Department/Centre News

First-year orientation activities for DART, Music, VISA, and STAC students

Friday, August 24, 2018 | By Brock University

Welcome to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA)!

As a new student with the school, you are invited to The New Student Welcome and Academic Orientation as your official welcome to Brock University on September 4! The orientation begins at 8 a.m. in the Ian Beddis Gym, where you’ll hear from President Gervan Fearon and enjoy an inspirational keynote to begin your day and kick-start your term. Afterwards, you are welcome to connect with your faculty and upper year student mentors to receive important information about academic supports and resources. Then, go check out the vendor and welcome fair, take a campus tour and to locate your classes, and get an orientation to the Brock Library. * Don’t forget to register for this orientation at Experience BU.

As a student in Dramatic Arts, Music, Visual Arts or the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture, you are invited to then attend the Faculty of Humanities orientation session, beginning at 10:00 a.m. in the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre on Brock’s main campus.

First-year MIWSFPA mixer and lunch

September 4

12 to 1:30 p.m.

MIWSFPA lobby

Downtown St. Catharines

15 Artists’ Common

There are also several department-specific orientation events that you are encouraged to attend!

Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture

Sept. 4: 2 to 6 p.m.
Marilyn I Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts Room 334
15 Artists’ Common

Visual Arts

Sept. 7: 3 to 4 p.m.
Marilyn I Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts Lobby
15 Artists’ Common
*This will be followed by an opening of Murray Kropf’s new exhibit, Three to Eight at 4 p.m. in the VISA Gallery

Dramatic Arts

Sept 24: 6 to 8 p.m.
MIWSFPA Theatre
15 Artists’ Common

Music

September 11: 12 -12:50 p.m.
Cairns Recital Hall.
For all Music majors, single or combined.

Tags: academic orientation, brock orientation, centre for studies in arts and culture, dart, department of music, Department of Visual Arts, Faculty of Humanities, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, music, new student, stac, VISA
Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Department/Centre News, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News, Uncategorised
Closing Reception for International Scholar Canan Demir

Tuesday, July 17, 2018 | By Brock University

Closing reception : Canan demir
July 23, 3:30 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts Lobby
15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines, On

Everyone is invited to attend a closing reception featuring Visiting International Scholar Canan Demir, from Abant İzzet Baysal University, Turkey.
Demir’s İNSTALLATIONS intervention will be available for viewing and a meet-the-artist reception will follow, where guests can learn more about her work. Refreshments will be served and the event is open to all members of the community. It is family friendly and takes place on July 23 from 3:30 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Demir has been working at the school as a Visiting International Scholar since last August, completing the research project “Analysis of Recycling Efforts at Canadian Universities and the Use of Scrap Materials in Sculpture Classes.” The VIS program invites scholars and researchers from abroad, who are interested in an international research and scholarship opportunity, to visit Brock and collaborate with faculty and students in a range of academic activities.

Demir’s installations utilize found and repurposed scrap materials with a focus on the memories tied to these items. The installations will be on display for viewing outside of the front entrance to the MIWSFPA building from now until the closing reception.

Tags: brock visual arts, canan demir, Department of Visual Arts, installation, miwsfpa, Reception, St. Catharines, VISA, visiting international scholar
Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Department/Centre News, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News
New grad honoured for textile artwork

Wednesday, July 11, 2018 | By Brock University

Victoria Reid was recently honoured for her artwork, which was on display at Rodman Hall Art Centre as part of the Turnin’ this Car Around exhibition in April.

(From The Brock News, Wednesday, June 20, 2018 | by Alison Innes)

The eye-catching pieces were hard to miss.

Made from everyday materials, the headless human forms could be seen cascaded down a wall within Rodman Hall Art Centre, drawing attention and sparking conversations among visitors.

Created by Victoria Reid, the pieces were featured during the VISA 4F06 Honours exhibition, Turnin’ this Car Around, in April, but continue to earn the young artist praise.

Visual arts graduate Victoria Reid has been awarded the inaugural Marilyn I. Walker Textile Art Award. (Photo: Jimmy Limit)

The June graduate was chosen to receive the inaugural Marilyn I. Walker Textile Art Award for her work. The honour is given to a graduating student for a piece of textile art and is intended to support the student’s continued artistic development.

Reid’s figures, made from yarn, fabric scraps, plaster and packing tape, challenge the viewer to see bodies as objects taking up space.

