Articles by author: Brock University

  • Brock community event looks at theatre criticism in the digital age

    Monday, February 10, 2014 | By

    (Source: The Brock News, Monday, February 10, 2014)

    An upcoming series of community discussions at Brock University later this month will debate the question: is everyone a critic?

    Media professionals, theatre experts, scholars and students will assemble in Sankey Chamber at Brock Feb. 21 and Feb. 22 to take part in the colloquium, The Changing Face of Theatre Criticism in the Digital Age, hosted by the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    “The rise of blogging and Twitter, combined with the decline of print journalism, is raising important questions about what counts as legitimate, professional criticism,” says Karen Fricker, event co-ordinator and a professor of dramatic arts. “Our discussions will focus on the current critical scene in Niagara, as well as imagining possible futures for the arts in our community.”

    Panel members include two of Toronto’s most influential theatre critics: J. Kelly Nestruck of The Globe and Mail and Richard Ouzounian of the Toronto Star. Others include local figures like Jackie Maxwell, artistic director of the Shaw Festival, and Steve Solski, director of the St. Catharines Centre for the Performing Arts.

    The colloquium will also feature international critics: Jill Dolan, Princeton University professor and noted theatre blogger (thefeministspectator.com); Maddy Costa, a London, England blogger and journalist; and Andy Horwitz, founder of New York arts blog culturebot.net

    Dolan is visiting Brock as part of the Walker Cultural Leaders series. While here, she will deliver a public lecture, “Moving the Body Politic: How Feminism and Theatre Inspire Social Re-imaginings.” Her lecture, co-sponsored by the Department of Dramatic Arts and Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies at Brock, takes place Friday, Feb. 21, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, also in Sankey Chamber.

    All of these events are free and open to the public.

    Funding for these events is provided by the Walker Cultural Leaders Series, the Brock Humanities Research Institute and the SSHRC Institutional Grant scheme, and the St. Catharines Performing Arts Centre.

    All events will be live-streamed.  [Click on “live video”]

    —

    SCHEDULE: The Changing Face of Theatre Criticism in the Digital Age

    All events take place in Sankey Chamber at Brock University

    FRIDAY, FEB. 21:

    * 2 – 2:30 p.m.: Welcome
    Presentation by Brock dramatic arts students from the third-year class, Studies in Praxis – Theatre Criticism

    * 2:30 – 4 p.m.: Panel discussion “Critics and the arts in Niagara”

    • Jill Dolan (respondent)
    • Monica Dufault, artistic director, Essential Collective Theatre
    • David Fancy, associate professor of Dramatic Arts, Brock University, co-artistic director, neXt Company Theatre (chair)
    • John Law, arts and entertainment writer, Sun Media
    • Sara Palmieri, co-founder, In the Soil Festival
    • Stephen Remus, minister of energy, minds, and resources, Niagara Arts Centre
    • Steve Solski, director, St. Catharines Centre for the Performing Arts
    • Candice Turner-Smith, managing director, Niagara Symphony Orchestra

    * 4:15 – 5:45 p.m.: Panel discussion “Embedded criticism: a new way forward, or criticism-as-PR?”

    • Maddy Costa, critic and blogger
    • Karen Fricker
    • Andy Horwitz, founder, culturebot.org
    • Jackie Maxwell, artistic director, Shaw Festival
    • Jacob Gallagher-Ross, assistant professor of theatre, University of Buffalo (respondent)
    • Lawrence Switzky, assistant professor of Drama, University of Toronto at Mississauga (chair)

    SATURDAY, FEB. 22:

    * 10 – 10:30 a.m.: Welcome
    Presentation by Brock dramatic arts students from the third-year class, Studies in Praxis – Theatre Criticism

    * 10:30 a.m. – 12 noon: Panel discussion “Bloggers, critics, and cultural legitimation”

    • Jill Dolan
    • Karen Fricker (chair)
    • Andy Horwitz (respondent)
    • J. Kelly Nestruck, lead theatre critic, The Globe and Mail
    • Richard Ouzounian, lead theatre critic, Toronto Star
    • Holger Syme, chair, Department of English and Drama, University of Toronto at Mississauga, and blogger (disposito.net)
    • Odette Yazbeck, director of public relations, Shaw Festival

