Orion Fund marks 30 years of donor impact

by | Aug 18, 2026 | Art History & Visual Studies, Award, donor, Faculty, Orion Series in Fine Arts, Research, School of Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, Writing

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.

AGGV curator brings experience to the classroom

by | Jul 27, 2026 | Art History & Visual Studies, Faculty, Research, Undergraduate, Visual Arts

Heng Wu teaching her AHVS class

Art History & Visual Studies students once again had the unique opportunity this year to learn from professional art curator and adjunct assistant professor Dr. Heng Wu.

Currently the Curator of Asian Art at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV), Wu oversees one of the premier Asian art collections in North America and the finest in Western Canada. Her teaching practice focuses on museum research, curation and Asian art. She places great importance on applying the experiences gained from museum work to her research and teaching, while simultaneously incorporating her research findings and thoughts back into her practical work.

 Wu’s course — AHVS 202: “Confronting the Object” — brings real-world curatorial insights and experience into the classroom, showing students the professional side of museum work. “The course title may be ‘Confronting the Object’ but ‘confronting’ doesn’t mean to argue,” she explains. “I just want students to understand that objects are not neutral at all.”

AHVS students go behind the scenes at the Royal BC Museum (above) & the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (below), contributing to a greater understanding of object handling, acquisitional practices & display techniques

Objects are the focus

Objects are central to this course since Wu believes that they are at the centre of museums and curatorial practice. “Behind any museum object is a series of decisions, and every decision is made with thoughtful, professional thinking,” she says. “This is why I put objects as the centre of this course . . . looking at objects, describing objects, cataloging objects, handling objects: everything in this course is about objects.”

Wu explains how she structured the course to reflect real curatorial work, since she thinks it’s the best way for students to learn. “I want them to at least have a better understanding of museum work,” she says. To accomplish this, Wu frequently brings actual museum pieces and objects from UVic’s own 18,000+ art collection into the classroom and gives students real cataloging sheets to fill out, replicating the process of a professional curator.

“Every time I bring real objects from museum collections to the classroom and let students work with them, I can see their excitement,” she says. “I think it’s great.”

 

Real-world learning

Engaging with museums itself is also key to this course. Wu took her students out of the classroom three times over the semester to visit local art galleries and museums — including the AGGV and the Royal BC Museum — letting them get firsthand experience in a these settings and ask questions of working professionals.

“It’s great experience for them. If you’re only studying by reading textbooks, you don’t really have a sense of the real world.”

 

Handling objects from UVic’s art collection

Throughout the semester, Wu found her two positions — curator and professor — to be the perfect mix. She explains how she’d bring current museum decisions from the AGGV into the classroom for discussion. “[They] let me know what they like or don’t like, or what changes they want to see. I learn a lot from students, so I think this is perfect. I like the combination.” This also gives students the chance to understand what challenges curators face and let them join the conversation.

“I feel really fortunate to have the chance to step into two fields,” Wu continues. “I have felt inspired by the students and their responses to the objects many times. I enjoy teaching a lot!”

—Claudia Phillips, with photos by Shay Ball

UVic Workstudy students Claudia Phillips (Writing) and Shay Ball (Visual Arts) are just two of nearly 75 Fine Arts students hired annually to learn professional skills outside of their classes. Their work will now appear in various Fine Arts publications, on this blog and on our social media feeds.

Aaron Richmond named new JRSP resident artist

by | Jun 15, 2026 | Art History & Visual Studies, Award, donor, Research, Visual Arts

The Jefferey Rubinoff Foundation and the Faculty of Fine Arts are pleased to announce that Canadian artist, scholar and curator Aaron Richmond has been selected as the 2026 Recipient of the UVic/Jeffrey Rubinoff Sculpture Artist-Scholar Residency.

Aaron’s practice situates in the intersection of visual art, architecture and performance studies. With a PhD in Art & Architectural History from McGill University, a Masters in Intellectual History from Cambridge University and a Masters in Painting from Maryland Institute College of Art, Richmond holds an extensive record of awards and residencies. He is currently an affiliated assistant professor with Concordia University’s Faculty of Fine Arts.