“The bodies are not human without their contents,” says Reid. “These sculptures embrace the oddity and the awkwardness of the human body, focusing on the fact that we are weird masses of matter and, together with soul, we become beings.”

Reid says for as long as she can remember, she has been intrigued by textiles.

“They have so much personality and can be handled with a variety of different methods to morph them into something new,” she says.

It was her grandmother who taught her how to weave, stitch, sew, knit and crochet at an early age.

Reid applied these more traditional ways of working with textiles to new ideas to create her award-winning work and cites Walker’s own work as inspiration.

“Marilyn I. Walker’s piece in the first floor hall inspired me greatly this year with the variety in colour and texture, and the stitching together of different fabric patterns and materials,” she says.

Reid’s pieces are cast from her own body and lend drama to the philosophical question of the mind-body dichotomy, writes Associate Professor Derek Knight in the exhibition catalogue.

“References to the human body are rarely benign and Reid is no different when she describes her plaster figures as symbolizing the existential dilemma between spiritual life and physical existence,” he writes.

Reid will be continuing her arts education this fall at the University of Western Ontario, where she is enrolled in a Master of Library and Information Science program to study Collections and Archive Management.

“I want my future career to work with, influence and inform my art practice,” says Reid, who continues to create, show and sell her art. She is also working with Brock Visual Resources Librarian Lesley Bell for the summer.

“Being awarded the Marilyn I Walker Textile art award means so much to me,” Reid says. “Working with textiles in my art is what I do and being awarded for something that I have worked hard on and put so much energy into is a great feeling. It makes me feel not only proud of myself, but thankful for all of the friends, family, peers and instructors who have helped and supported me along the way.”

Tags: Brock University, Faculty of Humanities, humanities, Marilyn I. Walker Textile Art Award, Rodman Hall Art Centre, Turnin' this car around, Victoria Reid, VISA 4F06 Honours, visual arts
Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Department/Centre News, News
Moulding a masterpiece

Wednesday, June 27, 2018 | By dvivian

(From The Brock News, Wednesday, June 20, 2018 | by Alison Innes)

Brock Visual Arts students have been busy pouring, carving and cutting in preparation for their sculpture exhibition taking place Wednesday, July 4. Angelina Turner, a third-year Concurrent Education student, checks the silicone mould she made for her poured plaster bottle sculpture. Students have been working with cardboard, plaster, soapstone and styrofoam over the course of the semester as they explore the fundamentals of 3D work. They meet from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. twice a week to design, construct and analyze sculptures in VISA2F05 Introduction to Sculpture. Students will be completing a final project in their chosen medium for the class exhibition at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts gallery.

Tags: Donna Akrey, Introduction to Sculpture, sculpture, VISA 2F05
Categories: Current Students, Department/Centre News
MIWSFPA to host international philosophy conference

Tuesday, June 12, 2018 | By dvivian

(from The Brock News, Tuesday, June 12, 2018 | by Alison Innes)

Brock will welcome philosophers from around the world this week for a conference devoted to contemporary French feminist thinker Luce Irigaray.

Hosted by Brock’s Department of Philosophy, the ninth annual meeting of the Luce Irigaray Circle will be held at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines from Thursday, June 14 to Saturday, June 16. The Circle is an interdisciplinary group of academics who produce significant scholarship on Irigaray’s philosophy and feminist thought.

This will be the first time the event is held in Canada, making it the first Canadian conference devoted to Irigaray’s work.

“Each meeting of the Circle is a purposively unique event, which is organized around a specific theme in order to further Irigarayan scholarship in a new direction,” says Athena Colman, conference organizer and Brock Associate Professor of Philosophy.

“Site selection for the meeting is highly competitive and is a recognition of the organizer’s contribution to new areas of research in the field.”

The event has previously been hosted by Stony Brook University in New York, University of Bergen in Norway and University College of London in England, among other locations.

This year’s three-day interdisciplinary conference, titled “Horizons of Sexual Difference,” will explore scholarship and creative work inspired by Irigaray.

The conference will look at new ways in which Irigaray’s thinking can be applied to recent philosophical and feminist discussions.

Themes explored by the circle include analyses of contemporary social and political issues and spirituality in relation to sexual differences, as well as investigations into the role of literature and art in philosophical thinking.

to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-irigaray-circle-2018-horizons-of-sexual-difference-tickets-45213383447?aff=es2

Tags: Department of Philosophy, humanities, Irigaray Circle, Luce Irigaray
Categories: Announcements, Department/Centre News, News
Student completes music degree started 18 years ago in Mexico

Thursday, June 07, 2018 | By dvivian

Mexico’s Luis Gerardo Molina will graduate from Brock Friday with a degree in Music.

