Orion Lectures: “Thriving in the Arts” & “Connecting Audiences”

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:

“Thriving in the Arts” & “Connecting Audiences” 


Sara Topham & Pablo Felices-Luna,
Visiting Theatre alumni artists

12:30-1:45 pm Wednesday , February 5

Theatre for Young Audiences playreading 

12:30- 1:45pm Friday, February 7
Both in Chief Dan George Theatre, UVic’s Phoenix building

Free & open to all 

Presented by UVic’s Theatre Department.

For more information, please email theatre@uvic.ca

Through the generous support of the Orion Fund in Fine Arts, UVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts is pleased to present Sara Topham & Pablo Felices-Luna, Visiting Theatre Artists. All are welcome to attend this free event.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Sara Topham, a graduate of UVic’s Theatre Program, has performed on some of the world’s most prestigious stages, including Broadway, where she starred in revivals of The Importance of Being Earnest and Travesties and originated the role of Sally in Leopoldstadt. With 15 seasons at the Stratford Festival, plus work with the Shaw Festival, her roles have ranged from Shakespearean heroines like Juliet (Romeo and Juliet) and Rosalind (As You Like It) to dramatic leads like Hedda Gabler. Sara has performed internationally, from London to Washington, D.C., and San Diego, while contributing as a teacher and collaborator at theatres across North America. Sara works frequently with Manitoba Theatre for Young People as a co-director and choreographer.

 

Pablo Felices-Luna, a fellow UVic Theatre Program graduate and Artistic Director of Manitoba Theatre for Young People, has dedicated 25 years to Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA). Born in Peru and arriving in Canada more than 30 years ago, Pablo’s career has championed the artistic value of TYA, directing 15 productions and premiering seven new plays during his eight years as Artistic Director of Carousel Players. At MTYP, he continues to inspire with new works and international collaborations. Pablo is a passionate advocate for integrating TYA into professional artist training, drawing on his extensive experience to redefine the relationship between theatre and young audiences.

Free and open to the public | Find more at www.events.uvic.ca

For more information on this lecture, please email theatre@uvic.ca

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.

Visit our online events calendar at www.events.uvic.ca

Visiting Artist: Jennifer Stillwell

Our ongoing Visiting Artist series continues with UVic Visual Arts professor Jennifer Stillwell, who will present a free illustrated public talk at 7:30pm Wed, Jan 22, in room A162 of UVic’s Visual Arts.

Jennifer Stillwell primarily works with sculpture and installation, and her recent work is site-responsive: found objects and manufactured materials are physically transformed in order to provoke imaginary possibilities — scale shifts, spaces collapse and meanings slip. She is currently completing a new body of work with the industrial activities around her studio space serving as the catalyst.

Stillwell received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from the University of Manitoba. Her work has been exhibited widely including large-scale installations at the Darling Foundry in Montreal and Triple Candie in New York. Other solo exhibitions include YYZ Artists’ Outlet in Toronto and a survey show at Plug In ICA in Winnipeg. She has attended residencies in Banff, Toronto, Rotterdam, Quebec, Montreal and Naples, and her work has been part of group exhibitions and video art screenings across the country and internationally. She has a permanent public sculpture installed in Winnipeg, within Treaty No. 1 Territory, over the left field wall of the city’s baseball park. 

Her talk is part of the continuing Visiting Artist Series in UVic’s Department of Visual Arts. 

Sounds for Soldiers: Emily Armour’s Music for Veterans Project connects young musicians with military vets

Music alum Emily Armour with Pipe Major Roger McGuire of the Canadian Scottish Regiment
(Princess Mary’s) at 2024’s 80th anniversary of D-Day event at Victoria’s Bay Street Armoury 

When it comes to honouring veterans, many people wear a poppy on November 11 and then literally call it a day. Emily Armour created the Music for Veterans Project as a cross-generational way to honour soldiers year-round. Armour’s program involves sharing profiles of a member of the Canadian military with a young musician. The youth then creates an original musical composition to honour that person.

