Across Lands & Waters CERC gathering

by | Apr 29, 2025 | Alumni, Art History & Visual Studies, climate, Events, Faculty, indigenous, Undergraduate, Visual Arts

The Qiaqsutuq installation will be on view at Across Lands and Waters

Victoria may not immediately come to mind as the obvious location for an international gathering of 60 circumpolar and Pacific artists and curators, but that’s one of the advantages that comes with Dr Heather Igloliorte now calling UVic home.

As the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Decolonial & Transformational Indigenous Art Practices, Igloliorte has held this prestigious eight-year, $8-million position in UVic’s Department of Visual Arts since November 2023 — and, out of 45 current CERC chair holders, remains the only artist/curator in a field dominated by hard sciences.

Running April 29-May 1, Across Lands and Waters will be the first major gathering of Igloliorte’s CERC network of mostly Indigenous artists, scholars, museum/gallery directors, curators, students and community members. Over three days, participants will gather for lively discussions, gallery visits, land-based activities and performances, sharing current research and projects while making plans for future collaborations. They’ll also engage with the public via Igloliorte’s new Taqsiqtuut Research-Creation Lab.

Noting that her attendees are coming from nearly every time zone in the world, Igloliorte feels Across Lands and Waters offers an unprecedented opportunity to connect in-person. Representing a wide variety of nations and cultures — including Inuk, Kanaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian), Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw, Sami, Sāmoan/Persian/Cantonese, Sugpiaq, Ts’msyen and Zuni Pueblo — participants will be coming from as far afield as Norway, Greenland, Rankin Inlet, New Mexico and Honolulu.

“Victoria is nestled at the center of both the Pacific and the North, from the west coast of North America on up to Alaska, then across the Arctic and around the circumpolar world, but also over to Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and Samoa,” says Igloliorte. “I have a large network of colleagues and artists I’ve been working with for a long time — partners who are working and thinking across Indigenous cultures and learning from each other in order to move towards this place of transformation and decolonization.”

While attending, Across Lands and Waters invited guests will engage in Pecha Kucha-style research presentations; an “On The Land” session focusing on the removal of invasive species and replanting of native plants; a site visit to the studio of UVic Impact Chair Carey Newman; a visit to Island Timber salvage operation, which provides timber to Indigenous artists; a tour of new Legacy Gallery exhibit, GEORGE CLUTESI: ḥašaḥʔap / ʔaapḥii / ʕc̓ik  / ḥaaʔaksuqƛ / ʔiiḥmisʔap; plus performances and storytelling by Indigenous artists, with an opening from Chief David Knox at Mungo Martin House.

Public participation

Across Lands and Waters culminates in a free public event on Thursday, May 1, featuring panel sessions from 1-5pm (Phillip T Young Recital Hall, MacLaurin B-Wing) and a reception with art installations and interactive projects from 5-7pm (Visual Arts building). During this time, the public is invited to:

  • engage with Carey Newman’s new Witness Blanket VR project
  • explore Qiaqsutuq, a multimedia sculptural installation which offers an Inuit perspective on climate change, as told Greek Chorus-style from the perspectives of five gigantic Arctic animals or beings
  • watch 3D Sami films via VR headsets
  • participate in a group stop-motion short film project
  • hear panels on “Sovereignty & the Arts”, “Institutional Practices”, “Resistance & Transformation” and “These Lands & Waters” (see UVic Calendar link for details)
  • view the exhibition Continuum, showcasing work by past, present and future Indigenous students from UVic’s Visual Arts program (co-curated by Alexandra Nordstrom and Jasmine Sihra, Concordia University PhD students)
  • enjoy a reception with live music and light refreshments.

