News

  • Halfway home: It’s good news for Brock’s downtown arts school

    Tuesday, February 11, 2014 | By

    Brian Hutchings, Vice-President of Finance and Administration, who joined President Jack Lightstone and Humanities Dean Douglas Kneale at city council presentation

    (Source: The Brock News, Tuesday, February 11, 2014)

    The construction of Brock University’s new arts school in downtown St. Catharines has passed the midway point, as workers have kept the major project moving along despite this winter’s harsh weather.

    Three senior University officials appeared before St Catharines City Council on Monday Feb 10 with an update on the $45-million project that will house the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    And their news was good.

    “We’re on time, and we’re on budget,” said Brian Hutchings, Vice-President of Finance and Administration, who joined President Jack Lightstone and Humanities Dean Douglas Kneale for the council presentation. Hutchings said the Walker School is still scheduled to be open for September 2015.

    Lightstone, who first proposed the idea of twin downtown arts projects when he appeared in the same council chamber seven years ago, said the urban-centre location lets the University play a role in helping local communities. The University and City worked together to find a site for the Brock project in an industrial heritage building, the former Canada Hair Cloth plant.

    “Brock University is proud to be a partner and supporter of St Catharines, and indeed of Niagara,” said Lightstone. “For years Brock has publicly stated that one of our top priorities is to help strengthen our host communities intellectually, socially, culturally and economically.”

    Kneale said creating a new centre of learning in the shell of an old industrial site is a “perfect metaphor” that will help future generations become part of Canada’s billion-dollar cultural sector.

    “We are taking a 19th-century textile factory and turning it into a state-of-the-art facility for more than 500 students,” said Kneale. “Opportunities like this happen but once in a lifetime.”

    As part of the presentation, city councillors viewed a video presentation on the project done by Tracy van Oosten, a Brock graduate of visual arts and film studies.

    At the worksite, the full footprint of the Walker School is now visible. The main structure for the project’s new construction – mainly, the new dramatic arts theatre – is up, and now workers will largely focus on the complex interior work in all of the buildings, the most time-consuming being the renovation and repurposing of the older structures.

    The University and City arts projects were the initial catalysts of a massive downtown renewal initiative, which now also includes the Meridian Centre, a 4,500-seat ice rink and spectator facility expected to be completed this autumn.

    Tags: , , ,
    Categories: In the Media, News

  • Arts centres on time and on budget: Brock, St. Catharines

    Tuesday, February 11, 2014 | By

    Marilyn I Walker School of performing arts building rendering

    (Source: The St. Catharines Standard, Tuesday, February 11, 2014 | By Marlene Bergsma)

    Construction on both the city’s Performing Arts Centre and Brock University’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts is on time and on budget – but the recent cold snap has forced the city’s contractor to rent ground-thawing equipment.

    Brock president Jack Lightstone told St. Catharines councillors it’s been seven years since he first made a presentation to council suggesting a partnership to revitalize downtown, and he said Brock continues to be “proud to be a partner and supporter of St. Catharines and Niagara.”

    With an anticipated enrolment of 500 students plus faculty and staff, and the city’s construction of an adjacent performing arts centre, the Walker school of art “will truly revitalize the downtown core of the city,” Lightstone said.

    Brock’s VP of finance and administration, Brian Hutchings, said construction and renovations on Brock’s part of the project are “50% done, and we are on time and on budget.”

    Showing pictures to council, Hutchings said the university is preserving much of the character of the former Canada Hair Cloth building, by showcasing wooden pillars, exposed masonry and existing windows.

    Douglas Kneale, Brock’s Dean of Humanities, said turning the former factory building into classrooms and rehearsal studios “is the perfect metaphor for St. Catharines’ industrial past and post-industrial future.”

    Quoting English Romantic poet William Blake, Kneale said the project is turning “dark Satanic mills” into engines of education and creativity. Kneale also described the state-of-the-art music practice rooms that will offer acoustic isolation with sound-blocking walls, ceilings and windows, and the perfect humidity for singers’ voices and musical instruments.

    Meanwhile a significant part of the foundation has been poured for the city’s performing arts centre project. An aerial shot of the site, taken recently, shows the elevator shaft on the left, next to the crane, and a dark hole in the centre of the frame, which will provide the stairway access to Brock’s school of arts, said St. Patrick’s Coun. Mark Elliott. On the bottom left is bare earth which will be the site of Partridge Hall, the centre’s biggest venue with 775 seats, which will boast sophisticated and invisible acoustical panels which can be automatically adjusted for the type of concert or event.