“It’s wonderful that we all unite and honour veterans in November, but it’s important to have other moments throughout the year to make them feel special as well,” Armour says.

Now in its fourth year, the Music for Veterans Project (MVP) provides meaningful connections between Armour’s students and Canadian veterans. Over 100 pieces have been written by students ranging in age from 18 to just five years old. These works honour both deceased and living veterans, including those who still are on active duty or have served as reservists.

“What makes this project unique is that every piece is inspired by and dedicated to an individual person,” she says.

Honouring the past

The program started as a Remembrance Day event but has since grown in scope. “There are a lot of activities out there for youth around Remembrance Day, but there isn’t always an opportunity to do something focused on an individual,” says Armour. “Like many of us, some of my students may have had relatives who served, but do they know a veteran who’s alive? Have they ever spoken to one? Have they ever heard a veteran talk about anything — even just about themselves? Through this project, the students are suddenly realizing just how different veterans are.”

Armour is a professional piano teacher who received both her Bachelor’s (2012) and Master’s (2017) from UVic’s School of Music, where she primarily studied with famed professor Bruce Vogt. Her family’s strong ties to the Canadian Armed Forces inspired the project.

“Not only was my husband in the military, but my grandmother served overseas during World War II: she was a physiotherapist in England and Germany between 1944 and 1945. I’ve seen how important and valuable it is for veterans and people in the Canadian Forces to have these moments of acknowledgment and positive recognition— but it’s just so amazing when it’s coming from youth.”

Composing from memory

Averaging between one and four minutes in length, each simple but evocative composition is inspired by an information package compiled by Armour. Veterans are chosen through a mix of word-of-mouth and organizational outreach. The creative lens is strictly focused on the soldier as a person: no additional historical information is added to the profile the student receives.

“There’s a lot of love, thought and care that goes into the process,” she says. “It’s emotional for everybody, because it’s so personal: even the titles of some compositions are drawn right from the material. It’s a very personal acknowledgment, as opposed to giving a drawing of a poppy to a veteran . . . which may be fantastic, but it lacks the personal acknowledgment music has.”

The compositions are always instrumentals with the idea of allowing the listener to conjure their own thoughts and feelings from the piece. She feels the greatest value is not actually the music itself: it’s why the music is written.

“As artists, it’s always kind of about us—what can this do for me and my career and my voice—but this is decidedly not about them; it’s for the person who gave their life in France during WWII, or whenever. It taps into something deeper because they’re doing it for somebody else.”

Emily Armour presents Commanding Officer Lt Col Slade Lerch with one of two plaques crafted on oak by a local veteran to commemorate the eight-piece collection created for the anniversary of D-Day

Memory beyond life

The age range of the veterans honoured reflects Canada’s involvement with international conflicts, from World War I to today’s peacekeepers. The program has honoured two living centenarians and a 35-year-old Afghanistan veteran—with a century’s worth of soldiers in-between.

Armour says it’s been a positive experience for her students. They receive a certificate signed by the veteran or partner organization and often get to professionally record the music. The veterans receive a copy of the music.

Many pieces are quietly reflective, with titles like “Beyond the Fray”, “Remembering a Hero” or “The Sacrifice for Freedom” (all of which can be heard at musicforveteransproject.com, many paired with a photo of the veteran). But Armour highlights one light-hearted piece called “Ballad for Seanmhair” (Gaelic for “grandmother”), which was composed for the 2024 80th anniversary of D-Day.

“The title seems very strange for a commemorative piece about a soldier, but his next-of-kin was his grandmother: that was the person who would have been informed of his death. I was so proud of my student for thinking about the impact of their service. It shows how this project can help heal and unite people from such different worlds, both historically and emotionally.”