Carey Newman’s Witness Blanket VR 

About Heather Igloliorte

Canada’s first Inuk art historian to hold a doctoral degree, Igloliorte has developed a well-deserved reputation as an internationally renowned curator whose work has positioned circumpolar Indigenous arts and knowledge at the centre of global exhibition practices. In addition to her teaching duties, her other current projects include curating Newfoundland’s international Bonavista Biennale (August-Sept) and being on the jury for both the upcoming Salt Spring National Art Prize (Sept-Oct) and Yukon Art Prize (Oct).

As UVic’s only CERC, Igloliorte is focused on advancing reconciliation through the transformative power of art and innovative exhibition practices. “Indigenous people don’t necessarily have access to the same cutting-edge technologies that others do, just like they lack access to museums and galleries in the North,” she says. She is supporting a new generation of students, researchers, educators, curators and artists to drive change through artistic practice.

As such, her Taqsiqtuut Research Creation lab is focused on not only sharing practical digital skills but also the creation of exhibitions, the training and mentoring of students and youth, and the development of new policies and best practices for institutions that engage with Indigenous art and artists.

Heather Igloliorte

Distinguished Alumni Awards: Tania Willard

by | Mar 31, 2025 | Alumni, Award, donor, Graduate, indigenous, News, Visual Arts

We congratulate 2025 Presidents’ Alumni Award recipient Tania Willard, a mixed Secwépemc and settler artist whose research intersects with land-based art practices. A graduate of the Department of Visual Arts (BFA, 1998), the work of Kamloops-born Willard activates connection to land, culture and family, centring art as an Indigenous resurgent act, though collaborative projects such as BUSH Gallery and support of language revitalization in Secwépemc communities. 

“I learned a lot about myself in [UVic’s] art program,” she says. “Four years is enough time to decide whether you are dedicated to art or you aren’t. I made it through that program, and knew it was still something I was passionate about. I also knew I wanted it to serve not only art for art’s sake but to widen it out to think about social engagement, think about activism, think about community—and that was through my Indigenous heritage as a Secwépemc person. In those days, there was a lot of activity on campus in music and art, in activism and in Indigenous rights, and I found my voice through those spaces.”

Currently based on the Neskonlith Indian Reserve, Willard’s artistic and curatorial work includes Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture at the Vancouver Art Gallery (2012-2014) and Exposure: Native Art and Political Ecology at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe (ongoing). Her work is included in the collections of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Forge Project NY, Kamloops Art Gallery, Belkin gallery and the Anchorage Museum, among others.

Her suggestion for current students and emerging artists? “Seek out Indigenous professors and students to support you,” she says. “I took Christine Welsh’s class—she was a Métis professor in Women’s Studies—and that was the first time in my life I had had an Indigenous teacher and that was a significant moment for me. And now it’s not as uncommon to have that experience. We have Indigenous faculty, I am Indigenous faculty, but at the time in my high school, my career and everything, I had never had that opportunity and that was important. I would encourage all students to seek out belonging and community and connection.”

An acclaimed career

In 2016, Willard received the Hnatyshyn Foundation’s Award for Curatorial Excellence in Contemporary Art. In 2020, the Shadbolt Foundation awarded her their VIVA Award for outstanding achievement and commitment in her art practice, and in 2022 she was named a Forge Project Fellow for her land-based, community-engaged artistic practice. In 2023 BUSH Gallery was named as a Future Studies recipient from Ruth Foundation for the Arts. Willard is a 2024 fellow with the Doris and Jack Shadbolt fellowship at Simon Fraser University. She is also an assistant professor in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC Okanagan in syilx territories. 

“Art can reach people in a way that’s different—it speaks a language that tries to connect with us in our hearts,” she says. “That’s been important for me. I don’t think it’s the only effective means. I think it can work alongside many other methods and practices, but for me it’s been the way that I can commit to because it nourishes, it communicates and it’s relational and it can deal with difficult subjects… [Art] helps me vision different outcomes. It’s a universal problem-solving technique. People use it in the sciences, in the humanities. We need that creativity no matter who we are to help us solve problems and nourish ourselves and grow.”

Speed round!