    * 12:15 – 1 p.m.: Colloquium wrap-up

    • Maddy Costa; Jill Dolan; Karen Fricker (chair); Rosemary Drage Hale, director of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Brock University; and Andy Horwitz

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    Categories: In the Media, News

  • Teaching Opportunity: Assistant Professor – Drama in Education/Applied Theatre & Performance

    Tuesday, October 29, 2013 | By

    miwsfpa-icon-220Full-time Teaching Opportunity in the Department of Dramatic Arts:
    Assistant Professor – Drama in Education/Applied Theatre and Performance

    The Department of Dramatic Arts in the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts at Brock University invites applications for a tenure-track appointment in Drama in Education/Applied Theatre and Performance at the rank of Assistant Professor starting July 1st, 2014. The position is subject to final budgetary approval.

    Qualifications

    The successful candidate must hold a PhD with an emphasis on process drama/participatory theatre and exhibit exemplary practice in the profession. Teaching experience in elementary/secondary schools is an asset. Applicants should be able to teach courses with mixed studio/lecture components as well as larger-scale survey courses and studio performance intensives.

    The successful candidate will teach a range of courses in drama in education, applied theatre, performance, movement, and praxis. The preferred individual will bring knowledge of a spectrum of teaching methodologies in diverse pedagogical situations and critical performance theory, as well as expertise in synthesizing these modes of knowledge. The individual will engage energetically with departmental production activity, specifically the conceptualization and realization of departmental main-stage events and/or outreach educational outcomes. Skills in a secondary area featuring interdisciplinary research and practice may also be of value. Administrative skills are a definite asset.

    The salary is competitive and commensurate with qualifications.

    Notes

    The Department of Dramatic Arts offers a BA Honours in Dramatic Arts. For Honours students, Concentrations are available in Drama in Education/Applied Theatre, Performance, Production and Design, and Theatre Praxis. The Department also offers a four-year (20 credit) BA with Major Dramatic Arts degree and a three-year BA Pass degree, as well as two concurrent BA (Honours)/BEd programs over five years. For more information, see  www.brocku.ca/dramatic_arts/

    Located at the center of Canada’s beautiful Niagara peninsula in St. Catharines, Ontario, we are a community of learners and researchers with a strong and expanding regional base, with excellent resources in cultural, social, and athletic enrichment. Canadian and American metropolitan centres are within easy distance.

    In the summer of 2015 the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, including the Department of Dramatic Arts, will move to its new comprehensive facility in downtown St. Catharines, adjacent to a new regional performing arts centre built by the City of St. Catharines.

    Applications will include a brief covering letter, a letter of intent (1200 words max.) and a current curriculum vitae including a teaching dossier and/or artistic/academic portfolio in a theatrical field (mask, movement, directing, publications etc.). A five-year research plan should indicate directions for the future. In addition, candidates will provide the names of three referees who will be contacted in the event of a short listing. Please address applications to:

    Professor David Vivian
    Chair, Department of Dramatic Arts
    Brock University
    St. Catharines ON L2S 3A1
    dvivian@brocku.ca

    The application deadline is December 10th, 2013. This position is subject to budgetary approval. More information on Brock University may be found on the University’s website: brocku.ca. Brock University is actively committed to diversity and the principles of Employment Equity and invites applications from all qualified candidates. Women, Aboriginal peoples, members of visible minorities, and people with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply and to voluntarily self identify as a member of a designated group as part of their application. Candidates who wish to have their application considered as a member of one or more designated groups should fill out the Self-Identification Form available at https://brocku.ca/hr-ehs/career-opportunities-2 and include the completed form with their application. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

    This posting can be found at
    www.brocku.ca/hr/careers/position_detail.php?id=1370

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    Categories: Department/Centre News, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • A major step towards the opening of the St. Catharines Performing Arts Centre

    Friday, September 27, 2013 | By

    Algoma Central Corporation presenting the $250,000 donation

    Algoma Central Corporation presenting the $250,000 donation

    The construction of the St. Catharines Performing Arts Centre took a new step towards completion on August 15, 2013. The first crane was erected over the site at the same time the first corporate gift was unveiled. The $250,000 donation from Algoma Central Corporation will secure the name for the lobby of the new facility. This space will be the most central area of the $60.7-million building, $18 million of which was donated by the Government of Canada and $18 million of which was donated by the Government of Ontario.

