Marilyn James

Smum iem Matriarch, Autonomous Sinixt 

“Counter mapping and Sinixt Resurgence” 

12:30pm (PST) Monday, May 16, 2022

Online webinar 

Free & open to the public via Zoom

Register here

Presented by UVic’s Department of Art History & Visual Studies

For more information on this lecture please email: arthistory@uvic.ca

Marilyn James is a Smum iem Matriarch appointed by her Sinixt elders to uphold Sinixt protocols and laws in the Sinixt təmxʷúlaʔxʷ (homeland) under the laws of whuplak’n and smum iem. Her work has included the repatriation of 64 ancestral remains from museums and collections back to their rightful places in Nk̓ʕáwxtən, “a place for praying,” (Vallican).

She was the appointed spokesperson for the Sinixt Nation in Canada from 1990 to 2013. She continues her work as Smum iem Matriarch and knowledge-keeper for Sinixt. She is an accomplished storyteller of traditional and contemporary Sinixt stories as well as the co-author of Not Extinct: Keeping the Sinixt Way (Maa Press, 2018, 2021). Marilyn holds a Masters of Education from Simon Fraser University and has worked extensively in the field of curriculum development. She is an ardent advocate for her ancestors and the land and water of their təmxʷúlaʔxʷ.

Sinixt təmxʷúlaʔxʷ was divided by the Canada-US border with 80% of Sinixt territory is in what is now known as southeastern BC and the other 20% in what is now called Washington State. Find out more here.

About the Orion Fund

Established through the generous gift of an anonymous donor, the Orion Fund in Fine Arts is designed to bring distinguished visitors from other parts of Canada—and the world—to the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Fine Arts, and to make their talents and achievements available to faculty, students, staff and the wider Greater Victoria community who might otherwise not be able to experience their work.

The Orion Fund also exists to encourage institutions outside Canada to invite regular faculty members from our Faculty of Fine Arts to be visiting  artists/scholars at their institutions; and to make it possible for Fine Arts faculty members to travel outside Canada to participate in the academic life of foreign institutions and establish connections and relationships with them in order to encourage and foster future exchanges.

Free and open to the public  |  Seating is limited (500 Zoom connections) |  Visit our online events calendar at www.uvic.ca/events

Orion Series presents professor & architect Steve Mannell

by | Apr 19, 2022 | Art History & Visual Studies, Events, Orion Series in Fine Arts

The Orion
Lecture Series in Fine Arts

Through the generous support of the Orion Fund in Fine Arts, the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, is pleased to present:

Steve Mannell

Professor & architect, Dalhousie University

“Living Lightly on the Earth”:

Building an Ark for Prince Edward Island, 1974-1976

11:30am (PST) Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Online webinar 

Free & open to the public via Zoom

Register here

Presented by UVic’s Department of Art History & Visual Studies

For more information on this lecture please email: arthistory@uvic.ca

Built in 1976 as an “early exploration in weaving together the sun, wind, biology and architecture for the benefit of humanity,” the Ark bioshelter integrated ecological design features to provide a self-reliant life for a family. This talk explores the story of the Ark and its architectural vision of life led in collaboration with nature. While its legacy includes today’s technically focused sustainable architecture, crucial lessons remain to be learned from the eco-social imagination of the Ark experiment.

Steve Mannell is an architect with a fascination for the ways that human societies and settlements interact with their environments. After 20 years of professional practice and teaching in architecture schools, he created the vision for Dalhousie University’s College of Sustainability, where he served as director (2009-20).

About the Orion Fund

Established through the generous gift of an anonymous donor, the Orion Fund in Fine Arts is designed to bring distinguished visitors from other parts of Canada—and the world—to the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Fine Arts, and to make their talents and achievements available to faculty, students, staff and the wider Greater Victoria community who might otherwise not be able to experience their work.

The Orion Fund also exists to encourage institutions outside Canada to invite regular faculty members from our Faculty of Fine Arts to be visiting  artists/scholars at their institutions; and to make it possible for Fine Arts faculty members to travel outside Canada to participate in the academic life of foreign institutions and establish connections and relationships with them in order to encourage and foster future exchanges.

Free and open to the public  |  Seating is limited (500 Zoom connections) |  Visit our online events calendar at www.uvic.ca/events

Annual BFA exhibit returns to in-person format

by | Apr 12, 2022 | Art History & Visual Studies, Faculty, Undergraduate, Visual Arts

Given the shifting nature of life on campus recently, it’s hard to think of a better title for this year’s Visual Arts BFA exhibit than Subject to Change. Featuring the work of 32 graduating artists whose academic experience has been very much that since 2020, there’s definitely a heightened sense of excitement for this year’s show, running April 15 to 24 in the visual arts building.

“This is the first exhibit open to the public since our 2019 edition,” notes Visual Arts chair and exhibit supervisor Cedric Bomford. “It’s fair to say the occasion is one we are anticipating with a strange mix of excitement and anxiety. This feeling also flows through the pieces the students have worked so hard to create over the past year of on-again/off-again access and restrictions.”