What I’d do with an extra hour of free time: 

“I would continue to work on basketry, which is also something I do that is relaxing and balances everything out.”

One food I can’t resist: 

“Smoked salmon.”

My go-to karaoke song: 

“I don’t do karaoke very often. However, I recently did karaoke for my friend Peter Morin’s art project, Love Songs to End Colonization. And I did a version of the Violent Femmes’ ‘Blister in the Sun.’ In the past I’ve also done the Clash’s ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’.”

My secret talent: 

“I won some dance contests when I was much younger.”

Skill I wish I possessed: 

“I wish I could do more construction, build more things… like lovely library-style bookshelves.”

Something great I’ve read recently: 

Let’s Become Fungal!: Mycelium Teachings and the Arts: Based on Conversations with Indigenous Wisdom Keepers, Artists, Curators, Feminists and Mycologists.

One cool thing about where I live: 

“I live on reserve, and I live near the forest edge. I love how the forest takes care of everything. Life, death, food, ecology. I have great respect and continue to learn every day of my life from how the forest takes care of things in a way that contrasts the ways we have to have systems for food, for garbage, for waste, and we build up these separate systems to take care of all that. But the forest innately does that.”

Read more about UVic’s 2025 Alumni Awards here

Distinguished Alumni Award winner: Chari Arespacochaga

by | Mar 27, 2025 | Alumni, Award, donor, Graduate, News, Theatre

Chari Arespacochaga is an acclaimed theatre director and educator at the College of Fine Arts at Florida State University (FSU) where she is the Director of the MFA Directing Program. Her theatrical direction credits include Rent, Kinky Boots (Short North Stage), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (University of California), Amadeus and Stupid Kids (Phoenix Theatre, Victoria), 9 Minutes (for PopUP Theatrics NYC), Rock of Ages, The Full Monty, Disney’s Tarzan, Spring Awakening, Legally Blonde, Altar Boyz and Into the Woods, among others. At FSU, she initiated and designed Performing Climate Change, a course that provides students from different colleges and departments critical and creative ways of approaching the climate crises; and recently directed an acclaimed production of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.

The recipient of a 2025 Emerging Alumni Award, Chari graduated with an MFA from the Department of Theatre (2015), and her scholarship, artistic work and teaching is centred on theatre as necessary cultural work for social transformation and providing her audience and students new ways of engaging with theatre through the lens and lived experiences of an immigrant BIPOC artist-scholar. 

“My experiences at UVic solidified for me how making theatre coincides with making community,” she says. “It made me realize in concrete, palpable ways how we cultivate our life gets reflected in the work that I do as a theatre director and affects how I set up workplaces for people in making theatre. It also made me think about new ways we need to be creating stories and who else should we be inviting to the table to tell those stories.”

Born in the Philippines (Manila) but currently based in Tallahassee, Florida, Chari is in the process of adapting a series of stories about a culturally diverse group of princesses/superheroines called the Guardian Princesses into musicals for young audiences as part of her commitment to developing new works. Other developmental collaborations include a new musical called Missing and a feminist retelling of Macbeth entitled Em.

A scene from Amadeus, which Chari directed at UVic’s Phoenix Theatre in 2015

Unlearning process

Early influences include Sesame Street, Electric Company, movie musicals and Saturday morning cartoons. “I remember clearly those vignettes in Electric Company where Rita Moreno was running a film set and everything would be falling apart,” she recalls. “She was shooting something about a pirate on a ship and the mast would fall on them. And I thought that was great. Maybe, even then, I could recognize that’s probably stress I can deal with and thrive on.”

One of the key things she’s learned, however, is the ability to unlearn that there’s only one way of doing something. “That there’s only one way to rehearse, that there’s only one way to tell a story . . . I try to unlearn whatever I thought were those absolutes all the time. Some are easier to unlearn than others.”

