Vol. 5, No.2 | Winter 2015University of Victoria, Canada

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The Real CommitmentsFine Arts faculty & staff honoured at Long Service AwardsIt takes a real commitment to stay in a position for more than two decades, a fact which many in the Faculty of Fine Arts well know. Several of our faculty and staff were recently honoured for their long service to the University of Victoria; indeed, it was a banner year, with nine Fine Arts members being fêted at a celebration at the University Club on October 22.

Recognized for 25 years of service were Writing professor Lorna Jackson and Theatre instructor and head of wardrobe, Karla Stout. Several members from the School of Music were also honoured, with guitar instructor Alexander Dunn, computer music specialist Andy Schloss and Administrative Officer Jill Michalski all being recognized for their 25 years.

Further honours also went to School of Music recording techniques instructor Peter Driessen and pianist May Ling Kwok for 30 years, and pianist

Bruce Vogt for an impressive 35 years of service. “All of these individuals have made major contributions to the School of Music,” noted Krebs. “We are grateful to them and hope to have the privilege of working with them for many more years.”

It was once again a pleasure to see the commitment, dedication and accomplishments of all Service Award recipients being noted and celebrated. For many faculty and staff, these awards are an important, and often emotional, recognition of their years on campus.

UVic President and Vice-Chancellor Jamie Cassels was quick to praise the achievements of so many in the campus community. “[UVic’s] success in education and research is a credit to your enthusiasm, your hard work and your commitment. You have helped build and sustain a great university—a great place to learn, work and live.”

Congratulations to all!

Two guest professors—artist Rande Cook and writer Carl Wilson—join Fine Arts for the winter semester

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It’s been another busy season for our faculty—see what they’ve been up to outside of the classroom

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Three Fine Arts honourands highlight the recent Royal Society of Canada conference in Victoria

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UVic President Jamie Cassels with the School of Music’s Jill Michalski (above) and Theatre’s Karla Stout (below)

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Dean’s MessageIt is hard to believe we have finished up another academic term now that 2015 has drawn to a close. When I started my year as Acting Dean, I highlighted three areas of focus: enhancing student success, highlighting research and creative activity, and building community. I am delighted with what we have achieved this term, and thank you for your many contributions to these goals.

The Faculty is a campus leader in dynamic and experiential learning; our students learn in a research/creative activity-enriched environment and are given opportunities to develop their own creative work as an integral part of their stud-ies. Our Faculty continues to be actively engaged in creative work and research of a rich variety and high qual-ity. The Faculty leverages its vast research and creative resources to build connections across disciplines, across campus and into the community.

The Space Optimization project continued this fall. I thank the Faculty for its engagement in this important look at how we can best utilize our resources.

I want to congratulate Fine Arts on a successful fall term, and wish you all my best as we look forward to 2016. The turn of the year brings about a few changes around the chairs and director table. I want to formally congratulate Erin Campbell, who begins on Janu-ary 1, 2016 as Chair of the Department of Art History and Visual Studies (after a year as Acting Chair). A thank you is also extended to Harald Krebs for his service as Acting Director of the School of Music (his term ended on December 31). And a warm welcome goes to incoming Acting Chair of the Department of Visual Arts, Daniel Laskarin, and Acting Director of the School of Music, Art Rowe; both will take on their respective roles from January 1 - June 30, 2016. Join me in thanking everyone serving in leadership roles and all those who support them.

Once again, I offer my congratulations to everyone for another successful term and wish you the best for 2016.

—Susan Lewis, Acting Dean of Fine Arts

Be Our GuestsWelcoming Rande Cook & Carl Wilson Fine Arts will be welcoming two guest professors for our winter 2016 semester: Rande Cook and Carl Wilson. Cook is the 2016 Audain Professor of Contemporary Art Practice of the Pacific Northwest for Visual Arts, while Wilson is the 2016 Harvey Ste-venson Southam Lecturer in Journalism and Nonfiction for the Department of Writing.

“Visual Arts is very pleased to welcome Rande Cook as out newest Audain Profes-sor,” says Chair Paul Walde. “Rande is a highly celebrated artist who combines contemporary art practices with traditional carving techniques.”

A highlight of Cook’s term will be the two large-scale works he will be creating on campus, dedicated to the murdered and missing Indigenous women. “Students will have the opportunity to work alongside Rande and learn in a studio environment about this national tragedy and how art can be used to help begin this healing,” says Walde. “We are looking forward to working with our new colleague as he furthers his important research here at UVic.”