    City officials see this donation and the erection of the first crane as major steps towards making the dream of the revitilization of the area into reality.

    The St. Catharines Performing Arts Centre will include four performance spaces: a 775-seat concert hall, 300-seat recital hall, 187-seat film theatre and a 210-seat theatre/dance venue.

    When the facility is opened in the fall of 2015, it is expected to host 600 events every year and see 125,000 visitors annually.

    A webcam focused upon the progress of the construction of the Performing Arts Centre can be seen here. The progress of the Marilyn I Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts facility can be seen in the upper right corner of the video feed. The school is anticipated to welcome over 600 students, staff and faculty in the fall of 2015.

    The St. Catharines Standard did a full article on the event.

     

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    Categories: News

  • The Walker Cultural Leader Series 2013- 14

    Thursday, August 08, 2013 | By

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    The Walker Cultural Leader series brings leading artists, performers, practitioners and academics to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts at Brock University. Engaging, lively and erudite, these sessions celebrate professional achievement, artistic endeavour and the indelible role of culture in our society. Please join us.

    This educational program is generously funded by Marilyn I. Walker.

     

     

    david-jalbert-wcls-music-220x220

    David Jalbert

    Pianist David Jalbert performs regularly as a soloist and recitalist across North America and Europe.

    Jalbert will present a recital of Bach’s masterpiece, The Goldberg Variations, as well as conduct a masterclass for Brock piano students.

     

    Sept. 20

    • Public Performance: J.S. Bach’s The Goldberg Variations at 7:30 pm, Sean O’Sullivan Theatre (free to MIWSFPA students; adults $15.04; seniors and students $10; eyeGo high school program $5)

    Tickets available at the Centre for the Arts Box Office 905.688.5550905.688.5550 x3257 or visit Arts.BrockU.ca (Prices do not include HST)

    Sept. 21

    • Piano Masterclass: Music students at 10 am-12 noon, Sean O’Sullivan Theatre (closed session); MIWSPFA students are invited to attend as audience members.

    CONTACT: Prof. Matthew Royal, Music, mroyal@brocku.ca

    David Jalbert has recorded CDs of solo piano music by John Corigliano and Frederic Rzewski, Gabriel Fauré, Dmitri Shostakovich, as well as his most recent release, the work featured in the Walker School concert, Bach’s Goldberg Variations. He is also an accomplished chamber musician, being a member of the piano trio Triple Forte, and has accompanied cellist Denise Djokic, French hornist Louis-Philippe Marsolais, and the wind quintet Pentaèdre, among others. Jalbert has won two Opus Awards (from the Conseil Québécois de la Musique) and was the 2007 laureate of the prestigious Virginia Parker Prize of the Canada Council for the Arts. He studied at the Juilliard School, the Glenn Gould School, the Université de Montréal, and the Conservatoire de Musique du Québec, and is now a professor of piano at the University of Ottawa.

     

     

    patrice-baldwin_dart-image-220x220Patrice Baldwin

    Patrice Baldwin is a world leader in Drama, Education and the Arts in learning, and their connections to the latest developments in Neuroscience.

    Baldwin will spend eight days teaching, speaking, and giving demonstration classes at Brock and throughout the Niagara peninsula.

     

    Oct. 3 & 8

    • Teaching/Demonstrations: DART 1F95, 2P01, 3P03, 3F92 students, scheduled class times (closed session)

    Oct. 5

    • Drama in Education Intensive Workshop: 9:30 am – 5:30 pm,Centre Stage Theatre School and Productions, 3505 Mainway, Burlington, ON (free for DART students; all others $20 to cover costs for refreshments and venue). Limited registration.

