Stories from the Creative Edge
Undergrad
A new & different academic year
A new (and different) school year Welcome to issue 13 of the Fine Arts Connector and the start of a new academic year—one that we can definitely say will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. With only about 3,500 students on campus and the majority of classes...
Chelsea Kutyn sings for life
When graduating School of Music soprano Chelsea Kutyn decided to film a rehearsal for her graduation recital this spring, she had no idea that it would soon lead to national press coverage as a result of a life-threatening health risk. As the campus started to shut...
Welcome (and/or) welcome back!
Welcome to all new Fine Arts students, and welcome back to all returning students! We’re looking forward to offering safe and engaging courses this year—whether you're attending classes in-person or online. While most of the following information can be found on the...
Expanding our campus community
Expanding our campus community Welcome to issue 10 of the Fine Arts Connector, your regular listing of news, resources, activities and other shareable content from UVic's Faculty of Fine Arts. It's a handy way of keeping up with student, faculty and alumni activity...
Woven, embroidered and stitched
If you’re looking for cultural casualties of the spring pandemic, Fine Arts has plenty of examples: from cancelled concerts in the School of Music to the Visual Arts BFA grad exhibit and the final Phoenix Theatre production of the year, there was no shortage of...
Graduation celebration
Graduation celebration Welcome to issue 11 of the Fine Arts Connector, your regular listing of news, resources, activities and other shareable content from UVic's Faculty of Fine Arts. It's a handy way of keeping up with student, faculty and alumni activity while...
Honours BFA Rudra Manani explores Indo-Canadian identity through art
For most people, a visit to the yoga studio simply adds a bit of metaphysicality to their workout: a chance to breathe, stretch and realign their chakras with a few oms and namastes. But for Visual Arts undergraduate Rudra Manani, it’s an example of the widespread...
We will need fine arts graduates in a post-COVID-19 world
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau noted during his daily pandemic briefing on April 17, “Since the beginning of the current crisis, artists have been bringing comfort, laughs and happiness into our lives.” He’s right: the arts are important, particularly during a...
Physically distanced, culturally connected
Physically distanced, culturally connected Welcome to issue 10 of the Fine Arts Connector, your regular listing of news, resources, activities and other shareable content from UVic's Faculty of Fine Arts. It's a handy way of keeping up with student, faculty and alumni...
The newest phase
The newest phase Welcome to issue nine of The Fine Arts Connector, your biweekly listing of news, resources, activities and other shareable content from the Faculty of Fine Arts, specifically compiled for distribution during the current health crisis. If you missed...
Moving Ahead
Moving ahead Welcome to issue eight of The Fine Arts Connector, your biweekly listing of news, resources, activities and other shareable content from the Faculty of Fine Arts, specifically compiled for distribution during the current health crisis. While the cultural...
Restart me up
Restart me up Welcome to issue seven of the Fine Arts Connector, your biweekly listing of news, resources, activities and other shareable content from the Faculty of Fine Arts, specifically compiled for distribution during the current health crisis. As Premier John...
Doing our part
Doing our part Welcome to issue six of The Fine Arts Connector, your weekly listing of news, resources, activities and other shareable content from the Faculty of Fine Arts, specifically compiled for distribution during the current health crisis. Another...
No fear, only courage
No fear, only courage Welcome to issue five of The Fine Arts Connector, your weekly listing of news, resources, activities and other shareable content from the Faculty of Fine Arts, specifically compiled for distribution during the current health crisis....
Annual BFA exhibit goes digital
BFA exhibition shifts to an online catalogue Normally, this week would see the opening of the annual Visual Arts BFA grad exhibition, one of the most highly anticipated events of the Fine Arts academic year—but, of course, there’s nothing normal about the world these...
Never more than now
Never more than nowWelcome to issue four of The Fine Arts Connector, your weekly listing of news, resources, activities and other shareable content from the Faculty of Fine Arts, specifically compiled for distribution during the current health crisis.If...
