Stories from the Creative Edge
Awards
Music alum Rodney Sharman wins Excellence in the Performing Arts prize
Celebrated School of Music alumnus Rodney Sharman was announced as the recipient of the $50,000 Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts on November 20. Awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Walter Carsen Prize recognizes the highest level...
A fresh crop of book prize nominations
Fall is traditionally book prize season and, as with most years, our Department of Writing has a fresh crop of alumni and faculty currently up for prizes.
Tim Lilburn becomes first Canadian to receive international award
Distinguished poet and respected Department of Writing professor Tim Lilburn has become the first Canadian to receive the European Medal of Poetry and Art. Commonly referred to as the “Homer Medal,” Lilburn was presented with the 2017 prize by visiting Beijing poet...
Sandra Meigs joins Canada’s academic elite
Contemporary artist and newly retired Visual Arts professor Sandra Meigs has been named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC)—Canada’s highest academic honour.
The title has been bestowed on only 2,000 Canadians in the 134-year history of the RSC, and has just one criterion: excellence. The peer-elected fellows of the society are chosen for making “remarkable contributions” in the arts, humanities and sciences, and Canadian public life.
A summer of Visual Arts
It’s been a busy summer for Visual Arts faculty, students and alumni — thanks to a number of new projects, installations and exhibits happening locally, nationally and internationally. Here’s a quick round-up:
Maestro Timothy Vernon becomes Honorary Doctor of Music
When this year's group of graduating Fine Arts students cross the stage of UVic's Farquhar Auditorium on June 13, they'll find themselves in the presence of a true master — or maestro — as Timothy Vernon will also be receiving an Honorary Doctor of Music (DMus) on the...
Music research leads to REACH Award
She has helped uncover the forgotten works of suppressed composers and played alongside the likes of the National Orchestra of Taiwan and the Moody Blues. Now, the research and creative practice of School of Music flute professor and music scholar Suzanne Snizek is...
Composer uses Guggenheim Fellowship to explore global migration
Internationally recognized composer and School of Music Associate Professor Dániel Péter Biró can now add one of North America’s most prestigious awards to his list of honours — the Guggenheim Fellowship. And he’ll be using the one-year award worth $50,000 US to...
MFA Lindsay Delaronde named Victoria’s Indigenous Artist in Residence
The city’s visual arts scene became even more inclusive with the March 8 news that Lindsay Delaronde has been named Victoria’s inaugural Indigenous Artist in Residence. Delaronde, an Iroquois Mohawk woman born and raised on the Kahnawake reservation outside of...
Phoenix frequent among 2016 Critic’s Choice winners
The 16th annual Victoria Critics' Choice Theatre Awards were announced on CBC Radio's On The Island at the end of December and, as always, there were plenty of Fine Arts alumni among the 2016 nominees and winners. We've got a breakdown of the awards below, but you can...
Creating a culture of giving
Many people like to ease into a new job — not so Samantha Krzywonos. As the new Fine Arts Development Officer, Krzywonos spent her first month establishing the largest donor-funded endowed award in UVic’s history: the Jeffrey Rubinoff Scholar in Art as a Source of...
Long Service Awards mark 335 years at UVic
When UVic’s annual Long Service Awards were presented at the University Club back in October, a surprising number of Fine Arts faculty and staff were among the recipients—and, if you add up all their years of service, it totals a remarkable 335 years at UVic. In the...
Writing event features inaugural Lorna Crozier Scholarship recipient
Even though she’s now retired, beloved poet and Department of Writing professor Lorna Crozier continues to have an impact on campus: a highlight of the popular annual faculty reading night—happening 7 p.m. on Sept. 28 in room 105 of UVic's Hickman building—will be the...
BC sculptor’s donation benefits study of Art History
A gift from BC sculptor Jeffrey Rubinoff and the Jeffrey Rubinoff Foundation will allow doctoral students at the University of Victoria exceptional opportunities to study the complexities and richness of the history of modern and contemporary art and why it matters to...
Harald Krebs is our newest Royal Society Fellow
Award-winning scholar, pianist, author and School of Music professor Harald Krebs can now add Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) to his many accomplishments. One of Canada’s best known music theorists, Krebs was announced as UVic's newest RSC Fellow on...
Cedric Bomford wins $15,000 Canada Council award
Congratulations go out to Visual Arts professor Cedric Bomford, who was announced on July 12 as the visual arts winner of the $15,000 Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award. Presented annually by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Awards are...
