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.

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.” 

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. 

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.  

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.

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.  

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.     

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!