    Oct. 7

    • Teaching/Demonstration Classes: FOE pre-service and DART students and alumni, 8 am – 2 pm, Faculty of Education (FOE), Hamilton Campus, 1842 King St. East, Hamilton, ON (closed session)

    Oct. 9

    • Teaching/Demonstrations in Niagara Schools: FOE pre-service students, DART students and alumni, and Niagara teachers (closed session)
    • Public Lecture: “Neuroscience, Creativity, and Learning: Recent Research and Connections to Drama in Education and Arts-Based Learning,” 7:30 – 8:30 pm, Pond Inlet (free community event)

    CONTACT: Georgann Watson, Dramatic Arts, dramatic@brocku.ca

    Patrice Baldwin is president of the International Drama, Theatre and Education Association (IDEA), and Chair of National Drama (the UK’s leading professional association for drama teachers and theatre educators), and is also an Executive Forum member of the World Alliance for Arts Education. A renowned advocate for the Arts and Drama Education, she is a prolific and respected author, with a particular interest in: Drama as a way of teaching literacy and as a way of learning across the curriculum; Drama and Arts-based creativity; and Drama and Neuroscience. Baldwin, a visiting lecturer at the University of Warwick, is known for her lectures, keynote addresses, and workshops at international conferences.

     

     

    davidwaldenphoto-cstac-220x220David Walden

    A long-time senior manager in the Canadian cultural sector, David Walden recently retired as Secretary-General, Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

    Walden will present two public talks: one on the role of culture in international development, and the other on Canadian cultural property legislation.

     

    Oct. 21

    • Seminar: STAC 4P68 students, 1 pm, Rm. PL 311 (closed session)

    Oct. 22

    • Class: STAC 4F40 students, 3 pm, Rm. PL 408 (closed session)

    Oct. 23

    • Public Lecture: “Culture and Development -The Missing Link,” 7:30 pm, Sankey Chambers (free community event)

    Oct. 24

    • Public Lecture: “Art, Taxes, and the Public Good – how Canadian cultural property rules help artists, collectors,
      museums, and the public,” 7 pm, Rodman Hall Art Centre, 109 St. Paul Cres., St. Catharines, ON (free community event)

    Oct. 28

    • Seminar: STAC 4P68 students, 1 pm, Rm. PL 311 (closed session)

    CONTACT: Prof. Sharilyn Ingram, STAC, singram@brocku.ca

    From 1984 to 1999, David Walden held the positions of Secretary to the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board and Director of the Movable Cultural Property Program in the Department of Canadian Heritage. His numerous international involvements include chairing the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation; the International Network on Cultural Policy; and the UN Economic Commission for Europe Meeting on Sustainable Development.

    A member of the Executive Management Committee of the Canada Council for the Arts from 1999 through 2013, Walden currently works as a consultant in international organizations and governance. He was recently named an Honourary Lifetime Member of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

     

     

    altheaheadshot11-2-220x220Althea Thauberger

    Althea Thauberger is an artist based in Vancouver, BC. She was a 2011 finalist for the Grange Prize and her work is represented by Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto.

    Visual Arts students will have the opportunity to collaborate with Thauberger to produce an experimental documentary video on the future move of the Walker School to downtown St. Catharines, ending with a public screening and discussion.

     

    Oct. 28

    • Artist’s Talk: 7 – 10 pm, Pond Inlet (free community event)

    Oct. 29 – 31

    • Student Seminar Series: Brock campus and Fourgrounds Media, 31 James St., St. Catharines, ON (closed session)

    Nov. 1

    • Public Panel Discussion: 7 pm, Rodman Hall Art Centre, 109 St. Paul Cres., St. Catharines, ON (free community event)

    Nov. 2 – 7

    • Workshop: Video Production for participating students Brock campus and Fourgrounds Media, 31 James St., St. Catharines, ON (closed session)

    Nov. 8

    • Public Screening and Discussion: 7 – 10 pm, Rm. AS 215 (free community event)

    CONTACT: Prof. Donna Szoke, Visual Arts, dszoke@brocku.ca

    Driven by her interest in collaboration, Althea Thauberger’s internationally produced and exhibited work involves interactions with well-defined groups of people and communities. While Thauberger’s practice defies strict definition by medium, she has produced remarkable films, videos, photographs, and performances over the course of her decade-long career. Her unique facility for collaboration is the thread that connects her projects as well as her thoughtful engagement with groups of people as her subjects. She works with these communities to develop performances that offer the participants opportunities for self-exploration and self-definition. Whether videos or photographs, the final works Thauberger produces are always striking documents that entice, engage and surprise her viewers. Her work has been presented recently at the Liverpool Biennial (2012); 17th Biennale of Sydney (2010); National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2009); and The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (2009).

     

     

    Jill Dolan

    Jill Dolan is the Annan Professor of English and Professor of Theater at Princeton University, where she also directs the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies.