    Parks and recreation director Rick Lane said the city’s project is also on time and on budget, although the cold weather which has frozen the ground has posed some problems for Bird Construction, which has been using heaters to thaw the earth so they can continue with necessary excavation.

    Mayor Brian McMullan thanked Lightstone for the “vision and passion” he has brought to the project, and said it was “one of the reasons it succeeded and it will truly be a transformative project.”

    Lightstone also showed a video showcasing Brock’s arts programs.

     

    Tags: , ,
    Categories: In the Media, News

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

    Monday, February 10, 2014 | By

    karen fricker

    (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

    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    Categories: In the Media, News

  • Media Release: Jehanne of the Witches

    Tuesday, January 28, 2014 | By

    jehanne_promo_dvBrock University
    Media Release
    St. Catharines, ON
    January 28, 2014

    The Department of Dramatic Arts’ mainstage production of Jehanne of the Witches is beset with twists and turns, black magic, illusion, sexuality, and the use – and abuse – of power!

    Students of Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts present Jehanne of the Witches, a Canadian play that probes into the nature of magic, truth and illusion. Performances will be held at the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre, Brock University on February 13, 14 and 15, 2014.

    Jehanne of the Witches, written by award-winning Canadian playwright Sally Clark, recounts Joan of Arc’s story with historical accuracy, and explores modern, feminist ideals, as well as Christianity and Paganism. Using historical facts, Clark weaves a story exploring the strange relationship that existed between Joan of Arc and her comrade-in-arms, Gilles de Rais – the notorious Bluebeard. In this production, Gilles de Rais is in his own personal purgatory where he is condemned to endlessly relive the events of his life from his first contact with Jehanne to his own death.
    Directed by Virginia Reh, with scenography by David Vivian, and lighting by Cameron More, this second mainstage production of the Department of Dramatics Arts’ 2013-14 Season showcases the talents of students in the undergraduate program: Katie Coseni, Mallory Muehmer, Rachel Romanoski, Hayley Malouin, Elizabeth Smith, Nikki Morrison, Erik Bell, Derek Ewert, Josh Berard, and Lewis Whiteley.

    “Sally Clark’s unique and unorthodox look at the Joan of Arc legend has called to me for a very long time,” states Reh. “This multi-layered play questions the very nature of history: how and by whom it is relayed and manipulated. It deals in power, mystery, a yearning to believe and the very nature of theatre itself. Layers behind layers are torn away in a search for the elusive “truth.” Who is a saint? and who is a monster?”

    This play contains sexual themes and occasional strong language.

    Performances for Jehanne of the Witches will be held in the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre, Brock University on February 13, 14, and 15, 2014 at 7:30 p.m., with a matinée performance on February 14 at 1 p.m. Tickets are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors and students, $12 for groups, and $5 for the eyeGo high school ticket program. Available from the Centre for the Arts Box Office: 905-688-5550 x3257 or visit: http://arts.brocku.ca/ For more information about this production and the Department of Dramatic Arts visit: brocku.ca/miwsfpa/dramaticarts.

    Productions from the Department of Dramatic Arts are an integral part of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts’ mandate to build connections between the community and the breadth of talent and creativity at Brock University.

    If you wish to experience the legend of Joan of Arc through the media of classic film and live choral performance, then you won’t want to miss Chorus Niagara’s CN CINEMA – The Passion of Joan of Arc, taking place on February 28 and March 1 at 7:30 p.m., held at St. Thomas Anglican Church in St. Catharines. Tickets can be purchased through the Centre for the Arts Box Office (purchase information is listed above).

     

    Media call: Thursday, February 6, 2014 at 6 p.m., held in the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre, Brock University

    For interviews please contact:
    Marie Balsom, Communications
    Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
    T: 905.688.5550, x4765| E: [email protected] | W: brocku.ca/finearts

    Tags: , , ,
    Categories: Media Releases

  • 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
    [email protected]

    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

    Tags: , , , , , ,
    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.

     

    Tags: ,
    Categories: News

  • 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 [email protected]

    Inquiries about the Department and its programs may be sent to the Chair, Professor David Vivian [email protected]

    Tags: , ,
    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.

    Tags: , ,
    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; [email protected]

    Tags: , , , ,
    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:

     

    Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Future Students, News

1 … 37 38 39 40 41 42