The exhibit kicks off with a gala opening night celebration, starting at 7pm Thursday, April 14.

 

Cai Leting’s “Huaniao in Synthetic”

Jude Ackroyd’s “Anatomy”

Poulami Banerjee’s “The Circle”

Fanxuan (Rae) Pang, untitled

Finding the positive in a pandemic

While the Faculty of Fine Arts was able to offer the highest number of in-person/on-campus classes during the pandemic, graduating Visual Arts student Joshua Wallace managed to put a positive spin on his online classes. “I feel like I was able to work more, as I didn’t have to run across campus to other classes,” he says.

Wallace also cleverly put his CERB money to work by investing in supplementary online painting classes, which allowed him to greatly expand his creative practice. “I’d be at home studying like crazy, then come to the studio and apply what I learned. My work changed a lot because of that.”

Originally from Vernon BC, Wallace came into the visual arts program with a focus on figurative and landscape painting in acrylic, but now primarily doing portraiture in oils. He’s also been working as a gallery assistant at downtown’s Madrona Gallery for the past three years; owned by fine arts alumnus Michael Warren, Madrona focuses on contemporary and history Canadian art—an ideal job for an emerging artist. His immediate plans after graduation? “Keep exploring, keep trying new things,” he says.

Visual Arts student Joshua Wallace

Tour the exhibit online

One advantage of having both the 2020 and 2021 BFA shows only viewable online was an increased familiarity with creating digital exhibitions—a skill the BFA show student organizers have once again put to use, as Subject to Change will also be made available again as a walk-through 3D Matterpoint tour.

A diversity of artistic practices—ranging from painting and sculpture to photography, installations and video—will be on view in both the exhibition and accompanying artist book.

“We’re very excited to be hosting the public back into our building for this, the most important art event of the year on campus,” says Bomford.

Subject to Change runs 9am-6pm daily April 15-24 throughout UVic’s Visual Arts building

Joshua Wallace, untitled

Mazi Herico’s “Latex is for the Bedroom”

Xinyang Wen’s “Sunbathing”

Razan Mereeb’s “Salam”

Call for nominations: student community impact award

by | Apr 8, 2022 | Art History & Visual Studies, Award, School of Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, Writing

Are you a current or graduating UVic Fine Arts undergraduate who’s been involved with some community-engaged creative activity in Greater Victoria between Jan 1/21 & May 31/22? If so, you could qualify for $1,000 via our Community Impact Award!

The annual Fine Arts Student Community Impact Award will be awarded in Fall 2022 to undergraduate students who have demonstrated an outstanding effort in a community-engaged creative activity in Greater Victoria. Student recipients are eligible to receive funding of $1,000 or more.

Read about the inaugural 2021 winners here.

2021 winners (from left): Kyla Fradette (Music), Alison Roberts (Theatre) and Dani Neira (AHVS)

Eligibility criteria

Entering, graduating, transferring, or continuing undergraduate students of UVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts are eligible for the award at this time. Activity must have occurred between January 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022.

For the purpose of this award, “community-engaged creative activity” may include (but is not limited to) any exhibit, performance, workshop, literary, curatorial, educational, digital, production and/or administrative role within the regional boundaries of Greater Victoria (Sidney to Sooke).

Submission deadline

A completed submission package—including the submission form and all supporting materials—must be received by 5:00pm Tuesday, May 31, 2022.

Submissions and relevant support material must be uploaded here.

Requirements

The following elements will be required in order to submit your award application.

  1. A description of the community-engaged creative activity (maximum 500 words), including a title page with applicants contact information.
  2. A letter from an individual or organization demonstrating how the student was involved in the community-engaged creative activity (maximum 300 words).
  3. Two letters of endorsement of the project (maximum two pages and from different people than #1. The letters must be written by people who are not related to the nominee).
  4. A resume, CV or portfolio encapsulating the student’s work.

Selection criteria

Nominations will be evaluated on the quality of experience, recognition and dedication to creative practice including contributions to, engagement with, and impact on the local arts community.

  • Nominations can be made by any individual or organization in Greater Victoria.
  • Students can nominate themselves for the award.
  • Neither the nominator nor the letters of endorsement can be from a relative of the nominee.
  • Students are only able to receive the award once, but can submit multiple nominations.
  • All nominations will be screened for basic eligibility. If a nomination is incomplete or deemed ineligible, it will not be advanced to the jury.

Selection process

The Fine Arts Student Community Impact Award recipients will be chosen by a jury representing the five disciplines of Fine Arts convened annually by the Dean of the UVic Faculty of Fine Arts, based on the criteria for the award.

The fine print

Approval of the recipient will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts. The Award will be presented annually as part of the annual Greater Victoria Regional Arts Awards (or another suitable event) as determined by the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts and the Dean’s External Advisory Committee.

Questions?

Contact us at fineartsawards@uvic.ca