    Dolan will give a masterclass in online arts criticism, as well as a public lecture on “Moving the Body Politic: How Feminism and Theatre Inspire Social Re-imaginings.” She will participate in a colloquium and open roundtable on the changing face of arts criticism in the digital age.

     

    Feb. 20

    • Masterclass in Online Arts Criticism: DART 3P95/96 students 2 – 5 pm, Rm. TH 257 (closed session)

    Feb. 21

    • Public Lecture: “Moving the Body Politic: How Feminism and Theatre Inspire Social Re-imaginings” 10 am, Sankey Chambers (free community event). Presented in association with the Department of Dramatic Arts and the Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies
    • Colloquium: “The changing face of arts criticism in the digital age,”     2 – 6 pm, Sankey Chambers Keynote and presentations. (free community event)

    2:00 pm – 2:30 pm

    • WELCOME AND PRESENTATION by students in DART 3P96: Studies in Praxis – Theatre Criticism

    2:30 pm – 4:00 pm

    • PANEL DISCUSSION: Critics and the arts in Niagara
    • Chair: David Fancy, associate professor of Dramatic Arts, Brock University, co-artistic director, neXt Company Theatre.
    • Participants: Monica Dufault, artistic director, Essential Collective Theatre; John Law, arts and entertainment writer, Sun Media; Sara Palmieri, co-founder, In the Soil Festival; Stephen Remus, minister of energy, minds, and resources, Niagara Arts Centre; Steve Solski, director, St. Catharines Centre for the Performing Arts; Candice Turner-Smith, managing director, Niagara Symphony Orchestra
    • Respondent: Jill Dolan

    4:15 pm – 5:45 pm

    • PANEL DISCUSSION: Embedded criticism: a new way forward, or criticism-as-PR?
    • Chair: Lawrence Switzky, assistant professor of Drama, University of Toronto at Mississauga
    • Participants: Maddy Costa, critic and blogger, London, UK; Karen Fricker, assistant professor of Dramatic Arts, Brock University; Andy Horwitz, founder, Culturebot.org, New York; Jackie Maxwell, artistic director, Shaw Festival
    • Respondent: Jacob Gallagher-Ross, assistant professor of Theatre, State University of New York at Buffalo

    Feb. 22

    • Colloquium cont’d.: “The changing face of arts criticism in the digital age,” 10 am – 1 pm, Sankey Chambers. There will be a roundtable component (free community event)

    10:00 am – 10:30 am

    • WELCOME AND PRESENTATION by students in DART 3P96: Studies in Praxis – Theatre Criticism

    10:30 am – 12:00 pm

    • PANEL DISCUSSION: Bloggers, critics, and cultural legitimation
    • Chair: Karen Fricker
    • Participants: Jill Dolan; J. Kelly Nestruck, lead theatre critic, The Globe and Mail; Richard Ouzonian, lead theatre critic, Toronto Star; Holger Syme, Chair, Department of English, University of Toronto at Mississauga, and blogger; Odette Yazbeck, director of public relations, Shaw Festival
    • Respondent: Andy Horwitz

    12:15 pm – 1:00 pm

    • COLLOQUIUM WRAP-UP
    • Chair: Karen Fricker
    • Participants: Maddy Costa; Jill Dolan; Rosemary Drage Hale, Director of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Brock University; Andy Horwitz

    CONTACT: Prof. Karen Fricker, Dramatic Arts, kfricker@brocku.ca

    Jill Dolan is the author of The Feminist Spectator as Critic (1989, 2012); Utopia in Performance: Finding Hope at the Theatre (2005); Theatre & Sexuality (2010); and many other books and essays. She won the 2011 Outstanding Teacher Award from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education and a lifetime achievement award from the Women and Theatre Program (2011). She writes The Feminist Spectator blog at TheFeministSpectator.com, for which she won the 2010-11 George Jean Nathan Award for dramatic criticism. A book of her selected blog posts and new essays, The Feminist Spectator in Action: Feminist Criticism for Stage and Screen, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in July 2013. Her full bio can be found at princeton.edu/arts/arts_at_princeton/theater/professor_bios/dolan/

     

     

    wcls-ensemble-vivant-1-220x220Ensemble Vivant

    Ensemble Vivant have recorded for such labels as Fanfare, Pro Arte, Doremi, SPY and Opening Day/Universal and Opening Day Entertainment Group, and their recordings are heard on classical radio around the world.