Looking to the future, Armour has now established MVP as a federal not-for-profit and is opening participation to other piano teachers; they’ve also started working on projects that are both larger and more national in scope.

“Last year we did an event at the Royal Oak Burial Park in Saanich: it was our first public event and we had a ceremony at the war graves plot featuring a procession with Vice Regal Piper Ken Wilson, a group of active Air Force members and WWII pilot George Brewster as a guest speaker,” she recalls. “My students announced the names of the veterans and the title of their pieces; then, as we played professional recordings of the music, they lay the sheet music on the graves.”

Armour and four of her students were also thrilled to attend a 2023 event at the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, where audience included Indigenous elders, ambassadors and other dignitaries. “That was a life-altering experience,” she says about watching her student play pieces honouring three Indigenous veterans, as well as former Senator Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire.“

Music students Kai, Keira, Luke, Maya, Théo & teacher Emily Armour with
former Chief of the Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre during a trip to Ottawa 2023

Growing commemoration

Currently, the Music for Veterans Project is involved in two new efforts: the Honouring Garden, created in collaboration with Nova Scotia’s Veteran Farm Project Society to commemorate women veterans, and Oaks of Remembrance, a unique living memorial marking the 110th anniversary of World War I’s Battle of Kitcheners’ Wood.

Part digital and part environmental, Oaks of Remembrance will see new Garry oak trees planted at Saanich’s Royal Oak Burial Park, where current trees will also be designated as memorials for individual veterans; the public will then be able to go online to hear the musical compositions and learn about both the veteran and the student.

“Oaks of Remembrance will commemorate members of the Canadian Scottish Regiment, Vancouver Island’s only infantry unit, who wear an oak leaf battle honour on their uniform representing this 1915 battle in Belgium — they’re one of the few units in the whole Commonwealth who actually wear a battle honour on their uniform,” Armour explains. “And since Royal Oak Burial Park already has a connection with the Commonwealth War Grave Commission, it’s going to be a beautiful fusion of nature and music that will stand forever as a fully embodied remembrance.”

The sound of history

 When asked if she has a favourite moment over the last four years, Armour hesitates. “I don’t know if there could be just one, there have been so many: seeing tears in the eyes of a veteran as they listen to the music, talking to a family member about somebody who recently passed away . . . it all reminds me of how important this project is.”

As a veteran told Armour after hearing the piece composed for him, “You and your students have no idea how much this piece of music means to me, and I will use this gift to get me through some of the tougher days ahead.”

Visiting Artist: Marlene Yuen

Our ongoing Visiting Artist series continues with Vancouver-based artist Marlene Yuen, who will present a free illustrated public talk at 7:30pm Wed, Jan 15, in room A162 of UVic’s Visual Arts building.

Marlene Yuen is a Vancouver-based multidisciplinary artist whose current focus is on illustrations, prints, comics, zines and handmade books. Her books & zines have been retained in special collections archives nationally and internationally. She has also created artworks about Vancouver’s historic Chinatown and Chinese Canadian workers for museums, galleries and public art programs.

Her mural, “The Journeys Here” will be part of the travelling exhibition Odysseys & Migration at the Royal BC Museum in April 2025. She is currently working on a comic publication Hak Chu Pak for the Burnaby Art Gallery. 

Top 10 Fine Arts stories of 2024

There’s no better time than the start of a new year for a moment of reflection on the previous year’s accomplishments. With that in mind, we’re happy to present the Fine Arts Top 10 of 2024: an inspiring series of story highlights about our students, faculty and alumni!   

Attendance at Fine Arts events cracks 20,000

It was a banner year for public participation in the Faculty of Fine Arts, with more than 20,000 people attending over 300 scheduled events. Thanks to our wide variety of cultural and scholarly offerings — including concerts, plays, recitals, exhibits, readings, poster fairs, film screenings, visiting artist talks and other special events — Fine Arts remains UVic’s largest and most consistent academic unit for public engagement.