Cook, a Victoria-based contemporary multi-disciplinary artist, is also chief of the Namgis nation. He has worked with such mentors as Robert Davidson, John Livings-ton, Calvin Hunt and Valentin Yotkov, and has both studied and exhibited internation-ally. His work can be seen in galleries across the US and Canada, and is in collections worldwide.

Over in Writing, Carl Wilson will offer stu-dents the benefit of his experience as a con-tributor to The New York Times, The Atlantic, Pitchfork, The Nation, Exclaim!, Spin and many others—including nearly 15 years as a feature writer and editor at the Globe

and Mail. Currently music critic for Slate and Billboard magazines, he is also the author of the acclaimed Céline Dion-inspired book Let’s Talk About Love: Why Other People Have Such Bad Taste.

“I’m thrilled Carl Wilson is going to join us next semester as the Harvey Southam guest—his wealth of experience as a pro-fessional in the arts is going to be so valu-able to his students,” says Writing professor Lee Henderson, director of the Professional Writing program.

Wilson’s course will focus on critical writing about popular culture—a topic he well knows from his background as both a journalist and a founding member of Tram-poline Hall, the weekly Toronto lecture series that’s been selling out shows since 2001.

“Trampoline Hall is what inspired every other quirky lecture series you’ve ever heard of,” notes Henderson. “This is really one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for students.”

Rande Cook (above), Carl Wilson (below)

Susan Lewis reaches for new heights in the “Power up the Tower”

United Way Dean’s Challenge

Vol. 5, No.2 | Winter 2015University of Victoria, Canada

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School of Music profes-sor Andy Schloss, seen here with UVic president Jamie Cassels, seems to be humming a happy tune as he receives recognition of his silver anniversary at the Long Service Awards in October

School of Music low brass instructor Paul Beauchesne is ready to roll on the Tuba Christmas float in downtown’s Santa Light Parade—the first time UVic has ever participated in a local parade!

The Department of Theatre kicked off its latest season with the delightful Loon in their Spotlight on Alumni, followed by Brian Richmond’s mainstage produc-tion of The Threepenny Opera. Kirsten Sadeghi-Yekta brought her global Applied Theatre message to local TEDx audiences, while Jan Wood and MFA candidate Alan Brodie brought their skills to the Belfry’s production of A Christmas Carol. Allan Stich-bury gave a Dean’s Lecture downtown this fall and also designed the set of Barber of Seville for Ottawa’s Opera Lyra, directed by alum Dennis Garnhum . . . . Over in the School of Music, the Victoria Summer Music Festival—helmed by artistic director Arthur Rowe—celebrated 20 years this summer, while the Lafayette String Quartet’s annual health forum was once again sold out. Alexander Dunn was a guest teacher and visiting artist at the Beijing Central Conservatory in October, the Vikes Band is whooping up CARSA under the direction of Scott MacInnes, and a special Faculty Chamber Music Series concert

honoured retiring Musicology professor Michelle Fil-lion this fall . . . . Department of Writing MFA alumna-turned-instructor Francis Backhouse launched her latest book Once They Were Hats to great acclaim recently, earning her the #47 spot on the National Post’s top-99 books-of-the-year list. Lee Henderson’s latest novel The Road Narrows As You Go came out in paperback, and chair David Leach has a new memoir on the horizon. The Devout—the latest film by Daniel Hogg and MFA alum Connor Gaston—wowed audiences at fall film festivals and will be debuting locally at the Victoria Film Festival in February, and Maureen Bradley’s film Two 4 One continued to sweep audiences and awards. Watch for the BC premiere of Joan MacLeod’s latest play The Valley at the Belfry in February . . . . Art History & Visual Studies professors Chris Thomas and Tony Welch both retired at the end of the 2015 academic year, after which Allan Antliff spent his summer as the inaugural Research Fellow in Residence at the Clyfford Still Museum Research Center

in Denver, Colorado. Erin Campbell was recently confirmed as the new chair of the department, whose graduate student society has been revamped with a burst of fresh energy and enthusiasm. And Marcus Milwright gained some media attention this fall because of the ongoing troubles in Syria, where he has worked as as archaeologist . . . . In the Department of Visual Arts, Sandra Meigs won her second major art award of the year, this time the AGO’s prestigious Gershon Iskowitz Prize. Vikky Alexander, Robert Youds, Daniel Laskarin and Paul Walde all had out-of-town exhibits as well, and Robert Youds has just been awarded a Canada Council Long-Term Grant, the end result of which will appear at Open Space in 2017 . . . . Finally, the Dean’s Office has been busy with new outreach opportunities this fall, including a research meet-and-greet, the monthly Common Grounds mixer and hosting the book launch for Maria Tip-pett’s Made in British Columbia.