    Ensemble Vivant, under the direction of Catherine Wilson, will present a concert with commentary on The Fugue, as well as give a masterclass on small ensemble playing for Brock music students.

     

    Mar. 28

    • Public Performance: The Fugue, 7:30 pm, Sean O’Sullivan Theatre (free to MIWSFPA students; adults $15.04; seniors and students $10; eyeGo high school program $5)

    Tickets available at the Centre for the Arts Box Office 905.688.5550905.688.5550 x3257 or visit Arts.BrockU.ca (Prices do not include HST)

    Mar. 29

    • Masterclass: Music students, 10 am – 12:30 pm Sean O’Sullivan Theatre; MIWSPFA students are invited to attend as
      audience members. (closed session)

    CONTACT: Prof. Matthew Royal, Music, mroyal@brocku.ca

    Ensemble Vivant consists of pianist, founder and artistic director, Catherine Wilson, as well as Sybil Shanahan (cello), Don Thompson (acoustic bass, vibraphone), Erica Beston (violin) and Norman Hathaway (violin, viola). Championing a unique genre-diverse repertoire in their concerts and recordings since the group first came on the scene in the late 1980s, Ensemble Vivant has received critical acclaim for its work in the classical piano-trio literature, as well as for its forays into the worlds of ragtime, jazz and tango. Hailed as “Canada’s Chamber Music treasure.” –  Toronto Star

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    Categories: Events, Walker Cultural Leader Series

  • Technical Theatre Job Opportunity in the Department of Dramatic Arts

    Monday, July 15, 2013 | By

    miwsfpa-icon-220IATSE 01/2013 Theatre Technical Production Assistant, Department of Dramatic Arts (DART), Faculty of Humanities 

    (closes Friday, July 19, 2013)

    Reporting to the Production Manager and/or Technical Director, the Theatre Technical Production Assistant is responsible for providing the technical elements for departmental production and teaching, supporting teaching of technical production by instruction or lab demonstration, supervising and maintaining DART spaces, technical inventory and equipment, and coordinating and supervising students and hired technicians.

    for more information and to apply please please see this page for the posting

    download the posting in a PDF file

    Inquiries about the job opportunity may be sent to the Production Manager, Brian Cumberland bcumberland@brocku.ca

    Inquiries about the Department and its programs may be sent to the Chair, Professor David Vivian dvivian@brocku.ca

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    Categories: Department/Centre News, News

  • Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts is breaking new ground

    Thursday, June 13, 2013 | By

    miw-celebration-3

    From left: Douglas Kneale, Dean, Faculty of Humanities; John Suk, Vice-Chair, Brock Board of Trustees; Jack Lightstone, Brock University President and Vice-Chancellor; Jim Bradley, MPP, St. Catharines; Marilyn I. Walker; Mark Elliott, councilor, City of St. Catharines; Joe Robertson, Chair, Brock Board of Trustees; Derek Knight, director, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    Faculty, students, senior administration and local politicians gathered on Friday May 31st to celebrate the ground-breaking ceremony for the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. With a budget of $39.6 million, the project will transform the former Canada Haircloth textile mill into an educational, creative and presentation complex of some 600 students, faculty and staff. Following the move to full construction mode in January 2012 the faculty, staff and students will begin their work in the innovative facility at 198 St. Paul in September 2015.

    Noting that the new facility will be “an economic hub for arts and digital media” and fuel the revitalization of downtown St. Catharines, Jack Lightstone, President and Vice-Chancellor of Brock University, remarked told the gathering that the new Walker School “is a tribute to the concept of community partnership. This is much more than a building. It is a statement about what can happen when many hands work together to build a better future.”

    Douglas Kneale, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, described the new facility for the school as a “living, breathing furnace of innovation” where artists of all disciplines “collide creatively …like sparks off a flint.” He continued:
    “In return, the community of St. Catharines will catch fire and experience in new ways the transcendence, the ache, the wow that only the arts can give us.”

    The facility project includes the renovation of existing buildings, some of which date to the mid-19th century, and the construction of new purpose-built facilities. In order to preserve the visual appeal of the historic architecture much of the retrofitting and renovation will take place indoors. The landmark’s exterior will be refurbished with new windows and restored brickwork.