“You’re teaching in a classroom, and you can prep and prep and you should have a plan, but it’s not about you. It needs to become about the students. I am running a rehearsal, but it’s not about me, it’s about the show. It’s about making the actors feel their best possible selves. It’s about making my creative collaborators, whether they’re designers or stage managers, feel like they have ownership of the show and the story that we’re telling.”

Power of story

Chari has long believed in the power of story to affect an audience. “I was always emotionally available to believing a story and letting it move me,” she says. “I remember crying the first time I watched Dumbo as a toddler. There was always a connection to how stories can move you and make you think about things… Story is a good way to change people’s minds. Even if you don’t change their mind in a moment, there’s enough power in the seed that it might plant so if even three or four people can ask a new question of themselves about how we deal with the world or how we live, I think that’s worth the telling of the story.”

Speed round!

Something that brings me joy: 

“A really good rehearsal. A moment when you recognize, ‘Oh, my students have grown up.’”

One food I can’t resist: 

“Some days it would be Japanese food, some days it would be something Spanish like Jamón or cheese. It’s very hard to resist cheese.”

A sport that I follow: 

“Does shopping count as a sport? Most recently, I was following women’s soccer because the MFA directing candidate I am mentoring was directing The Wolves, and that’s about a young female soccer team, so we were watching a lot of women’s soccer.”

My go-to karaoke song: 

“I’m Filipino and my absolute act of resistance is to not believe in karaoke. When we’re at a karaoke joint, I just say ‘It’s my day off, sorry.’”

Something great that I’ve watched or read recently: 

“I thought Wicked was pretty great. I am right now reading a lot about Sweeney Todd, which I think is a fantastic script and all the research accompanying it.”

Favourite place to travel: 

“New York City always feels like home to me. London is becoming a nice second home, and I have to say wherever the next show takes me becomes a favourite place to travel.”

 Read more about UVic’s 2025 Alumni Awards here

 

Distinguished Alumni Award: Crystal Clark

by | Mar 24, 2025 | Alumni, Award, donor, News, Visual Arts

Indigenous Community Alumni Award recipient Crystal Clark is a Cree/Dene and Métis mother, an artist and an Indigenous education specialist who has worked within First Nations and public schools. She holds a Master of Educational Technology, Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Fine Arts, New Media Diploma and a Native Creative Writing and Visual Arts Diploma. Her teaching experience includes working with the Tsimshian Nation in Lax Kw’alaams, BC, O’Chiese First Nation and Sunchild First Nation, AB. 

“I had a unique experience with the University of Victoria back in the 1990s,” she recalls of her time in the Department of Visual Arts, where she received her BFA in 2002. “UVic has a relationship with Penticton First Nations’ En’owkin Centre, founded by [Fine Arts alumna] Jeannette Armstrong… It allowed me a creative way to enter the field of post-secondary, but in a kind way for an Indigenous person to connect with other Indigenous scholars and artists… Fine Arts became a tool to express who I am and how I was feeling in relation to my identity as an Indigenous person trying to navigate society.”

Along with teaching, Clark has gained experience as a vice principal and First Nations Student Success Program coordinator as well as an Indigenous Education Consultant with the Alberta Teachers Association, College of Alberta School Superintendents, Canada Sports Hall of Fame: Indigenous Sports Heroes, National Film Board of Canada and Pearson Education. 

She has received a Prime Minister’s Teaching Achievement Award, Esquao Award for Education Service with the Institute for Advancement of Aboriginal Women and is a two-time Peace Hills Trust Art Award Recipient. Her public has been displayed in downtown Vancouver, Red Deer, Edmonton and Calgary. Her most recent work can be seen at Red Deer Polytechnic’s Indigenous Student Centre.

A bigger world

Born in Treaty 8 Territory in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Clark is currently living in Treaty 6 Territory in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. 

