Department/Centre News

King Ubu tickets on sale now!

Thursday, January 24, 2019 | By Brock University

Tickets for our spring mainstage presentation of King Ubu, presented by the Department of Dramatic Arts, are on sale now!

The show runs from March 1 to 9 at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre.

Buy tickets

King Ubu

Written by Alfred Jarry
Translated by David Edney
Directed by David Fancy
Set and lighting by James McCoy
Costumes by Jo Pacinda

Alfred Jarry wrote King Ubu in the 1890’s in large part to poke fun at the idiocy, capriciousness and vanity of political and personal power. it is almost like its author could see into the future and predict the very political climate we are living in today.

The character of King Ubu is a complete fool who talks about poop, loves himself a lot and kills everybody around him whenever he feels like it. He is a patriarch, a racist and a megalomaniac.

His wife, Ma Ubu, is very much like Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth and pushes King Ubu to increasing feats of violence and narcissism. When they are not bickering or having food-fights, Ma Ubu demands King Ubu kill off their adversaries and take over the world. They spend the show chasing their enemies all over a fairy-tale-like Poland before sailing off into a sunset.

In short: the Ubus are the ultimate reality TV show gone wrong.

Read more about the performance.

PERFORMANCES:
Friday, March 1, 2019 @ 7:30 PM
Saturday, March 2, 2019 @ 7:30 PM
Sunday, March 3, 2019 @ 2:00 PM
Friday, March 8, 2019 @ 11:30 AM
Friday, March 8, 2019 @ 7:30 PM
Saturday, March 9, 2019 @ 7:30 PM

Tickets:
$18 Adult
$15 Student/Senior
$12 Group (10+) each
$5 EYEGO Highschool Student (with Valid ID upon ticket Pick-Up)

General Admission seating.

Performance location:
The Marilyn I. Walker Theatre
Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts – downtown campus – Brock University
15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines, ON

Tickets for all performances are available online through the Box Office of the First Ontario Performing Arts Centre. by email at boxoffice@firstontariopac.ca, or in person in downtown St. Catharines at 250 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines, ON, L2R 3M2.

Open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Holiday and summer hours may vary).

Buy tickets

Tags: dart, David Fancy, Department of Dramatic Arts, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, King Ubu, mainstage performance, Marilyn I. Walker Theatre
Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Department/Centre News, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News
Brock prof unveils Invisible Histories at Toronto exhibition

Wednesday, November 07, 2018 | By Brock University

Invisible Histories, by Brock researcher and Visual Arts Chair, Professor Donna Szoke, is installed at the John B. Aird Gallery and CONTACT Gallery in Toronto until Nov. 23. Her work is pictured above: Donna Szoke, Invisible Histories. Geo-loactive smart phone/tablet app, 2015

(From The Brock News, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018 | By: Sarah Moore)

The work of Brock Professor Donna Szoke on the hidden history of nuclear waste is being featured in a Toronto group exhibition that opened last week.

Szoke, a researcher and Visual Arts Chair, has her work on display as part of Digital Animalities — a two-venue exhibition of artworks that examines how human-animal understandings and relationships are changing through the use of ubiquitous media and new technologies.

The exhibition is part of a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada(SSHRC)-funded research project titled “Digital Animalities: Media Representations of Nonhuman Life in the Age of Risk,” led by Jody Berland of York University.It brings the work of artists and researchers together to highlight the challenges and opportunities for new understandings of animals in contemporary digital culture.

Co-curated by Giovanni Aloi, Matthew Brower and Curatorial Assistant Seb Roberts, Digital Animalities divided the works into two exhibitions: Mapping (at the James B. Aird gallery) and Rendering (at CONTACT Gallery).

Szoke’s Invisible Histories (a geolocative smartphone/tablet app she developed in 2015) is featured in the Mapping exhibition.

The free app maps nuclear waste at a Niagara Falls, N.Y., storage site, where more than 270,000 mice used in radioactive experiments have been buried.The app brings public awareness to the fact that there is radioactive evidence of secret atomic testing that took place during the infamous Manhattan Project in Niagara.

Users are guided through the app to the rodent burial site through the leadership of green, glowing 3D mice that become more prevalent on-screen as the site grows near.Szoke said it’s ironic, because no one actually wants to go towards nuclear waste, but the mice guide users to their graves to reveal their tragic end.

Szoke was awarded the 2017 Faculty of Humanities Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activity.

Her artistic work includes media art, interactive animation, installation, drawing, experimentation and printmaking.