    The project received $26.2 million from the Ontario government and is also being supported by generous partners from across the community. Marilyn I. Walker’s gift of $15 million was the remarkable catalyst for the creation of this much-anticipated complex that will serve the teaching, learning, and creative research in the fine and performing arts at Brock University.

    As well as shared spaces such as the new MIWSFPA learning commons, digital media lab, and praxis lecture hall, the department of Dramatic Arts will enjoy four performance studios (two of which can be used for public presentation), a carpentry and woodworking shop, costume shop and storage facility, design studio, and a new flexible studio theatre for teaching and presentation twelve months of the year.  The Department of Visual Arts will also be programming a new Visual Arts Exhibition Gallery, adjacent.

    Students of the School will also be using the film/video theatre and music recital hall built by the City of St. Catharines in the adjacent Performing Arts Center also scheduled to open in 2015.

    You can follow the construction of the Performing Arts Centre and the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (top of screen) at the Performing Arts Centre Construction Cam.

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    Categories: News

  • Groundbreaking ceremony for the Walker School

    Friday, May 31, 2013 | By

    miw-celebration-3

    From left: Douglas Kneale, Dean, Faculty of Humanities; John Suk, Vice-Chair, Brock Board of Trustees; Jack Lightstone, Brock University President and Vice-Chancellor; Jim Bradley, MPP, St. Catharines; Marilyn I. Walker; Mark Elliott, councilor, City of St. Catharines; Joe Robertson, Chair, Brock Board of Trustees; Derek Knight, director, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    May 31, 2013
    University Marketing & Communications
    905-688-5550 x4687

    Supporters raise a cheer as downtown Walker School takes shape

    Partners, politicians and downtown boosters joined Brock University officials today in a celebration at the St. Catharines construction site that will be the new home of Brock’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    Amid scaffolding and construction equipment, workers paused for about 30 minutes while guests got a close-up look at the progress and saluted the efforts of designers, engineers and project leaders who have stewarded the major initiative through more than two years of planning.

    Marilyn Walker herself wielded a shovel alongside University President Jack Lightstone, Brock Board Chair Joe Robertson and other officials for a ceremonial ground-breaking, even though the site has been a hive of activity for several months.

    With a budget of $39.6 million, the project will transform the former Canada Haircloth textile mill into an innovative teaching facility whose 500 students, faculty and staff will help revitalize the city centre when they relocate from Brock’s main campus in 2015. Situated between a new Performing Arts Centre and a new Spectator Facility, which are being built by the City of St. Catharines, the school is one of several major projects that will dramatically change the face of the city core.

    The Brock project received $26.2 million from the Ontario government, and is also being supported by numerous generous partners from across the community.

    Lightstone told today’s gathering that the new Walker School “is a tribute to the concept of community partnership. This is much more than a building. It is a statement about what can happen when many hands work together to build a better future.”

    The project moved into full construction mode in January after Brock entered into an agreement with the low bidder, Bird Construction Group. Much of the project involves renovating existing buildings, parts of which are from the area’s industrial heritage and date to the 19th century. While the retrofitting will largely take place indoors, the landmark’s exterior will be visually refreshed with new windows and restored brickwork. Plus there will also be new construction when a dramatic arts theatre rises in the coming months and invigorates the downtown landscape.

    For more info: Jeffrey Sinibaldi, media relations, Brock University, 905-688-5550 x4687; jsinibaldi@brocku.ca

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    Categories: Media Releases, News

  • View the new MIWSFPA promotional video

    Friday, March 15, 2013 | By

    The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts has released a new promotional video highlighting our departments and centre. View the video below:

     

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    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Future Students, News

  • New Walker series opens doors for arts students and the public

    Tuesday, February 12, 2013 | By

    BROCK UNIVERSITY
    MEDIA RELEASE

    February 12, 2013
    Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
    905.688.5550 x4765

    New Walker series opens doors for arts students and the public

    A major series of cultural events, workshops and performances being launched this fall by Brock University will provide new learning experiences for students, and in many cases will also be open to the public.

    The Walker Cultural Leader Series will see leading artists, performers and academics convene more than a dozen events in disciplines ranging from animation to classical music and theatrical performance. The events will take place on campus as well as in the community.