“It was particularly challenging, the high schools that I went to, moving a lot and not feeling a sense of belonging as an Indigenous person, also going through a lot of family trauma,” she recalls of her early years. “I learned that post-secondary education in a university setting, if designed to nurture and celebrate Indigeneity, was meant for me. I felt like I belonged and was able to connect with Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples from across Canada and around the world. I felt a sense of belonging. It was an opening to a bigger world that’s out there and that I could make my way in. I felt comfortable.”

One thing that’s helped her over the year’s is what she describes as having a “smudge mindset.” “That’s a term I made up . . . it’s like smudging with sage or sweet grass and what I’m thinking and feeling when I smudge. I can’t always take smudge into every situation I’m in to help me in ways like calming down or being grounded, but I can think those thoughts, like ‘Please help me be patient and kind in this situation, help me see the world in a good way and with kindness and walk in a good way.’ We live in a reactionary society these days, and sometimes it’s important to remind myself to not always jump the gun and to have that sense of patience and gratitude.”

What I’ve learned with age

“Aging has taught me not worrying and not to be as anxious as much about the little things. So, stopping being so hard and critical of myself, and not always worrying about what other people might think. As one of my cousins says comparison can be the killer of joy. I have come to know that I’m valued and needed, and as an Indigenous person that I do belong.”

With aging, however, also comes perspective. “We’re all lifelong learners,” she says. “School can be a beautiful place to expand our minds, practice and learn, but after that it’s the work that you get into where you really start to put what you’ve learned into practice. And that’s where I think you grow the most is learning that you don’t stop learning once you graduate. That’s just the beginning.” 

All my relations

“When I went to En’owkin, the satellite of the UVic campus, I learned a concept from my Anishinaabe friend and poet Vera Wabegijig called ‘all my relations,’ which I’ve always carried with me. In Cree, the concept is called Wahkohtowin. Rather than saying goodbye, you can say ‘all my relations.’ It’s essentially saying that everybody in this world, we’re all connected to each other… not only to each other as humans, but we’re related to the land, the natural world, the sun, the moon, the stars, the water, the air, the trees, the animals and plants. We all need each other to exist. It’s not so much advice, but more of a worldview that’s helped me maintain good relationships with people and the land that I’ve encountered and work with, and in my everyday life to know that we need to all love and respect each other.”

 

Speed round!

Something that brings me joy:

“Nature. I love being out on the land. And art.” 

If I had an extra hour of free time: 

“I always need time to do more art. I think most artists would say that.”

A concert I attended recently:

“The Looney Tunes Symphony in Edmonton.”

 Secret talent: 

“Aging gracefully. Some call it great genes, others call it a mystery—I just call it my secret superpower!”

 One skill I wish I possessed: 

“Being part of a community with so many great examples of living with the land has shown me the beauty of self-sufficiency—something I wish had been part of my upbringing. There’s something deeply fulfilling about knowing how to grow your own food, raise animals, identify indigenous plants and medicines and sustain your way of life. I often find myself longing for that connection, not just to the land but also to my roots—especially the ability to speak one of my Indigenous languages.”

 My go-to karaoke song: 

“Proud Mary” by Tina Turner. I would bring the house down with that song.”

 Read more about UVic’s 2025 Alumni Awards here

 

Distinguished Alumni Awards: Cassandra Miller

by | Mar 16, 2025 | Alumni, Award, donor, Graduate, News, Theatre, Visual Arts

We are thrilled that Cassandra Miller is the recipient of one of the 2025 Presidents’ Alumni Awards. Born in Victoria, Cassandra received her Bachelor of Music in Composition and Theory from UVic in 2005; her brother, the award-winning graphic designer Emrys Damon Miller, is also a Fine Arts alumni (Visual Arts). 

An acclaimed Canadian-British composer who has been living in London, England, since 2018, Cassandra’s composition methods incorporate a unique practice of meditation-based uncontrolled singing to learn about melody and repetition. She uses these vocal exercises together with creative transcription processes to transform pre-existing musical sources (from both within and outside the classical tradition) to magnify their expressive, personal, or fragile qualities.