Fine Arts is also an essential and vital cultural partner on campus and in the community, with a direct and lasting impact on the region’s quality of life. Victoria’s arts and culture sector employs over 10,000 people across the CRD and generates about $800 million GDP activity annually (2021 CRD study) — a core part of the $1.8 billion in added income UVic contributes to Greater Victoria.

The annual Visual Arts BFA show attracted over 1,000 people

A busy year for the Climate Disaster Project 

It was an incredible year for the Climate Disaster Project (CDP). Based out of our Writing department and led by Sean Holman, the Wayne Crookes Professor of Environmental and Climate Journalism, the CDP not only mounted September’s world premiere of Eyes of the Beast:Climate Disaster Survivor Stories — the first full-length documentary theatre production based upon on-the-ground climate disaster reporting — but also collaborated with UK media outlet The Guardian in November to publish a series of COP29. And in April, the CDP was named the winner of a Special Recognition Citation for exceptional journalism that doesn’t fit traditional categories at the National Newspaper Awards — Canada’s top journalism awards — and was also nominated for awards with the Canadian Association of Journalists and the Canadian Journalism Foundation. The CDP also started a new partnership with Brazil’s newspaper and presented a two-day workshop as part of the Legacy Gallery’s summer exhibit, Fire Season, on top of its regular work collecting and sharing climate-survivor testimonies by students and instructors in 13 post-secondary institutions worldwide.  

“We are entering a new era of disaster, where our seasons will become increasingly defined by the traumatic events they bring, and we need to learn how journalism can help us survive those traumas together,” says Holman, who founded the CDP in 2021. “We are so honoured the National Newspaper Awards have recognized our efforts to empower disaster-affected communities inside and outside Canada.” 

Holman at the NNAs

Student Community Impact Awards tops $13,000

The annual Fine Arts Student Community Impact Awards recognize individual achievements or outstanding efforts made by full-time Fine Arts undergraduate students beyond their traditional studies — and 2024 saw us surpass $13,000 presented to 11 students since 2021. These juried, donor-funded awards were once again presented at the Greater Victoria Regional Arts Awards in November.

This year’s recipients included Rebecca Fux (Visual Arts), Thomas Moore (Theatre) and Claire Jorgensen (Visual Arts), each of whom receives $1,000 for their individual projects. Rebecca received the award for her work mounting two exhibits of new paintings at separate local artist-run centres during her final year of studies: You Can Cry In Front of Me at Xchanges Gallery, addressing aspects of grieving and healing for young women after sexual assault, and The Weather Inside at the Fifty-Fifty Arts Collective. Thomas was recognized for his work directing and producing three shows with Timetheft Theatre Society — Of Theseus at the Victoria One Act Play Festival, the independently produced Horse Girl, and Carpet at the 2023 Fringe Festival — all of which provided opportunities for young queer and neurodivergent artists. And Claire received her award for winning a competitive commission to create a new large-scale mural embodying themes of diversity, community and wellness for UVic’s Island Medical Program — titled “A Dream of Vitality” — which she then painted live over the course of a month in the lobby of the Medical Sciences building. 

Jorgensen working on her mural

Kathryn Mockler wins Victoria Book Prize

Ww were thrilled in October when Writing professor Kathryn Mockler was named the winner of the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize for her new story collection Anecdote. Originally announced as a finalist alongside recently retired Writing professor Tim Lilburn (Numinous Seditions: Interiority and Climate Change) plus Writing alumni Ali Blythe (Stedfast) and Arleen Paré (Absence of Wings), as well as local poet Shō Yamagushiku (Shima), the prize came the same month as she was revealed to be one of three jurors for the 2024 Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry.

In her acceptance speech, Mockler noted that she was “humbled to be in the company of these finalists and their beautiful books” and then went on to donate the $5,000 prize to three local charities. “No matter how solitary the act of writing can feel, a writer is always addressing a collective, shared world — describing, analyzing, critiquing, redefining and expanding it,” she noted in her acceptance speech. “Writers cannot ignore the world that shapes their words nor the world that receives them.” 

