Stories from the Creative Edge
Alumni
Awinakola: Tree of Life public discussion
How can art help develop strategies to heal the planet, heal the people and change culture? Find out at this free public talk by the Awinakola: Tree of Life Research Group from 3-4:30pm Sat Sept 10 in room A162 of UVic's Visual Arts building. This community...
Young Alumni Lunch & Learn sessions engage current students
While Fine Arts has no shortage of national and internationally renowned alumni at the peak of their careers, finding meaningful ways to engage our more recent graduates remains a priority for the faculty. With that in mind, this year we created a new “Young Alumni...
Art gallery a fertile ground for magic of forests
A screenshot from “The Ground That Mends,” the stop motion video by UVic fine arts PhD alumna Connie Michele MoreyGroundbreaking research in the 1990s by forest ecologist Suzanne Simard revealed that trees “talk” to each other through an underground network of fungi....
Sharing fears and truths about climate change
Crookes Professor Sean Holman (right) with Writing student Sandra IbrahimRecent climate-related disasters—from heatwaves and wildfires to floods and hurricanes—make it clear that we need to prepare for climate change, while also trying to prevent it. Journalists and...
Visual arts grad Dieu Anh Hoang has designs on life
If you ask international student Dieu Anh Hoang what aspect of her undergraduate degree had the biggest impact on her, she’ll tell you it wasn’t the pandemic, it wasn’t her co-op terms and it wasn’t even earning her BFA in Visual Arts with honours: it was actually a...
New Summer Arts Series with Continuing Studies
New for summer 2022, Fine Arts is offering our inaugural Summer Arts Series in partnership with UVic's Division of Continuing Studies and Alumni Relations, which will see returning alumni teaching courses for the general public. And for this first series, we've chosen...
Young Alumni Lunch & Learn Series: Finding Meaningful Work in the Arts
Everyone wants to find a relevant job after graduation, but what are the actual steps you’ll need to take to get there? How do you make connections and learn to network? How important can volunteering be to career development? What career assistance is available to...
Young Alumni Lunch & Learn Series: Are You Media Ready?
Whatever your creative practice, it's essential that you tell the right story about yourself—and have the kind of social media profile that shows you're serious about your craft. Join a recent grad for this insider-look at best practices when it comes to working with...
Distinguished Alumni
Fine Arts was thrilled to see three past graduates named among the 20 recipients of the UVic's 2022 Distinguished Alumni Awards announced on March 10. Presented by UVic and the University of Victoria Alumni Association, the awards recognize graduates who, through...
Meet our newest Youth Poet Laureate
When the City of Victoria recently announced the news that recent Writing / English double-major Eli Mushumanski had been chosen as the 2022 Youth Poet Laureate, we here at Fine Arts were justifiably proud. Mushumanski is the third YPL to come out of UVic's...
Young Alumni Lunch & Learn Series
Wondering how to connect your studies to the wider world of the arts? Interested in exploring creative career opportunities? Curious about professional life after graduation? Bring your questions when recent Fine Arts alumni offer the inside scoop in these moderated,...
Fine Arts well represented at the 2022 Victoria Film Festival
Running February 4-13, both online and in theatres, the Victoria Film Festival will descend on Victoria with a new raft of films to delight movie goers of all stripes. No stranger to the VFF, you'll once again find Fine Arts well-represented in these films and events:...
Alumni activity this fall
Looking for a good example of the interdisciplinary impact of Fine Arts alumni on the local arts scene? Consider the recent CRD Arts Champion Summit held in December, which included presentations by a wide range of our alumni including Mercedes...
Media & faculty activity this fall
There’s been no shortage of faculty activity beyond our departments this fall, with a wide range of professors and instructors appearing in the media, participating in festivals and exhibitions, or lending their expertise to workshops and symposia. Art History &...
Staging Equality is making change by building relationships with theatre
If you’ve ever attended a play in the Phoenix Building, odds are good you’ve been inside the Chief Dan George Theatre. Named for the actor and chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation whose talent took him beyond North Vancouver to become an Oscar-nominated actor, the...
Baylie Adams rehearses for success
When fourth-year School of Music saxophone player Baylie Adams wanted to make a community impact during last February’s Black History Month, she looked to her own instrument for inspiration. “We were only hearing about Black composers in terms of jazz music, so I...