(from The Brock News, Tuesday, June 05, 2018 | by Dan Dakin)

For 20 years, Luis Gerardo Molina worked his way up the corporate ladder of a growing computer software firm in his home country of Mexico.

After high school, he had made what he viewed as a responsible decision to choose a stable career in technology over a fragile one as a classical pianist, but his love of music kept pulling at him like a magnet.

Eventually, he gave in, and on Friday, June 8, at the age of 48, his career change will be official when he graduates from Brock University with a degree in Music.

“It means everything,” said Molina. “That was a dream that I always wanted to make happen and I really struggled to get it.”

Born into a family of talented musicians, Molina grew up around choirs and instruments, and by the age of six it was obvious he had a gift. At nine, he started working with a piano teacher and for eight years he attended a specialized school of music that turned his hobby into a craft.

“I finished my high school and I had that dilemma many people face — should I devote my life to music? Is that a safe path for the rest of my life?” Molina said. “I decided to follow an alternative career. I always really liked the maths, so I decided to choose engineering.”

A literal flip of a coin at the age of 17 made Molina choose computer engineering over civil engineering, and that set in motion a software career that lasted 20 years.

But while his career progressed to the point of becoming a manager, so did his ongoing love of music. Having never truly given up his dream of being a professional pianist, Molina went back to the University of the Americas part time in 2000, completing two years of a four-year degree before realizing the workload wasn’t sustainable.

Luis Molina’s music career has taken him to competitions and performances around the world.

“It was just too much,” he said.

But an invitation to an international piano competition in Paris in 2003 ramped up his duelling interests. After beating out nearly 100 competitors from 35 countries to win the contest, he was invited to more international performances and competitions, leading to the production of his first album of live recordings.

“I got very good support from the company I was working for. The owner was a kind guy who was also involved in music and he always felt proud to tell them he had an employee with this background in competition and music,” said Molina, who traveled to the U.S., Germany, Russia, Poland and elsewhere over the years.

“After doing all that, I decided the music is calling me more and more,” he said. “The company I was working for was growing and every day it was getting more complicated to do both things together.”

Finally in 2015, the door opened to make music his full-time endeavour. He was hired as a pianist with a philharmonic orchestra in Mexico and went back to university for his third year of music school.

Then, in 2017, a trip to Canada to visit friends in Niagara led to another big change.

“I loved the Niagara region so I thought, if I’m going for my passion in music, I found the perfect place to do it,” he said.

A tour of Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts and a meeting with Associate Professor of Music Karin Di Bella confirmed that Brock was where Molina would finish his degree.

“I fell in love with what I found here. And now that I’m almost done, I feel very lucky to have had this great opportunity in this great country and at this great University,” he said.

Di Bella called Molina “the real deal.”

“He possesses a rare combination of drive, discipline, musical maturity, technical facility, innate musicality and a true flair for performance,” she said. “Despite his many accomplishments, he is very humble and always eager to learn, making him a true joy to work with.”

After graduating Friday in the final day of Brock’s Spring Convocation, Molina will move on to do his master’s in musical literature and performance at Western University.

From there, a PhD and potentially a teaching career are in his sights.

“I’ve been performing for more than 30 years and I want to continue doing that, but I’d like to share my perspectives and teach others,” he said.

Molina credits his wife, Marcela Lagunas Burgos, herself a talented musician who plays the cello, as playing a major role in his career success.

“We’re definitely on the same frequency. She has supported me with everything and all the decisions.”

Tags: department of music, Faculty of Humanities, Karin Di Bella, Luis Gerardo Molina, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, spring convocation
Categories: Alumni, Current Students, Department/Centre News, Future Students, In the Media, News
MIWSFPA welcomes Elizabeth Vlossak as Director

Monday, June 04, 2018 | By dvivian

Associate Professor of History Elizabeth Vlossak will take on the role of Interim Director of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts on July 1.

(adapted from The Brock News, Sunday, June 03, 2018 | by Alison Innes)

Associate Professor of History Elizabeth Vlossak will be become Interim Director of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts on July 1 when current Director David Vivian begins a year-long sabbatical.

“I’m really looking forward to continuing to strengthen our community partnerships and perhaps develop new ones,” says Vlossak. “I’m thinking of ways to bridge the Humanities so that there is more interaction and collaboration between the MIWSFPA and other departments on the main campus.”