    Presented by Brock’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA), the series opens Oct. 16-19 with workshops, studio visits and performances by Sobey Award-winning performer and animator Daniel Barrow.

    The series will also feature presentations by Joan Watson, principal horn of the Canadian Opera Company; performer and author Stephen Nachmanovitch; acclaimed Canadian pianist Robert Silverman; and Daniel Levinson, an expert in movement and stage combat.

    The new series is being funded thanks to the Marilyn I. Walker Fund, an endowed fund created in 2008, when Marilyn Walker donated $15 million to Brock’s school of fine and performing arts.

    Derek Knight, director of the Walker School, said the main objective of the series is to engage students, but pointed out many sessions are open to the community.

    “The new series is committed to inviting varied and interesting guest speakers,” said Knight. “It will be engaging, lively and erudite. These sessions celebrate professional achievement, artistic endeavour and the indelible role of culture in our society.”

    Douglas Kneale, Dean of Humanities at the University, said the initiative is another step forward for Brock on the academic, cultural and community fronts.

    “Thanks to the generosity of Marilyn I. Walker, we are able to offer students unique interactions with creative leaders in the fine and performing arts, and also extend to the community educational and cultural opportunities that will be enormously enriching.”

    The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts is comprised of the departments of Dramatic Arts, Music, Visual Arts, and the Centre for Studies in Arts & Culture.

    For more info and follow-up interviews: Marie Balsom, Communications, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University, 905-688-5550 x4765; mbalsom@brocku.ca

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  • Industrial Fabric 3: Festival of the Arts

    Saturday, February 02, 2013 | By

    ifbannerbrock

    Download a copy of the Industrial Fabric 3 Brochure

    Industrial Fabric is a festival of student art, imaginative performances and musical collaboration presented by the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.
    Engage in two months of events that will stimulate the mind while demonstrating the vitality and vibrancy of the Arts at Brock University – on stage, in studios and galleries, and at regional venues.

     

    Dramatic Arts Events

    • Gimme 2 Festival: March 1 at 8 p.m.
    • One Acts Festival: March 15 & 16 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
    • An Acre of Time by Jason Sherman: April 11, 12 & 13 at 7:30 p.m.
    • Theatre Design Projects: March 24 – April 11, Opening Reception March 26, 5 – 6 p.m.

    Music Events

    •  Odessa/Havana: March 1 at 7:30 p.m.
    • Jeunesses Musicales – Così fan tutte: March 28 at 7:30 p.m.
    • The University Wind Ensemble – Around the World in 80 Minutes: April 2 at 7:30 p.m.
    • Let the Music Resound: April 6 at 7:30 p.m.
    • Spring Suites: April 27 at 7:30 p.m.
    • Tuesday Music @ Noon: Tuesdays from 12 noon (Sean O’Sullivan Theatre)
      • Recital: Voice students: March 5
      • Recital: Instrumental students: March 12
      • Recital: Voice students: March 19
      • Recital: Instrumental students: March 26
      • Recital: Piano students: April 2
    • Student Recitals:
      • Stephanie Browning, mezzo-soprano, with Lesley Kingham, piano: March 22 at 7:30 p.m.
      • Charlotte Mahy, clarinet, with Lesley Kingham, piano: April 3 at 7:30 p.m.
      • Jorgo Kalo, piano: April 4 at 7:30 p.m.
      • Nathan Pol, trumpet, with Gary Forbes, piano April 5 at 7:30 p.m.

    Visual Arts Events

    • Exhibition: Renew: March 2 – 15, Opening Reception March 2 at 7 p.m.
    • Exhibition: Time and Space: April 8, 8 – 10 p.m.
    • Video Installation: Donna Szoke – Invisible Histories: April 26 – 28, Opening Reception April 28, 7 – 11 p.m.
    • Exhibition: VISA Honours:
      • VISA 4F06 Exhibition I: March 30 – April 14, Opening Reception Friday April 5, 7 – 9 p.m.
      • VISA 4F06 Exhibition II: April 20 – May 5, Opening Reception April 19, 7 – 9 p.m.

    Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture

    • In The Works: Art Talk with Donna Akrey, Scott Sawtell and Jessica Thompson: March 2 at 3 p.m.

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    Categories: Events, Industrial Fabric

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