Digital Animalities runs at the John B. Aird Gallery and CONTACT Gallery in Toronto until Nov. 23. The Invisible Histories app is available for free download at the iTunes store (OsX) and Google Play (Android).

Tags: Department of Visual Arts, digital animalities, Donna Szoke, Marilyn I. Walker School for Fine and Performing Arts, miwsfpa, VISA
Categories: Announcements, Department/Centre News, Faculty & Instructors, News
DART Faculty co-direct a Play in Four Hours at Curriculum and Pedagogy conference in New Orleans

Wednesday, October 31, 2018 | By Brock University

Classroom Territoriality (Left to Right) Joe Norris, Rich Edmonson, Sharon Gile, Rick Breault, Janis McTeer

A Play in Four Hours

Using the playbuilding research process, Dramatic Arts Chair Joe Norris and graduate student Kevin Hobbs co-directed delegates at the Curriculum and Pedagogy conference in New Orleans, Oct. 17 and 18.

After two, one and one-half hour devising sessions, and a one-hour rehearsal, they performed their series of nine vignettes, entitled: The Shape of School, at the closing conference event. The emergent themes included territoriality of classroom spaces, the pervasiveness of heteronormativity in the school yard, forms of administrative control of students and teachers, perceived status of particular schools and competing educational philosophies. It was concluded that these and other issues are strong undercurrents that contribute to the ethos of school experiences.

Audience members participated in workshopping the scenes through body sculpting and discussions, with one conference delegate claiming that the images and issues would haunt her for some time to come.

In addition to Norris and Hobbs, the participating playwrights were Rick Breault, Ashland University; Sharon Gile, Claflin University; Janis McTeer, Kent State University; Karen Morris, RJ Reynold High School, North Carolina; Sam Tanner, Penn State University; and Miryam Espinosa-Dulanto, Rich Edmonson, and Zulema Williams all from University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley.

The Shape of Schools (Left to Right) Kevin Hobbs, Sam Tanner, Sharon Gile, Janis McTeer

Leave it at the Door (Left to Right) Sharon Gile, Janis McTeer, Kevin Hobbs and Rick Breault

Tags: Curriculum and Pedagogy conference, dart, directing, joe norris, New Orleans, playbuilding
Categories: Department/Centre News, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News
Brock Music students to take the stage for first time this season

Friday, October 26, 2018 | By Brock University

(From The Brock News, Friday Oct. 26, 2018)

For the first time this season, students in Brock’s Department of Music are set to perform on the same stage that their instructors did just weeks before.

The RBC Foundation Music@Noon Recital Series continues on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

Students have the opportunity to perform in the Cairns Recital Hall in front of staff, faculty, fellow students and the community. Performers will include piano, vocal and instrumental students.

Music@Noon is a free recital series that takes place most Tuesdays at noon during the academic year.

For more information about the series, please visit the Music@Noon webpage.

Tags: department of music, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, music@noon
Categories: Current Students, Department/Centre News, Events, News
Public roundtable to explore Antigone’s relevance to modern society

Thursday, October 25, 2018 | By Brock University

Students in Brock’s Department of Dramatic Arts have been working for months to bring the classic Greek tragedy Antigone to the mainstage this weekend. The production will have a six-show run at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre in downtown St. Catharines, opening on Friday, Oct. 26. Seen during last week’s media call are actors Catherine Tait (Antigone), left, and Alexandra Chubaty Boychuk (Ismene).

(From The Brock News, Thursday Oct. 25, 2018 | By Jaquelyn Bezaire)

Gender inequality, corruption and the conflict between personal beliefs and the laws of society are all at the centre of Brock’s new mainstage production, Antigone.

And although the classic Greek tragedy is more than 2,500 years old, a roundtable discussion will be held at the University next week to discuss its relevance to today.

Elizabeth Vlossak, History Professor and Director of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA), hopes to delve into the reasons why Antigone is one of the most read, performed and adapted plays in all of dramatic literature.

On Wednesday, Oct. 31, she will moderate the roundtable that will include a panel of professors from Brock’s departments of Classics, Political Science, Philosophy and Dramatic Arts.

Faculty, staff, students and the community are invited to join the panellists in the conversation, which begins at 3 p.m. in the Scotiabank Atrium of the Cairns Family Health and Bioscience Research Complex.

The informative and lively discussion will highlight the importance of Antigone and the connections that can be made across academic disciplines.

The panellists will explain why Antigone is not only studied in courses about Ancient Greece but is also used to explore political theory, gender dynamics and various religious and moral problems.