Visiting Southam Lecturer: Andrew Nikiforuk
“I believe in getting into hot water: it keeps you clean.” —GK Chesterton As an author, journalist and contributing editor for The Tyee, Andrew Nikiforuk has written about the use—and abuse—of natural resources and wild landscapes in Canada for more than 30...
Jenessa Joy Klukas harnesses the power of the pen
When it comes to wrapping up a writing degree with a flourish, it’s hard to beat Jenessa Joy Klukas. Not only did Klukas finish the final year of her studies interning at the independent media outlet The Tyee as part of the Journalists for Human Rights’ Indigenous...
New Fine Arts Indigenous student award
At UVic, we are committed to facing head-on the realities of Canada’s history and present. The new Faculty of Fine Arts Indigenous Student Award brings us one step closer to meeting this commitment. More than just financial assistance for our students, this award is a...
Join us for a discussion on sustainability & the arts
The climate crisis is one of the most urgent problems of our time, and the arts can play a vital role in helping people better understand its impact. Discover how scholars and researchers in UVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts are responding to today’s defining issues with...
2021 Student Community Impact Award winners
The Faculty of Fine Arts is proud to announce the three recipients of our inaugural Fine Arts Student Community Impact Awards, presented as part of the annual Greater Victoria Regional Arts Awards on Oct 1 at a live event held at Sidney’s Winspear Centre. Each...
Climate-crisis sparks new journalism position
Wildfires, droughts, floods, extreme storms: we are living in a time when climate change should be the biggest story of our time—yet, as the recent federal election proved, all too often it doesn’t even make the headlines. As the new Wayne Crookes Professor in...
ONC Artist in Residence debuts “Gossip with Whales”
The ocean has many songs to sing! Join us for this feast of music and celebration as we launch the world premiere performances of four new choral compositions created during Dennis Gupa's artistic residency with Ocean Networks Canada. Together with a panel of...
Banting Fellow & Vanier Scholar named in Fine Arts
Fine Arts researchers and creative practitioners Taylor Brook and Troy Sebastian are among UVic's recipients of the prestigious Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships and Vanier Canada Graduate Scholars, "Congratulations to Taylor and Troy," says Acting Dean Allana...
Poetry & motion: Writing alumni Billeh Nickerson
There’s a delightful irony in the fact that the most memorable part of Joe Biden’s inauguration as the oldest president in US history was the reading by the youngest poet to ever appear at such a ceremony. Arguably the highlight of the event, 23-year-old Amanda...
Theatre alum Justin Lee explores cultural hybrids
If the COVID era has shown us anything, it’s that the future of theatre continues to be written. When the pandemic forced the shuttering of performance venues, stages around the world suddenly realized they would have to adapt to survive. Enter the age of mainstage...
Writing MFA Kim Harvey wins GG Award for Drama
On June 1, Syilx & Tsilhqot’in playwright & director Kim Senklip Harvey became the first Indigenous woman to win the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama for her play Kamloopa: An Indigenous Matriarch Story (Talon Books)—less than a week after receiving...
Congratulations to spring 2021 grads!
Congratulations, Class of 2021—you made it! You are now one of over 9000 Fine Arts alumni worldwide who studied at UVic—and have the distinction of graduating during the most difficult year in our history. "As part of an esteemed group of artists and creative...
Distinguished Alumni Talk: Mercedes Bátiz-Benét on supporting IBPoC voices
When it comes to working in the arts and theatre sectors, IBPoC artists (Indigenous, Black, People of Colour) face a number of barriers due to systemic discrimination—yet IBPoC artists have always created innovative and bold new work. As Puente Theatre’s artistic...
Susie Winter’s feature film screenplay started as student project
It all started with an empty boat floating on a lake. Screenwriter Susie Winters (BFA ’16) recalls driving alongside the vast expanse of Cameron Lake just east of Port Alberni when the image first drifted into her mind, inspiring what would become the screenplay for...
In Memoriam: Dr. Anthony Welch
It is with great sadness we mark the passing of Dr. Anthony Welch, noted art historian, scholar and academic leader. Dr. Welch had a long and distinguished career at the University of Victoria, beginning in 1971 as a lecturer with the Department of History in Art (now...
Orion Series presents alumna curator Charo Neville
The Orion Lecture Series in Fine ArtsThrough the generous support of the Orion Fund in Fine Arts, the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, is pleased to present:Charo Neville Visiting curator 7:30 - 9:00 pm (PST) Wednesday, February 24, 2021 Free...