Aaron Richmond

During his July 5-26 residency at Hornby Island’s JRSP, Richmond will develop a body of work that moves, like a relay, from landscape-architectural drawings to the creation of lightweight temporary sculptures. With this work, Richmond hopes to engage the park’s sculptural environment as a living archive, while also treating it as a prompt for the continued exploration of material practices, ideas and gestures. He is interested in art’s continued relevance as a space for experimentation and its dynamic interplay between graphic, formal, textual and performative modes of attention, and about the kinds of fleeting scenography suited to this moment of social and environmental uncertainty.

While at the JRSP, Richmond will share his working process with visitors at the sculpture park and offer limited select guided attentional walks: an embodied on-site demonstration of the relays, prompts and curiosities that animate it. Then, from November 17-20, he will visit UVic’s campus, where he will offer guest lectures, artist talks, a workshop and studio visits for Fine Arts students, staff and faculty members. An exhibition of the works he  creates at the JRSP will also be on display and open to the public in November (venue TBA).

Following his JRSP residency, Richmond will be the 2026-2027 Leonard A. Lauder Fellow in Modern Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he will be working on Cotyledons: A Catalogue of Exchanges between the graphic and performing arts. This project asks: when does the mapping of a situation — whether in the form of an architectural projection, a conceptual schema, or a choreographic score — become an experimental prompt for bodies in motion? And what kinds of artworks or artifacts give evidence of this dynamic interplay between graphic form and performative play?

We are very much looking forward to welcoming Aaron this July for his three-week residency at the Jeffrey Rubinoff Sculpture Park on Hornby Island. Stay tuned to follow his body of work develop as he responds to the interplay between continued exploration and the Park’s sculptural environment.

Established in 2025, the annual UVic/JRSP Artist-Scholar Residency was created as a competitive inter-institutional partnership based around an unwavering belief in cultivating the arts. Find out more about this partnership.

This residency is for artists and scholars seeking space to focus on creating a work for exhibition or publication that is in some way informed by their investigation of Jeffrey Rubinoff’s work and their experience working at the sculpture park.

The successful applicant enjoys a 2-5 week  residency at the Jeffrey Rubinoff Sculpture Park with an additional week at UVic to engage with Fine Arts faculty and students.

Conference marks Canadian Association for Theatre Research’s 50th anniversary

by | May 29, 2026 | Alumni, Events, Faculty, indigenous, Research, Theatre

Keynote speaker Nininsky Lee Aquino

Our Department of Theatre was proud to support the 50th annual Canadian Association for Theatre Research conference, which took place at UVic from May 26-29 and welcomed an exciting mix of theatre artists, scholars and researchers from across Canada plus Phoenix students, faculty & alumni.

Co-chaired by Theatre professor Sasha Kovacs & University of Toronto’s Sarah Robbins, CATR50 brought together over 200 people to investigate questions of inheritance, transition, transformation and change. The conference was highlighted by passionate conversations — kicked off by keynote speaker Nininsky Lee Aquino — and performances by Git Hayetsk dancers, Theatre SKAM’s Aster Brae plus drag performances at The Vicious Poodle. Other highlights included the conference exhibition, panel, roundtable, praxis workshop, seminar and working group contributions.

The Canadian Association for Theatre Research was originally created in 1976 under the name “The Association for Canadian Theatre History.” Since its inception it has been the principal catalyst for expansion of theatre research in Canada, as evidenced by the change in name in 1990. It aims to shape Canada’s theatrical present and future by preserving and interpreting our theatrical past and investigating areas of contemporary theory and performance. Specifically, the Association works to promote research and publication of the results of this research into Canadian theatre and drama, to encourage the collection and analysis of Canadian theatre materials, and to maintain a communications network for the exchange of information and research in progress.

Sasha Kovacs & Sarah Robbins

This event wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada Connections grant program, the Gatherings: Archival and Oral Histories Partnership, Canada’s Theatre Museum, Playwright’s Guild of Canada, Playwright’s Canada Press, Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, Talon Books, Belfry Theatre, the Centre for Socially Engaged Theatre plus numerous other departmental and community sponsors.