Panellists include professors Roberto Nickel (Classics), Adam Rappold (Classics), Athena Colman (Philosophy), Stefan Dolgert (Political Science) and Mike Griffin (Dramatic Arts).

Vlossak organized the event in part to promote the upcoming production of Antigone, which opens Friday, Oct 26. The play is presented by Brock’s Department of Dramatic Arts.

“One of my goals as Director of the MIWSFPA has been to increase student, faculty and public awareness, interest and participation in our programming at the school,” said Vlossak. “But this interdisciplinary panel discussion is also about bridging the two campuses. It’s bringing faculty from different departments together to share their expertise with students and the public, and it’s showcasing how the fine and performing arts can be incorporated into all of our teaching, learning and research, as well as our everyday lives, in meaningful ways.”

The roundtable will begin by exploring the world of Sophocles and Antigone’s significance in ancient drama and performance.

Other topics of discussion include the legacy of Antigone in the fields of politics and philosophy, the continued pedagogical value of studying Antigone, and the play’s relevance in the current political climate.

“Antigone still inspires political rebels today, who find in her obstinate resistance a role model for action in the present,” said Dolgert. “Antigone is for those who refuse to accept the tired cliché that politics is ‘the art of the possible,’ as it is her seemingly irrational affirmation of the impossible that ultimately prevails.”

Griffin, a Dramatic Arts lecturer and the production’s Director, will join the panel and explain why he chose the play for Brock’s mainstage performance.

He hopes to “paint Antigone as a strong woman,” and aims to show how themes of the #MeToo movement are reflected throughout the production.

Antigone runs Oct. 26 and 27 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. and Nov. 2 and 3 at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a high school matinee on Nov. 2 at 11:30 a.m.

The production will be held in MIWSFPA’s Marilyn I. Walker Theatre in downtown St. Catharines. Tickets are available through the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre box office at 905-688-0722 or on the PAC website.

Tags: Adam Rappold, Antigone, Athena Colman, department of classics, Department of Dramatic Arts, Department of Philosophy, department of political science, Elizabeth Vlossak, Mike Griffin, Roberto Nickel, Stefan Dolgert
Categories: Current Students, Department/Centre News, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News
Brock cello instructor to take stage for Music@Noon

Monday, October 15, 2018 | By Brock University

Cellist Gordon Cleland will perform on stage for the RBC Foundation Music@Noon series on Oct. 16 at the Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

(From The Brock News, Monday, Oct. 15)

The 2018-19 RBC Foundation Music@Noon series continues with its second performance of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 16.

Generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation and hosted by the Department of Music, the free concert series performance will feature Brock cello instructor Gordon Cleland. All are invited to attend the recital, taking place in the Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

Currently performing with the Niagara Symphony as the principal cellist, Cleland has also performed as a soloist for the Debut Series in Montreal as well as across North America.

Music@Noon takes place at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre most Tuesdays at noon during the academic year.

For more information on upcoming performances, please visit ExperienceBU.

Tags: department of music, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Gordon Cleland, music@noon, rbc foundation
Categories: Department/Centre News, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News
Dramatic Arts grad’s road to success was paved at Brock

Friday, September 21, 2018 | By Brock University

Jacelyn Holmes (BA ’08) is set to release her debut album this winter and credits her success in the arts to her start in Brock’s Department of Dramatic Arts.

(From The Brock News, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018 | by Sarah Moore)

Among many things, Brock University taught Jacelyn Holmes (BA ’08) to defy her anxiety and be fearless.

The Dramatic Arts alumna learned to harness the confidence she embraced in University and now uses it each time she takes the stage to sing.

With the 10th anniversary of her graduating class set to be celebrated at Brock Homecoming this weekend, Holmes couldn’t help but reminisce about her artistic journey and how her Brock degree helped her achieve her career goals.

“It’s been an interesting ride so far and it’s funny to recount where I am and what I’ve done,” said Holmes, who studied at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts before its move to the new downtown St. Catharines facility.

After graduating, Holmes was involved in theatre productions and was cast in various television spots before realizing that her true passion was in the music industry.

She has since landed gigs playing for the Toronto Jazz Festival, Canadian Music Week, the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival as well as booking international tours and showcases in Europe, Central America, the Caribbean, Asia and the U.S. She will be releasing her debut album in February, with a Christmas album to follow later next year.

“Now that it’s all coming together, I’m excited to continue honouring my commitment to learning through art and creativity and discovering myself as an artist,” she said.