“Music this uncalculatedly beautiful leaves you almost desperate with gratitude,” wrote Alex Ross of her work in The New Yorker, while The Guardian hailed her “Duet for Cello and Orchestra” as among the top 20 “Best Classical Music Works of the 21st Century.” Over the past year, her works have appeared internationally at the BBC Proms, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani and on tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. She has twice received the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music, Canada’s highest honour for composition, and in 2025 she will be a visiting scholar for three months as lecturer at Stanford University.

Endless possibility

“I originally went to UVic to study my instrument—the harp,” Cassandra recalls. “On the first day of classes I took a composition elective and then realized, ‘Oh gosh, this is what I do now.’ It was life changing.” 

She recalls the School of Music as the kind of place where, as far as creativity goes, “anything was possible… You were taught that to be an artist was to be a bit of a weirdo. It was so freeing and so important. I learned about myself… how to be that kind of creative, how to be free and playful by being myself… At the time I just thought that was good education, but afterwards I realized that it was also artistically incredibly unique and important. It was a very special place.”

Over the years, she has been invited as a visiting teacher and lecturer at many institutions including Stanford, Columbia, CalArts, London’s Royal Academy of Music, Birmingham Conservatoire, McGill University, the University of Manitoba and the Orkest de Ereprijs Young Composers Meeting. From 2010 to 2013, she held the post of Artistic and General Director of Innovations en concert, Montreal, and from 2018 to 2020, Miller was Associate Head of Composition at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, leading the undergraduate program.

Cassandra Miller with the BBC Philharmonic at the 2023 Aldeburgh Festival (BPA/The Guardian)

Collaboration and listening

Cassandra says she finds the art and practice of composing “extremely collaborative. On the surface, it looks like I’m sitting at home staring at my computer, but because I’m writing music for other people to play, even the least collaborative project is extremely collaborative. And then there’s the idea of making space for another person, and it’s a skill that I’m continuously learning. Every opportunity to interact with somebody is an opportunity to learn how to listen better. And the other side of that is listening to oneself and making the space to listen to what’s going on inside and what needs to happen and how to make space.”

What I’ve learned

“I’ve learned how to gather around me the support that I need. This was something I learned late in life… I have pretty strong ADHD, and I need to hire an assistant. I need to hire a personal trainer. I need to have a therapist at all times. I also need to keep my family and friends close, and I always need to live with somebody. There’s a lot of things I need that I’m getting better at asking for and putting into place.”

“A friend of mine used the mantra ‘Try less hard,’ and I took it on… It’s about making that space for listening. Often when you’re trying too hard for something, you’re not making the space to listen to what’s really going on. Often the solution is to change a situation or try something a bit differently. But if you’re already trying hard, trying harder usually isn’t the thing that’s going to make it work.”

Speed round!

Something that brings me joy: 

“Bird song… London has parakeets, which are a huge part of the soundscape of the city. They’re an invasive species, but they have this wonderful chatter and they’re very loud at sunrise and sunset. It’s a way to mark the time in the city, and they fly around in these huge flocks and they’re bright green. They’re lovely.” 

One food I can’t resist: 

“My family makes these traditional Lebanese Christmas cookies.  We call them Sticky Fingers because they’re roughly the shape of a finger and they’re dipped in honey, filled with almonds and orange blossom water. And they have little bits of aniseed in the dough.”

Something great I’ve watched recently: 

“A movie called The Cassandra Cat. It’s this absurd, surreal movie from the Czech Republic in the early ’60s. I sort of recommend it, but you have to be in the right mood.”

A cool thing about where I live: 

“London has so many trees in it that it’s classified as a forest.”

Secret talent:

“I am incredibly patient, and I don’t mind waiting, and it’s very extreme. If a friend is three hours late to meet me, no problem. I just love waiting around.”

A talent I wish I possessed: 

“I wish I could dance better. I think it’s an important thing in life. I think life is probably about eating, sleeping, singing and dancing.”