Carey Newman named Royal Society Fellow

In September, artist and scholar Hayalthkin’geme Carey Newman was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. UVic’s Impact Chair in Indigenous Art Practices and a professor with both our departments of Visual Arts and Art History & Visual Studies, Newman has a regional, national and international impact by combining art and Kwakwaka’wakw knowledges to address Indigenous and environmental injustice. His projects — like The Witness Blanket and Seedling — transform conversations around reconciliation and decolonization across social, institutional and political paradigms, driving innovation and collaboration that challenge status quo approaches to research in the arts, climate, leadership, transsystemic law, collections management, conservation, technology and more. 

“Transformative change involves reaching hearts and minds. So, when I make artwork about specific issues, rather than telling people what to think or how to feel, I want them to engage with it on their own terms and take ownership of their thoughts and realizations,” explains Newman. “When something becomes personal it becomes important, and once it is important we are more willing to change our ways. Art has this power.”

So many guests! 

We had an incredible lineup of over guest artists this year who took time to share their knowledge and experience with our students and the community through masterclasses and public talks. Our popular Orion Series welcomed award-winning filmmaker Atom Egoyan, Grammy-winning soprano Barbara Hannigan and pianist Bertrand Chamayou, authors Carleigh Baker and Zehra Naqvi, artist Crystal Mowry, scholar Anna Dymond, art historian Alice Ming Wai Jim, screenwriter Michael MacLennan, theatre artists Randi Edmundson and Shizuka Kai, documentarian Ali Kazimi plus musicians Sandeep Bhagwati, Jude Brereton, Corey Hamm, Faustino Diaz, Jonathon Adams, Chloe Kim and Tom Foster. 

Our busy Visiting Artist series welcomed the likes of Jessica Stockholder, Kemi Craig, Justin Seiji Waddell, Debra Yepa-Pappan, Gootlh Ts’milix Mike Dangeli & Sm Łoodm Nüüs Mique’l Dangeli, Sonja Ahlers, Wayne Baerwaldt, Skawennati, Tina Rivers Ryan, Robert Burke and Julia Eden Hardenberg. Acclaimed author John Vaillant was our 2024 Southam Lecturer in Writing, while Gord Hill was this year’s Lehan Lecturer in Arts & Activism, and Joseph Kakwinokansum and Jónína Kirton were the guests for 2024’s sxʷiʔe ̕m “To Tell A Story” Indigenous Writers & Storytellers Series.

Various other guests included renowned pianist Minsoo Sohn (courtesy of the Martha Cooke Fund) while the Belfry Series saw Christine Quintana and Tobin Stokes speak to Theatre students.  

Award-winning filmmaker Atom Egoyan

This year’s Indigenous Writers series

Honorary Doctorates

Fine Arts was thrilled to see two Honorary Doctorates presented at UVic’s Fall Convocation ceremonies in November: En’owkin Centre co-founder Jeannette Armstrong (above left) was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) while Puente Theatre founder Lina de Guevara received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts (DFA). As an influential advocate for Indigenous peoples’ rights, Armstrong has been a force of change and wide-scale community impact through her artistic, research and educational vision; as a writer, director, educator and actor, de Guevara has left an enduring legacy on our national theatre landscape through her active support of immigrant and refugee communities.

Armstrong (left) & de Guevara 

New faculty members

Even in times of fiscal restraint, it’s important to keep our faculty cutting-edge, so we were excited to welcome a new group of professors this year. Critically acclaimed Canadian opera singer, national CBC Radio Saturday Afternoon at the Opera host and School of Music Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Marion Newman returned to campus this year as an assistant professor in Music; Vancouver author and poet Wayde Compton joined the Writing department as an associate professor; Ts’msyen Nation dancer, choreographer, Sm’algya̱x language learner/teacher and curator Sm Łoodm ‘Nüüsm Mique’l Dangeli is now an assistant professor of Indigenous Arts with our Department of Art History & Visual Studies; and assistant research professor in composition and music technology Lauren McCall is our newest hire, starting in January 2025 at our School of Music.  