An actress since childhood, her lifelong dream had always been to work in theatre and film — making the Dramatic Arts Department at Brock a perfect fit.

“It was an amazing education,” she recounted. “At Brock, you spend four years constantly putting it all out there, learning to be vulnerable and available to failure in an environment where you can thrive with help from acclaimed professionals. It’s quite a beautiful thing.”

Although her passion for the craft was evident, struggling with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and anxiety made focusing on schoolwork extremely difficult.

“When I got to university, it became very apparent that I was not working at the same level as other people,” she recalled. “That brought out insecurities, shame and questions of why I was even there. I felt like I was drowning.”

Holmes credited the support she received from Brock’s A-Z Learning Services for helping her overcome those barriers.

“Feeling empowered to go and ask for the help that I needed or extra time on tests really allowed me to excel,” she said. “The staff at the Learning Centre were patient and taught me how to apply all that I had learned to my schoolwork and in the real world.”

Her grades went up, she was awarded scholarships and would even receive the Spirit of Brock Award — given to the student who embodies the spirit of Maj.-Gen. Sir Isaac Brock, by inspiring other students — in 2008.

Department of Dramatic Arts Chair Joe Norris congratulated Holmes on all of her success and her ability to channel the skills she developed with her degree to find success in the arts and life overall.

“Professors in the Department of Dramatic Arts aspire to inspire students in the entire range of their creative endeavours,” he said.

Holmes agreed that her theatre background has been key to her success as a performing vocalist.

“It was because of my theatre background that I am able to perform; it taught me to be fearless,” she said. “Some people would think that someone with anxiety would have a hard time getting up on stage, but it is my escape — and that feels awesome.”

Shelley Huxley, Brock’s Director of Alumni Relations, said she is always pleased to hear of student successes.

The Brock University Alumni Association works diligently, she adds, “to keep alumni informed about what’s happening at the University, and we work to connect alumni with each other for personal and professional gain.”

“As the largest constituency of the University, alumni are our most loyal supporters and our best ambassadors,” she said. “We want our alumni to care about the University long after they’ve graduated. Engaged alumni benefit both the University and each other, but more importantly, engaged alumni help raise the reputation of Brock, and by virtue, the reputation of their degree in the marketplace.”

This year’s Homecoming celebration takes place from Friday, Sept. 21 to Sunday, Sept. 23 with a variety of activities happening on campus and in the community.

Tags: a-z learning services, alumni, billy madison, brock homecoming 2018, brock learning services, Brock University, Brock University Dramatic Arts, drama, dramatic arts, Homecoming, jacelyn holmes, joe norris, learning disabilities, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, music, shelley huxley
Categories: Alumni, Department/Centre News, News
Get creative with Brock and the MIWSFPA during Culture Days

Friday, September 21, 2018 | By Brock University

The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) and Rodman Hall Art Centre (pictured) will be giving area residents a chance to meet artists and exercise their creativity as part of the national three-day Culture Days festival, Sept. 28 to 30.

(From The Brock News, Friday, Sept. 21, 2018 | by Alison Innes)

Brock’s arts facilities are welcoming in the public for a series of activities and performances during the annual Culture Days celebration later this month.

Rodman Hall Arts Centre and the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) will be giving area residents a chance to meet artists and exercise their creativity as part of the national three-day festival Sept. 28 to 30.

“We are so pleased to host another weekend of art and culture during Culture Days 2018,” says Rodman Hall Administrative Assistant Danny Custodio. “This year we’ve partnered with local artists and arts organizations to provide more activities, turning Rodman into a cultural hub.”

Rodman Hall Arts Centre is hosting free hands-on workshops by area artists in addition to tours of their current exhibition, Up Close and In Motion: Selected Works from the Permanent Collection.

Local artist Geoff Farnsworth, who specializes in portraiture, will be demonstrating drawing techniques and leading a drop-in workshop on expressive drawing Friday, Sept. 28 from 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 29 from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m..

For those who would like to try their hand at painting, artist Jana Simms-Bergsma will lead workshop participants through a colourful exploration of expressive landscapes. Visitors can also work with artist Diana Williamson to capture the historic façade of Rodman Hall in a collaborative mural.

Both Simms-Bergsma’s and Williamson’s offerings will take place Saturday and Sunday from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Rodman Hall will also host two performances. The Drama Garden, by Carousel Players, is a promenade-style theatre experience with opportunities for audience participation on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m.