School of Music announces new brass scholarship
The sound of studying just got a little sweet for first-year UVic School of Music students, thanks to a new brass scholarship from Yamaha Canada Music. Beginning in the fall of 2016, and continuing for the next three years, the Joan Watson Memorial Scholarship will...
Double-medal winning grad Kelsey Wheatley offers an inspiring example
Each year, the Victoria Medal is awarded to the student with the highest GPA in the Faculty of Fine Arts. Similarly, the Governor General's Silver Medal is awarded annually to UVic’s top undergraduate student—but it’s a rare day indeed when both awards are given out...
Regan Shrumm wins Lieutenant Governor’s Silver Medal
While much of the convocation spotlight naturally falls on our undergraduates, we’re pleased to see recent Art History & Visual Studies alumna Regan Shrumm step back into the spotlight on June 15 as the recipient of UVic’s 2015 Lieutenant Governor’s Silver...
Connor Gaston’s The Devout sweeps Leo Awards
Hearty congratulations go out to the Fine Arts alumni team behind the locally shot 2015 feature film The Devout—including writer/director Connor Gaston and producers Daniel Hogg and Amanda Verhagen—which won seven major awards out of 14 nominations at the annual Leo...
Bill Gaston receives the 2016 Craigdarroch Award
For 38 years, Bill Gaston’s award-winning prose has exemplified the relentless curiosity, deep human empathy, acute moral vision and commitment to exploring new creative frontiers that are at the heart of artistic excellence. Now, the veteran Department of Writing...
A busy spring for Writing
It's been a busy spring for the Writing department, with a wide variety of faculty and alumni in the spotlight for award nominations and new book releases. Poetry professor and Governor General’s Award-winning poet Tim Lilburn has released The Names (Penguin/Random...
Four from Visual Arts shortlisted for Philip B. Lind art prize
When Vancouver's Presentation House Gallery announced the eight nominees for their inaugural Philip B. Lind Emerging Artist Prize in March, the Visual Arts department was proud to have connections to half the nominees. Among the artists nominated for this new $5,000...
Distinguished Alumni Glynis Leyshon’s most distinguished career
She is one of Canada’s most respected opera and theatre directors, with an enviable career working with the most prestigious performance companies in Canada. She’s been the artistic director of two theatre companies of national repute, was the head of the Opera as...
Fine Arts in the spotlight at Ideafest
As millennia of human progress and innovation has proven, ideas can change everything. And ideas once again take centre-stage on campus with Ideafest, UVic's annual research festival. Running from March 7-12, Ideafest celebrates some of the brightest minds and ideas...
Top 10 Fine Arts stories of 2015
It's the end of another busy—and rewarding—year here at the Faculty of Fine Arts, where there was never any shortage of things to keep everyone busy. With five departments offering literally hundreds of annual concerts, theatrical productions, readings, exhibits,...
RSC honours Fine Arts professors
More than 400 of Canada’s brightest academic minds will be converging on Victoria this weekend as the Royal Society of Canada—Canada’s national academy—comes to town. The RSC’s annual general meeting runs November 26-28 at the Fairmont Empress and will feature...
Sandra Meigs wins $50,000 prize
It’s shaping up to be quite the year for Department of Visual Arts professor Sandra Meigs. Hot on the heels of being named one of eight recipients of the Governor General’s Awards for Visual and Media Arts in March 2015—an honour that saw her work featured in a...
Writing alumni news
Fall is the season for new book launches, and there are a few on the horizon for our busy Department of Writing alumni. First up is Ali Blythe, who is launching their first book of poems, Twoism. Recently described as "a stunning debut" and named one of the top-10...
Benjamin Butterfield wins Craigdarroch Award
Performer, artistic collaborator and educator—Benjamin Butterfield continues to make an indelible impression on the future of Canadian singers and on audiences worldwide. He is a tenor of international renown, with a repertoire ranging from baroque to classical to...
Vikes Band wants you!
Love sports? Play an instrument? With the brand-new Vikes Band course, you can now combine both—for credit! A new initiative between the School of Music and Vikes Athletics, Vikes Band (MUS 189) is a new for-credit course that will rehearse and perform at Vikes...
Designing Prague
When it comes to stage design, the Prague Quadrennial is as good as it gets—and this year, a pair of Theatre alumni will help represent Canada. “It’s the Venice Biennalie of stage design,” says Department of Theatre professor Allan Stichbury. “It’s the top in terms of...