Being a historian, Vlossak says she loves how “the city’s past has been preserved in a way that is relevant to the present, while also looking to the future,” in terms of the MIWSFPA building. But the school isn’t just the building. “It’s the people — students, faculty and staff — doing incredible work that enriches Brock as well as St. Catharines and the Niagara region.”

Vlossak’s research area is 20th century European history, with particular interest in cultural history during the two world wars, women’s history, gender and nationalism, and memory and the politics of commemoration.

She is a founding member and Associate Fellow of The History Lab, a collaboration with the Niagara Falls Military Museum, Seedling for Change in History, and Associate Professor Maria del Carmen Suescun Pozas.

Vlossak has also consulted with the Department of Dramatic Arts on two Mainstage productions, Ring Around the Moon (2006) and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (2016), sharing her research specialization with students and contributing to their successful performances.

“The executive of the school is particularly excited by Associate Professor Vlossak’s record of community engagement through undertakings such as The History Lab,” says Vivian. “We look forward to her contribution to existing programming and relationship building with our community partners, as well as her unique new initiatives.”

“I’m very pleased that Professor Vlossak is willing to take on the role of Interim Director of the MIWSFPA,” says Faculty of Humanities Dean Carol Merriam. “Professor Vlossak is an active, energetic, and imaginative teacher and scholar, and will bring those same qualities to the work of the School.”

Vivian, Associate Professor with the Department of Dramatic Arts, has been Director of the MIWSFPA since 2016. Previously he was Director of the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture (3 years) and Chair of the Department of Dramatic Arts (4 years). He teaches theatrical design, production and stagecraft and has designed sets and costumes for Department mainstage productions.

“The directorship is an unusual job involving work with faculty, staff, students and external partners, and Professor Vivian has balanced all of these demands very effectively,” says Merriam. “I wish him well of his rightly-deserved sabbatical.”

Tags: Carol Merriam, david vivian, department of history, director, Elizabeth Vlossak, humanities, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, miwsfpa
Categories: Announcements, Department/Centre News, Faculty & Instructors, News
New book explores the art of animal advocacy

Tuesday, May 22, 2018 | By dvivian

Associate Professor of Visual Arts Keri Cronin examines the role of visual images, such as Edward Landseer’s A Distinguished Member of the Humane Society (exhibited 1838), in animal activism in her new book, Art for Animals: Visual Culture and Animal Advocacy, 1870-1914.

(Source: The Brock News, Tuesday, May 22, 2018 | by Alison Innes)

It was while searching for a set of lantern slides many years ago that Keri Cronin inadvertently found inspiration for her latest book.

The slides never materialized but what Cronin, an associate professor in Brock’s Department of Visual Arts, did find was an abundance of material on animal advocacy.

That material has helped to form her latest publication, Art for Animals: Visual Culture and Animal Advocacy, 1870-1914, which explores the use of visual art material in campaigns for animal advocacy.

Art for Animals: Visual Culture and Animal Advocacy, 1870-1914 is the latest book by by Associate Professor Keri Cronin.

Influenced in part by authors who looked at visual culture in other social justice movements, such as suffrage and civil rights, Cronin’s book explores how animal advocacy images were created, circulated and consumed, and the impact that had on ideas about the humane treatment of animals.

“Visual culture played an important role in defining campaign goals, recruiting membership, raising funds, and, ultimately, sustaining and challenging dominant ideas about nonhuman animals,” writes Cronin.

Her biggest challenge has been locating archival material to piece together the stories of animal advocacy.

“For so long, the history of human-animal relationships was not a particularly valued area of research, and archival collections often reflect this,” says Cronin, who hopes the book will lead people to recognize relevant print material they might have in their own collections.

The cheap, mass-produced pamphlets created and distributed by animal advocacy groups in the late 19th and early 20th century often weren’t considered valuable enough to save.

The field of animal-human relations, however, has recently seen an explosion of interest both within the University and the broader public. Cronin notes that although her book deals with historical material, many of the key points have relevance for how images are used in animal advocacy today.

“It is high time we turn our attention to how animals have always been part of our stories, histories, labour and societies,” she says.

“Art for Animals asks us to think about the ways in which visual images can both shape and challenge dominant narratives about non-human animals.”

A public book launch will be held for Art for Animals on Wednesday, May 23 from 4 to 6 p.m. at Mahtay Café, 241 St. Paul St. in St. Catharines.