DJ Marinko Jareb will be animating the Walker Botanical Gardens with an electro-acoustic soundscape performance Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m.

The MIWSFPA will be offering guided and self-guided tours all weekend. Visitors are invited to view current VISA Gallery exhibition “Three to Eight” by Associate Professor Murray Kropf. Proceeds from Kropf’s exhibition will support student scholarships.

The downtown St. Catharines arts school will also be bringing back a classic piece of Brock artwork. Michael Snow’s Frame 3 was initially commissioned by Brock University for a site-specific photo and video installation in the Mackenzie Chown Complex in 1972-73.

In addition, the MIWSFPA will host the St. Catharines Poetry Slam workshop Spoken Word Poetry and You, which will teach participants the fundamentals of creating and delivering spoken word pieces.

Culture Days is an annual festival giving Canadians the opportunity to meet creative professionals in their community and to foster an appreciation of artistic and cultural life.

A full listing of St. Catharines events, including Rodman Hall workshops is available online.

Tags: Culture Days, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, michael snow, murray kropf, Rodman Hall Art Centre, Spoken Word Poetry and You, St. Catharines, St. Catharines Poetry Slam, three to eight, timed images
Categories: Announcements, Department/Centre News, Events, News
Music majors to make an impact in Niagara with new Practicum course

Tuesday, September 18, 2018 | By Brock University

A group of Music majors are taking their learning into the real world this fall as they complete the new Music Practicum course. Led by Music Chair Matthew Royal (back left) and Course Co-ordinator Tim Stacey (back right), this year’s students include (front, from left) Jesse Day, Shaniqua Goodridge, Brielle Kaminsky, Sarah Hollick, Ryan Baxter and Gavino Oresta.

(From The Brock News, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2018 | by Sarah Moore)

A group of Brock Music majors will put their classroom learning into practice this fall as the first students enrolled in the new Music Practicum course.

The multi-year conjunction course allows students to complete for-credit volunteer placements in either music education, music health/therapy, music administration or music in the community.

Music Chair Matthew Royal said the course is unique because it provides real-world learning experiences while also giving students course credit and volunteer hours that are often required for those applying to Faculties of Education down the road.

“The idea is to introduce students to real-world settings that might line up with their future career goals and to have them apply the skills and knowledge they’ve learned from their courses in those settings,” he explained.

It also helps students discover what they are interested in career-wise and how they can achieve their long-term goals, added Koreen McCullough, Experiential Education Co-ordinator, Faculty of Humanities.

“Learning what you don’t like is just as valuable as learning what you do like,” she said. “Students are not only getting the valuable placement experience through this course but are also being taught up front to set their own goals. At the end of term, they will have a chance to reflect on challenges and achievements, access resume coaching and really apply what they’ve learned to help achieve their future career goals.”

Six Music majors signed up to work in schools and community organizations around the Niagara region this year.

Course Co-ordinator Tim Stacey (BA ’15) said the students have already shown themselves to be extremely dedicated and enthusiastic.

“They’ve worked on these placements over the summer, made connections and did their own research to find them,” said Stacey, who has worked for community choirs as well as the Niagara Symphony and Youth Orchestras since graduating from Brock’s Music program. “They didn’t get to just pick a selection from a list. They had to find the placement themselves, so it’s evident how engaged they are.”

Gavino Oresta, a fourth-year Music student, will be completing his placement working with music classes at Saint Michael Catholic High School in Niagara Falls, alongside his former high school music teacher, coincidentally.
With plans to become a music teacher himself, Oresta is looking forward to the challenge of leading his own lessons with the high school students this year.
“For anyone interested in teaching, it’s a great environment,” he said. “It’s also good to get different perspectives on how teachers go about their lesson structure because every school goes about their music program a bit differently.”

Learning about different teaching styles was what piqued the interest of second-year student Brielle Kaminsky, who will be working with extracurricular music ensembles, such as the choir, jazz band and string ensemble, at Ridley College in St. Catharines.

“I’m going to be working with students from all over the world in my placement and it’s really cool seeing how different cultures practice music,” she said. “Not only am I learning in the classroom myself, but I also get to go out and teach what I’m learning in the class to students, too.”

Adds Oresta: “Plus, you’re hanging around in a music class, which is just fun and exciting to me on its own.”For the first few weeks of the course, students will engage in workshops that will identify their learning outcomes for the term and outline the benefits of experiential learning. They will begin their work placements in late September, with the aim of completing 50 volunteer hours by April.