Art for our times
Art for our time Welcome to week three of The Fine Arts Connector, your weekly listing of news, resources, activities and other shareable content from the Faculty of Fine Arts, specifically compiled for distribution during the current health crisis. As well as the...
A creative community
A creative community Welcome to week two of The Fine Arts Connector, your weekly listing of news, resources, activities and other shareable content from the Faculty of Fine Arts, specifically compiled for distribution during the current health crisis. ...
The show can go on
The show can go onWhen the Phoenix Theatre’s season-ending production of The Children’s Hour closed on its March 12 opening night due to the rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic, it signalled the swift cancellation of all public programming in the Faculty...
Fine Arts events cancelled in response to COVID-19
In response to the ongoing and global spread of the COVID-19 virus and the advice of the Provincial Health Officer, the University of Victoria is following provincial guidelines regarding large gatherings. These actions have been taken in consideration of the recent...
The Children’s Hour looks at power of lies & culture of fear
MARCH 13 UPDATE: Following the advice of the Provincial Health Officer, gatherings of more than 250 people are now cancelled. As a result, this current production of The Children's Hour has been cancelled. Ticket holders will be contacted by the Phoenix box office....
A flurry of Fine Arts at Belfry’s Spark Fest
Each year, our friends and colleagues at the Belfry Theatre present their SPARK Festival, which offers some of the best small theatrical touring productions in Canada, as well as workshops, staged readings and other events. Now in its 11th year, Fine Arts faculty,...
Fine Arts shines at Ideafest
From issues in contemporary Indigenous arts to plastic waste, fake news and comic books about very serious topics, UVic’s annual Ideafest always offers one of the most fascinating weeks of the year! Running March 2-7 at locations both on- and off-campus, Ideafest 2020...
2019 in review: part two
From our amazing alumni and stellar students to new creative spaces, a $1 million-plus donation and the passing of a literary legend, here are the final five top Fine Arts stories of 2019. Active alumni It was a good year for Fine Arts alumni, with School of Music...
Seasonal concerts a holiday highlight
As the semester winds up and temperatures begin to drop, it's only natural that thoughts turn to . . . holiday music. Nothing capture the season quite like a community concert, and the School of Music has a number of winter highlights coming up in the days ahead....
A passion for learning, curating and decolonizing
While a passion for Indigenous arts has been driving Melissa Granley’s studies in the Department of Art History & Visual Studies, it was her connection with the natural world that initially attracted her to UVic. “It’s kind of silly, but rabbits have always been...
Phoenix produces Othello for first time in 53-year history
Conversations around race, misogyny and manipulation of the truth couldn't be more relevant in the recent political landscape. Department of Theatre professor Brian Richmond felt it was important to bring these conversations to the stage and explore parallels between...
Visual Arts undergrad Austin Willis the only Canadian winner of US student sculpture award
There may have been 325 nominations from 139 institutions in 4 countries — but, out of the 11 overall winners, there was ultimately only 1 Canadian recipient of the US-based International Sculpture Center's 2019 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary...
Free concert tackles Mysterious Barricades
Imagine a day when the barricades erected around the subjects of suicide and mental illness start to come down. Imagine a day when hundreds of Canada’s finest musicians across the country join together to offer music of healing and hope to those in jeopardy, and to...
Fringe Festival features over 60 students & alumni
Like the cool evenings that herald a shift toward autumn, the arrival of the Victoria Fringe Festival always signals that summer is coming to an end. Running August 21 to Sept 1 at various downtown venues, this annual explosion of live performance features 47 shows...
Student artists exhibit work for social change
What’s the difference between making art for art’s sake and creating art for social change? Find out when Visual Arts eight students present this exhibit of work created in Audain Professor Carey Newman’s “Art for Social Change” studio seminar. The new exhibit Shift...
Visual Arts student expands campus cycling mural
Back in 2015, then-Visual Arts student Kyra McLeod was commissioned to paint a mural on the walls of the Campus Bike Centre. Her abstract design livened up a visually neutral space, and set the stage for future mural expansion. Now fast-forward to spring 2019, when...