Stories from the Creative Edge
Graduate
Doc screening features Canadian theatre & TV legends
The Department of Theatre is dipping into the world of film for a special screening of Robin & Mark & Richard III. Better still, the filmmakers — Canadian theatrical legends themselves — will be on hand for an exclusive session only for Fine Arts students and...
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Your guide to Fine Arts Fringers
No question, the annual Fringe Fest is one of Victoria's best-loved festivals of any kind. Now in its 31st year, the Victoria Fringe Festival offers 330 performances of 58 shows by 350 artists in nearly a dozen venues around town — as well as a number of free...
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UNO Fest thick with Fine Arts talent
From the underground to the mainstream, Intrepid Theatre’s annual UNO Fest is a hotbed of contemporary solo theatre and performance. Originally launched by Theatre alumna Janet Munsil in the basement of Victoria’s Bedford Hotel in 1997, UNO Fest is celebrating 20...
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Research and creative practice on view at Ideafest 2017
Ideafest — UVic's week-long free festival of world-changing ideas — is once again ready to welcome thinkers, innovators, artists and audiences to a fascinating range of events across campus. This year’s festival features hundreds of speakers, presenting on topics...
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Minor in Digital and Interactive Media in the Arts announced
Starting in May 2017, the Faculty of Fine Arts will begin offering a new minor in Digital and Interactive Media in the Arts (DIMA). DIMA will allow you to combine current electives with new training in interactive media as part of your UVic Bachelor degree. "Our minor...
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Joan MacLeod explores faith and family in “Gracie”
A young girl is born into a world full of faith and family, and as she grows from a child to a teenager, she faces increasing pressure to conform. But what if that 15-year-old is born into a tightly controlled fundamentalist polygamous community — will she dare to...
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Alumni Week runs February 6-12
Help celebrate the impact of grads at UVic's 10th annual Alumni Week. More than a dozen free events — including talks, awards and workshops — highlight this event, running February 6 to 12, both on-campus and off. This year we focus on the vital impact of the...
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Early 2017 media roundup
2017 is shaping up to be a busy year for Fine Arts faculty and alumni in the media. A number of stories have run in various media outlets in the last weeks of 2016 and early 2017, featuring representatives in all of our departments. Here's a quick roundup of who's...
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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...
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Top 10 Fine Arts stories of 2016 – part two
With five departments offering concerts, theatrical productions, readings, exhibits, symposiums and lectures featuring the talents of our teaching faculty plus visiting artists, academics and other professionals, Fine Arts remains one of the most community-engaged...
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MFA Heather Clark takes travel writing on the road
When it comes to learning how to be a travel writer, you can’t get much more hands-on than doing it on the road. And if that road happens to be in Nicaragua, says graduating master’s student Heather Clark, better still. Clark, a veteran tour guide and former...
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Going solo pays off for TJ Dawe
After years of success on the Fringe Festival circuit and touring around the world, alumnus TJ Dawe brings his one of his earlier, and now published plays, back to the Phoenix stage as part of the Alumni Festival. The Slipknot runs 8pm daily to Saturday, Oct 22, with...
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Southam Lecturer Vivian Smith talks gender & journalism
We may be living in the 21st century, but that doesn’t mean we’ve achieved gender equality in Canada. Nowhere is this more evident than in the field of journalism, as Vivian Smith well knows. The 2016 Southam Lecturer for the Department of Writing, Smith is drawing...
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Mi’gmaq filmmaker Jeff Barnaby kicks off Indigeneity & the Arts series
Fine Arts is proud to kick off its new Orion Series on Indigeneity and the Arts with a public presentation by acclaimed filmmaker, author & composer Jeff Barnaby. While at UVic, Barnaby will be hosting a free screening some of his short films starting at 7pm...
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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...
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A September full of events
Welcome to a new semester, a new academic year and a totally fresh series of events in Fine Arts! Even though it's only September and the academic year has just begun, we're already looking at a busy month of concerts, readings, guest lectures, exhibits, plays and...
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Strong buzz around Steven Price’s new novel
It's the kind of buzz emerging authors can only dream about: after being sold to American publisher Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2014 for "a figure rumoured to be in the substantial six-figure range,” the latest novel by noted poet, author & stellar Department...
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Phoenix at the Fringe 2016
Anyone concerned about post-degree prospects for Fine Arts students should consider the ongoing success of students in our Department of Theatre. For 50 years now, Phoenix Theatre has been producing some of Canada's finest theatre artists by instilling in them the...
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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...
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Faculty comings and goings
A number of longtime faculty members are retiring this year, including Theatre’s Allan Stichbury (design), Visual Arts' Vikky Alexander (photography) and Writing’s Lynne Van Luven (creative nonfiction), as well as the School of Music’s Louis Ranger (trumpet) and...
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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...
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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...
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Technology promotes dynamic learning
Call it learning 360. When Writing professor Maureen Bradley teaches digital media for storytellers, her venue is a departure from the typical university lecture hall: no podium, desk seating or front of the classroom. Instead, tables with roller-wheel chairs line the...
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2016 Youth Poet Laureate Ann-Bernice Thomas speaks her mind
Ann-Bernice Thomas doesn’t even hesitate when asked the most surprising aspect of being named the City of Victoria’s 2016 Youth Poet Laureate. “All the attention,” she says with a quick laugh. "Considering I didn't really hear anything about last year's poet, it's...
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Carl Wilson’s Tears
If you’re the kind of person who cries at movies, take heart—you’re not alone. Whether the tears are of joy, sadness, or cathartic relief, Carl Wilson says crying in response to culture is commonplace. This year’s Harvey Stevenson Southam Lecturer in Journalism and...
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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...
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Joan MacLeod’s work goes from headlines to centre-stage
When it comes to researching a new play, internationally celebrated playwright and Department of Writing professor Joan MacLeod often takes inspiration from the headlines. From the murder of Victoria teenager Reena Virk to issues facing new immigrants and the...
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Fine Arts a big part of Victoria Film Festival
If it's February, it must be time for the Victoria Film Festival! This year, in addition to the usual lineup of great feature and short films running February 5-14—including a number by Fine Arts faculty and alumni—the VFF is offering special free attendance for Fine...
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Writing alum Billeh Nickerson offers publishing workshop
Exciting news for students and community writers: celebrated Department of Writing alumnus, author & editor Billeh Nickerson (BFA '98) returns to campus with an exciting new workshop. "Getting It Into Print" will reveal the trade secrets of getting your work...
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Carl Wilson is Writing’s 2016 Southam Lecturer
When it comes to writing about popular culture, Carl Wilson’s heart will always go on. That’s partially because, as a music critic for Slate and Billboard magazines, Wilson is deeply passionate about the impact music can have on everyone’s lives; but it’s also because...
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In search of the mighty beaver
The next time you pull out a nickel, spare a thought for the humble beaver. Perhaps one of the most misunderstood mammals, the beaver has played a more significant role in shaping our continent than any other animal. Not only did beavers directly influence North...
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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,...
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