The course is open to all Music majors in second year and above and can be taken consecutively year after year. Applications for next year’s practicum course will open in the spring and anyone interested in applying is encouraged to contact Matthew Royal or Tim Stacey.

Tags: Brielle Kaminsky, experiential education, Faculty of Humanities, Gavino Oresta, Koreen McCullough, matthew royal, music, music practicum, niagara falls, ridley college, Saint Michael Catholic High School, St. Catharines, tim stacey
Categories: Current Students, Department/Centre News, News
Beloved Visual Arts staffer inspires Art History award

Friday, September 07, 2018 | By Brock University

Lesley Bell, right, sits with Visual Arts Chair Donna Szőke, one final time in the Learning Commons at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts before Bell’s retirement. The department marked her retirement with the creation of the Lesley Bell Award, to be presented to the Art History student entering third year with the highest average.

(From The Brock News, Friday, Aug. 31, 2018 | by Sarah Moore)
When you walk into the Learning Commons at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA), you are greeted by the always-smiling face of Lesley Bell.

The long-time Co-ordinator enthusiastically helps students, staff and faculty alike on their quests for knowledge, is always eager to explain how a piece of software works and has no shortage of stories to share about art, the University or life in general.

It is her passion for the work that she does, and for the people she works with, that inspired the Visual Arts Department to pay tribute to Bell’s legacy with a student award named in her honour.

Created in recognition of her retirement at the end of August, the new Lesley Bell Award will be presented annually to the third-year History of Art and Visual Culture major with the highest average.

Donna Szőke, Chair of the Visual Arts Department, said the award is a fitting way to recognize student accomplishment as well as Bell’s time with Brock, both academically and professionally.

“Lesley has been an invaluable resource to our department,” she said. “Her constant generosity of spirit, curiosity and kindness has touched the lives of the many students, instructors and staff of Visual Arts, as well as Brock as a whole. We celebrate Lesley with this award.”

Bell, who has been employed with Brock for 34 years, is the longest-serving staff member in the Visual Arts Department.

She remembers her journey through the ranks at Brock fondly, starting from her decision to enrol as a student in 1983.

While working part time as a waitress, Bell would always share her love of the arts with her coworkers. As a mature student in her 30s, however, she was skeptical about going back to school.

After some prodding from coworkers — and realizing there was a night class at Brock that she could attend which wouldn’t interfere with her work schedule — she decided to enrol.

“I started an art history class with Sylvia Osterbind, a fine arts librarian who also taught the Art History course for a fledgling program in History and Studio Arts at Brock,” Bell recalled. “Sylvia was a formidable teacher. I sat at the back of the class and watched her stride in front of two projected images of ancient art in her sensible shoes, waving her pointer and lecturing with her succinct German accent.”

From that point on, Bell was “hooked.” She would close down the bar, working until the wee hours of the morning, and then wake up for early morning seminars.

“I suddenly noticed ‘classical’ architectural elements on the buildings on St. Paul Street when riding the bus home from Brock, and I met some people who are still important friends,” she recalls fondly. “I started Brock thinking I was not smart enough for university, but that course showed me that I had a mind that could ask questions, and I had eyes that could see the creative world around me.”

After graduating with an Honours B.A. in Visual Arts from Brock University in 1988, Bell then continued her studies and earned a Master of Library Science degree from Western University in 1993.

From there, she returned to the place where it all started and began working at Brock as a Visual Arts resource co-ordinator.

Over time, her job would evolve to include oversight of the Brock University Art Collection and the former Sean O’Sullivan Art Gallery on the main campus.

Bell would eventually conceive and help design the Learning Commons in the new MIWSFPA building in downtown St. Catharines, where her duties expanded to include managing the equipment kiosk and supervising student monitors. She constantly worked to develop opportunities for the space to further benefit students and the community, and never stopped striving to make it a more inclusive place to study and congregate.

Bell is not one to boast about her accomplishments or bask in the spotlight, however. Especially, she says, when she was simply “doing her job.”

But when it comes to the student award in her honour, she is proud that her legacy will serve to inspire future students to also pursue their passions.

“I don’t know if I can say this emphatically enough: this award means more to me than the decades of service to Brock and is a legacy that actually stuns me,” she said. “We are all here because of the students that we train, nurture and mentor. However, we seldom get a chance to know that we ‘make a difference.’ So, it is deeply significant to me to be given this gift from the department.”

Tags: alumni, Donna Szoke, learning commons, lesley bell, retirement, VISA, visual arts department
Categories: Alumni, Department/Centre News, Faculty & Instructors, News