Tags: Department of Visual Arts, History of Art and Visual Culture, humanities, keri cronin
Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Department/Centre News, Events, Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News
Brock hosts 28th annual national CITT/ICTS RENDEZ-VOUS

Monday, May 21, 2018 | By dvivian

The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts of Brock University and the Meridian Centre extend a generous warm welcome to our professional colleagues, researchers, producers, specialist manufacturers, distributors, technicians and students from across the country for the:

CITT/ICTS 28TH RENDEZ-VOUS ANNUAL CONFERENCE & TRADE SHOW

CITT/ICTS holds an annual RENDEZ-VOUS every mid-August.The conference offers three days of sessions, workshops, backstage tours, trade show, social events and networking opportunities. The location varies from year to year to allow members from different regions of Canada to more easily attend.

The Meridian Centre is located adjacent to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts of Brock University

CITT/ICTS RENDEZ-VOUS 2018
Annual Conference & Trade Show
in St Catharines, ON
at the Meridian Centre and the
Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts (MIWSFPA)

August 15 – 18, 2018
Opening night: Wednesday, August 15
Pre-conference: Tuesday August 14 to Wednesday August 15

#citticts @CITTICTS

on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CITTICTS
website: www.citt.org/annual_conference

STUDENT VOLUNTEER PROGRAM!
Get INVOLVED
Be CONNECTED
Live the EXPERIENCE

CITT/ICTS Annual Conference and Trade Show Rendez-vous has been held for over 25 years. During that time, student volunteers have played a key role in guaranteeing its success. Whether they assist in mounting the trade show, setting up the social events, or helping out at the registration desk, the student volunteers contribute in making our annual event a tremendous hit!

During the conference, student volunteers are assigned various task, which includes setting up and tearing down the Trade Show, troubleshooting technical problems such AV projectors, sound equipment, etc. helping out with hospitality, giving a hand at the registration desk, and more… !

for more information about the Student Volunteer Program

CONFERENCE LEARNING opportunities include:

2-day ETC Ion Xe Console Training
CITT/ICTS along with the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts (MIWSFPA), have arranged with ETC to hold a 2-day Ion Xe console training course prior to the CITT/ICTS Annual Conference and Trade Show. ETC’s Ion Xe lighting console provides simple and approachable programming and control for conventional systems as well as fully integrated lighting rigs. Join us to learn more about the features and functions of this amazing control system.

ERD Certified Pyrotechnics Safety and Legal Awareness Course
CITT/ICTS and AirMagic Special Effects are partnering to present a ERD Certified Pyrotechnics Safety and Legal Awareness Course with Mark Fine prior to the CITT/ICTS Rendez-vous 2018. Completion of the Pyrotechnics Safety and Legal Awareness Course is mandatory prior to certification as Pyrotechnician – Fireworks/Operator by ERD.

Foliage – Past and Present Painting Techniques
Jenny Knott from Rosco and Wendy Waszut-Barrett from Historic Stage Services LLC are returning to Rendez-vous for a third workshop, Foliage: Past and Present Painting Techniques.
Explore a variety of painting techniques for foliage painting. Learn how to use historic techniques for contemporary applications, as well as some short cuts to make your job easier.

for more information, registration and schedules

Tags: CITT, ICTS, Meridian Centre, Rendez-vous, stagecraft, theatre technology
Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Department/Centre News, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Future Students, News
Irigaray Circle presents Horizons of Sexual Difference, June 14

Monday, May 21, 2018 | By dvivian

The Irigaray Circle will hold their 9th meeting and 2018 conference “Horizons of Sexual Difference” at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts from June 14-16, 2018.

This three-day international interdisciplinary meeting of The Luce Irigaray Circle is devoted to scholarship/creative work on, or inspired by, the thought of the contemporary French feminist thinker, Luce Irigaray. The conference theme, Horizons of Sexual Difference, brings Irigarayan scholarship into dialogue with recent discourses (i.e., trans, queer, Indigenous) in an effort to discover generative and productive sites in thinking that open up feminist thought.

Keynote Speakers include:

Tawny Andersen
Gwen Benaway
Tina Chanter
Rachel Jones
Emily Anne Parker

The conference is organized by Dr. Athena Colman and is sponsored by the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities, Brock University.

To register and for recent news see the conference registration webpage

To download a copy of the poster

Tags: Athena Colman, Danielle Wilson, Department of Philosophy, Grace Snippe, gyllian raby, Horizons of Sexual Difference, Irigaray Circle, Luce Irigaray
Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Department/Centre News, Events, Faculty & Instructors