Saeed Teebi
Phillipe Pasquier
Rachel Podger
When it comes to ongoing donor impact, it’s hard to imagine anything more lasting than the Orion Fund in Fine Arts. Named for the constellation whose visibility across most of the globe makes it a universal symbol of human connection to the cosmos, the Orion Fund is appropriately used to bring the world to UVic by making the talents and achievements of visiting artists available to both students and Victoria’s wider community, who might otherwise not be able to experience their work.
Originally established with an $80,000 investment from donor Josephine Berthier in 1996, the Orion Fund was then endowed by a further million-dollar bequest when she passed away in 2000. Today, it serves a variety of functions: the Orion Fund can finance short-term visits by distinguished guests from other parts of Canada and around the world, while the Orion Program for Visiting Artists & Scholars in the Arts is used for arranging longer visits, lasting up to a term.
The Orion Fund also makes it possible for Fine Arts faculty members to travel outside Canada to participate in the academic life of foreign institutions, establishing relationships that encourage and foster future exchanges. “I’ve witnessed first‑hand how the Orion Fund enriches not only our faculty and the wider community, but also how time spent on our campus with colleagues and students, meaningfully shapes the visiting artists’ and scholars’ own creative and scholarly work,” says Kirk McNally, Associate Dean Creative Activity, Research and Administration. “The fund allows us to build lasting relationships with a global community of thinkers and makers which is a remarkable gift and an enduring legacy of its generous donor.”
Paul Wong
Meryl McMaster
Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie
Building for the future
We have also recently seen the creation of the Orion Incentivization Program, which annually provides extra Orion funds to our units if they invite scholars/artists who have lived experience regarding disability, racialization, gender and sexuality, and/or can help us to advance our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion action. “It has been incredibly valuable for our students to interact and learn from visiting artists and scholars from a wide range of demographics and lived experiences,” notes Dean Allana Lindgren.
Thanks to the Orion Fund, this past year saw over 15 international artists and scholars visit our classrooms and studios, including poets and authors Karen Solie, Saeed Teebi, Doretta Suk-Chong Lau and Kaie Kellough; AI scholars Phillipe Pasquier and Mike Ananny; conservator Helene Tello; musician Rachel Podger; Theatre artists Will Kilroy and Christie Maturo; and visual artists Allison Glenn, Meryl McMaster, Kristiina Lahde, Paul Wong, Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie and Lan Yee.
And, over the past five years, we’ve brought in more than 70 guests solely as a result of the Orion Fund: that’s a remarkable return of creative expertise and international experience resulting from a direct investment by a donor in student support. Considering that most of today’s students had yet to be born when Josephine Bertheir made her initial donation in 1996, it really speaks to the lasting, long-term impact of her gift.