Around the CourtyardWe’re always having a creative impact

Clockwise from below: Jackson 2Bears’ Audain exhibit For This Land; Maria Tippett mingling at her September book launch; Writing professor Lynne Van Luven at her final Faculty Reading Night; a scene from Phoenix’s Threepenny Opera; the Art History & Visual Studies grad student poster fair in December; Theatre’s Kirsten Sadeghi-Yekta presenting at TEDx

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The Writing department’s David Leach, Valerie Tenning & Lee Henderson offer some Space Optimization thoughts

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Vol. 5, No. 2 | Winter 2015University of Victoria, Canada

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FACULTY OF FINE ARTS PO Box 1700 STNS CSC Victoria BC V8W 2Y2

email finearts@uvic.ca www.finearts.uvic.ca

Creative Being is published twice a year by the Faculty of Fine Arts to communicate the faculty’s goals, achievements, strategic direction and activities in order to connect teaching faculty, staff and alumni with each other and the university.

Keep up to date with us via the Faculty blog, Artsy Type, which you can find on the Fine Arts homepage. (You can also subscribe to our RSS feed and be notified of new updates.) We’re also active on Face-book, Twitter & Instagram, so there are many ways to stay connected!

Fine Arts is proud to recognize our three newest faculty members—Dr. Joseph Salem in the School of Music, and both Cedric Bomford and Megan Dickie in the Department of Visual Arts.

Fresh from Yale, Joseph Salem is now an Assistant Professor of Music History, Musicology & Theory with the School of Music. “A scholar with expertise in music after 1950, he is a passion-ate teacher who will ignite the classroom and instill a love for music our students,” says Lewis, director of the School of Music.

Over in Visual Arts, 2014 Sobey Award nominee Cedric Bomford is now an Assistant Professor in Photography, coming from a position at the University of Manitoba. And while her position as Assistant Professor of Sculpture may be new to her, Megan Dickie is no stranger to the department, having spent this past decade as one of their most highly ranked sessional instructors.

Visual Arts chair Paul Walde says Bomford’s “career is on a upward trajectory” that will both raise the department’s profile and attract new students, while Dickie’s “studio research has developed in new and innovative ways,” attracting more exhibition opportunities both nationally and internationally.

Yet we were equally saddened by the recent loss of three retired foundational figures in the history of Fine Arts this past summer: former Writing Chair David Godfrey, Music professor Eugene Dowling, and Visual Arts Professor Emeritus Donald Harvey.

The Governor General’s Award-winning Godfrey passed away on June 21, and we lost Visual Arts co-founder Harvey on August 21. But it was Dowling’s death on June 30 that hit many the hardest, given his recent retirement in 2014.

“Gene was a wonderful teacher, talented performer and delightful colleague and friend,” says Lewis. “He showed incredible generosity and thoughtfulness towards his students and helped make the School of Music a great place to be. He is sorely missed.”

Passing the Torch New arrivals and recent losses

Biró at work in the classroom

Salem, Dickie and Bomford

More than 400 of Canada’s brightest academic minds converged on Victoria in November when the Royal Society of Canada honoured three of our own.

Celebrated playwright, Writing professor and UVic alumna Joan MacLeod was one of three UVic professors elected as new fellows, while noted composer and Music professor Dániel Péter Biró was elected as one of three new members of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists (colloquially known as the RSC’s “rising stars”). Acclaimed author and retired Writing professor Jack Hodgins was also presented with the Pierce Medal for outstanding achieve-ment in imaginative literature.

“The Faculty of Fine Arts is fortunate to have colleagues of the calibre of profes-sor Joan MacLeod and Dr. Biró, both of whom bring their research and creative practice to bear on their teaching and mentorship of our students,” says Susan Lewis, Acting Dean of Fine Arts. “We congratulate our two colleagues on their appointments to the RSC.”

MacLeod—who joins existing Faculty of Fine Arts Royal Society Fellows Tim Lilburn and Mary Kerr, as well as the retired Lorna Crozier—was particularly moved by the honour. “My research is my stage plays, of course, and this is recognition that my research as a playwright, my artistic practice, is worth something in academic circles, which really means something to me,” she says. “I have always had a sense of community in theatre and writing, but academic community is something else. To be included in a group of eminent scholars, scientists . . . it’s astounding.”

MacLeod says she was surprised by the emotion of the day. “It was very mov-ing watching other people be inducted . . . the members are all really amazing people and academics. We were all a little nervous, but it was a very human experience.”

Royally HonouredRoyal Society of Canada recognizes three from Fine Arts