 Read more about UVic’s 2025 Alumni Awards here

Supporting the next generation of writers in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community

by | Mar 6, 2025 | Alumni, Award, donor, News, Theatre

Thanks to the Candis Graham Writing Scholarship, an award created by the Lambda Foundation alongside friends and family of the renowned lesbian-feminist writer and teacher, UVic student Zoe Bechtold is able to explore her diverse interests in writing and performance arts.

From stage acting and puppet theatre to writing interactive fiction, Zoe has a passion for exploring innovative and creative ways to tell stories—with a particular focus on queer characters and other underrepresented voices.

 

As a dedicated author with a growing portfolio of short stories, plays, and fan fiction, Zoe is currently pursuing a BFA in Theatre and Writing here at UVic. She was recently awarded the 2024 Candis Graham Writing Scholarship for her exceptional academic performance and compelling application essay. (The 2023 Candis Graham Scholarship went to fellow Writing student Elena Stalwick.)

“It’s motivating to feel that my writing is being recognized,” she says of the scholarship, which was established by the Lambda Scholarship Foundation Canada in collaboration with the family and friends of feminist writer Candis Graham for students in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and allies.

“I’m so glad this award exists to support the queer and trans community. I know so many talented queer writers and it’s meaningful to know that people and organizations are actively providing financial resources.”

Zoe (left) & her twin brother Link in Peter Pan at Calgary Young People’s Theatre (Rob Galbraith)

Leaving Calgary’s theatre scene to find community in Victoria

Growing up in Calgary, Zoe came to UVic with years of experience writing and acting, honed with support from the city’s theatre community. A major milestone in her acting journey included a serendipitous twist: her debut role at Calgary Young People’s Theatre was as one of the Lost Boys twins in Peter Pan—played alongside her own twin brother.

Encouraged by mentors who recognized her potential, Zoe chose to attend UVic, drawn to its reputation for creativity, supportive community, and stunning natural setting.

“It was partly the location—Victoria is really beautiful—and partly knowing older, accomplished actors I admired who have also studied here,” Zoe shares.

Since arriving in Victoria, Zoe has immersed herself in a rich tapestry of perspectives and opportunities that have nurtured her talents. At UVic’s Phoenix Theatre, she has contributed to productions every year of her studies, including Dead Man’s Cell Phone (2021), Spring Awakening (2022), The Importance of Being Earnest (2023), and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2024).

“There’s a big theatre community here in Victoria—people I can ask for advice, like those at the Phoenix or graduates who are producing their own work. It’s really inspiring.”

Zoe practices her skills in a Green Fools puppetry workshop (Keith Cartmell) 

Candis Graham’s legacy of creativity and advocacy

Zoe’s journey reflects the creative spirit embodied by Candis Graham. Like Zoe, she also came from outside BC and found a home in Victoria’s artistic community. Born in Ontario in 1949, she was a writer and editor of short fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, essays, and novels, unabashedly open about her lesbian and feminist identity, despite encountering discrimination. After moving to Victoria in 2001, she spent her final years writing, teaching, and running a greeting card company that combined word collages and verse—leaving behind a legacy of creativity and advocacy.

For Zoe, receiving the Candis Graham Writing Scholarship has eased the financial challenges of university life and allowed her to focus on her studies and creative pursuits.

“I’ve enjoyed using my time at UVic to explore and develop my expertise in theatre and writing. I am happy with the growth I have noticed in myself as a writer that has resulted from my classes and coursework,” she says.

Fascinated by unconventional storytelling that meshes the visual with the written word, Zoe is interested in studying puppet theatre and hopes to one day write and illustrate a graphic novel.

Looking ahead, she also envisions cultivating opportunities for both her and others by founding a creation company with her twin brother and a close friend.

“My professors are always telling us, ‘You’ve got to produce your own work,’ and that’s what I hope to do,” she says.

 

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