Marion Newman

Alumni achievements

Back in March, UVic announced the recipients of the 2024 Distinguished Alumni Awards and Fine Arts was once again proud to see three of our outstanding graduates included among the 18 recipients being recognized across the three categories: Presidents’ Alumni Award recipient Carrie Tennant (Music), Emerging Alumni Award recipient Dennis Gupa (Theatre) and Indigenous Community Alumni Award recipient Ivy Martin (AHVS/CRM). “This diverse group of graduates contribute their skills, passions and leadership to many different fields, including the arts, education, law, science, engineering and business,” says UVic President Kevin Hall. “Advocacy, community building and climate action are common threads woven through their work. In that sense, they shine a light on the values and priorities that define and unite us at UVic.” Read about their individual accomplishments on the alumni awards webpage

In other outstanding alumni news, viral internet comedy sensation Laura Ramoso (Theatre) mounted a global tour which included appearances at LA’s Netflix is a Joke festival, an appearance on CBC Radio’s Q and a sold-out performance at Victoria’s 1,400-seat Royal Theatre; 2024 graduate Sie Douglas-Fish (Visual Arts) made news by getting hired straight out of the program by Montreal-based Acrylic Robotics and saw their art featured on CBC TV’s national Dragon’s Den show; actor and playwright Medina Hahn (Theatre) filmed a movie version and recorded an interactive audio book of her Governor General’s Award shortlisted play Inheritance: A Pick-the-Path Experience; poet Cara-Lyn Morgan (Writing) published her latest collection Building a Nest from the Bones of My People, which explores her Indigenous (Métis) and immigrant (Trinidadian) roots; and CBC “30 Under 30” award-winning violinist Chloe Kim (School of Music) returned to campus as an Orion Lecturer.     

Martin (left), Tennant & Gupa

Fantastic philanthropy

We’ve saved the best news for last: despite being hit with the same budget cuts that have impacted UVic as a whole, we are thrilled to announced that we have raised over $4.8 million for the Faculty of Fine Arts this year—exceeding our 24/25 academic goal by nearly $1 million  . . . and with three months left in the fiscal year! Congratulations go out to hard-working Fine Arts Development Officer Samantha Krzywonos for her dedication and passion in working with our donors to ensure that our students have the best possible experience during their studies here.

The arts have always been and continue to be intimately linked to philanthropy—think of folks like Peggy Guggenheim, Alice Massey or Gertrude Vanderbilt—so it’s no exaggeration to say that we couldn’t do this without our generous donors. Whether it’s individual donations that fund projects like the Bruce More Chamber Singers Legacy Fund, the Student Community Impact Awards or the sxʷiʔe ̕m “To Tell A Story” Indigenous Writers & Storytellers Series, family memorials that create opportunities like the Lehan Family Activism & the Arts Lecture Series, or estate gifts that create exciting inititatives like the Martha Cooke Fund, our donors are an integral part of the Fine Arts  experience.

Finally, we would be remiss to not acknowledge the more generous philanthropic donations that have led to named professorships like the Jeffrey Rubinoff Nexus for Art as a Source of Knowledge fund, the Wayne Crookes Professorship in Environmental and Climate Journalism, the Audain Professorship in Contemporary Art Practice of the Pacific Northwest, the Harvey Stevenson Southam Lecture Fund in Journalism & Non-Fiction and the Williams Legacy Chair in Modern & Contemporary Arts of the Pacific Northwest. These foundational gifts create positions for key faculty members to share their specific knowledge and experience with our students, the community and the world.

Thank you all!

Fine Arts development officer Samantha Krzywonos