Special appreciation to Kurt Archer and previous co-chair Kara Flanagan for facilitating community artist engagement in this year’s event, Jenn Boulay for supporting accessibility plus all members of the incredible programming and local arrangements team for contributing to this memorable gathering!

Act 2 continues online June 11-12. See the CATR website for more info to join the digital act of the event.

Students & volunteers participating in Git Hayetsk performance

Music sponsors national choral conference

by | May 13, 2026 | Alumni, Events, Faculty, Research, School of Music

The School of Music is excited to be sponsoring PODIUM 2026, Canada’s national bilingual choral Conference and Festival! Co-chaired by Music professor Adam Con and presented by Choral Canada and the BC Choral Federation, this multi-day celebration runs from May 14-17 at both UVic and downtown Victoria, bringing together 400 delegates from across the country and 3,000 performing singers from dozens of choirs.

“It’s a celebration of the best of the best of what we do in Canada,” says Con in this Times Colonist interview. “We like to think that Victoria has more choirs, disproportionate to the population, than any other city . . . there’s a choir for every taste or flavour. That’s a good thing.”

But our involvement goes beyond organizing and hosting, as we’ve got Music students in the mix too: Sadie Karlsson is Podium’s volunteer coordinator, Dominic and Bree Ann Bartle-Clar are performing with the National Youth Choir of Canada, our Vocal Jazz Ensemble is doing a pop-up concert in the MacLaurin building’s A-wing (12:30pm Sunday, May 17), and we have two music education students assisting with the event’s technology. Also, 2024 Distinguished Alumna Carrie Tennant is directing a performance of the Vancouver Youth Choir, and a number of alumni are performing in the various featured ensembles.

Adam Con

Held every two years since 1982, PODIUM 2026 aims to ignite meaningful dialogue within the global choral community. Through offerings both on-site and online, we will showcase new music, bold ideas and exciting opportunities for collective singing, through participatory workshops and massed singing events. Key themes will look at the role of the choral arts in topics such as social justice, climate change action, health and wellness, diversity and inclusion.

“PODIUM 2026 is more than a national gathering — it is a moment of reflection, connection and renewal for Canada’s collective singing community,” says Con in this Victoria News article. At a time when connection and collective expression matter more than ever, PODIUM 2026 invites us all to raise our voices, not only in harmony, but in hope. In song, we find strength. In community, we find courage. And together, we shape what’s next.

Find out more

Visual Arts joins new downtown studio

by | Apr 2, 2026 | Faculty, Graduate, indigenous, News, Research, Visual Arts

We’re excited that UVic’s Visual Arts department is part of Victoria’s newest collective studio and gallery space: The Hourglass. Developed by Vancouver Island Visual Arts Society (who also run downtown’s ambitious 80-artist Rockslide Gallery), with support from the City of Victoria’s Storefront Activation Program, Hourglass is an 8,500-square-foot space housed in the former Volvo dealership at Yates and Cook, now repurposed to house 18 art studios and an exhibition space.

Visual Arts professors Heather Igloliorte (Canada Research Excellence Chair in Decolonial & Transformational Indigenous Art Practices) and Joel Ong (Canada Research Chair in Emergent Digital Art Practices), along with three graduate students, will have dedicated studios in the Hourglass.

“Having studio and presentation space at the Hourglass studios gives us a place to create and a place to connect,” says Visual Arts chair Megan Dickie. “We’re excited to build stronger ties with the Victoria arts community and to see MFA students working alongside our new faculty.”

Visual Arts will also maintain a small project space in the building to share work by students, instructors and community members: the first public presentation was the group exhibition The Work Yet to Come, which ran March 27-29 and featured the work of eight early-career Indigenous student artists.

One of the grad student studios

Like so many arts spaces in Victoria — including the bustling Rockslide itself — the Hourglass location is destined to be short-lived, as the property is slated for redevelopment into a 21-storey mixed-use tower over the next few years. But until then, it will serve as the city’s latest innovative arts space.

Follow the Hourglass here