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  • Community collaboration leads to a new play by Brock prof

    Wednesday, February 14, 2018 | By

    (Source: The Brock News | Monday, February 12, 2018 by Alison Innes)

    It was a simple, yet powerful statement.

    “We need to pay attention to the lives of Niagara’s migrant agricultural workers,” René Lopez, a worker advocate, said to Brock University Associate Professor David Fancy in 2010.

    That conversation began a journey of community collaboration that lead to the production of Our Lady of Delicias by the Essential Collective Theatre, which runs from Friday, Feb. 23 until Sunday, March 4 at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

    Fancy, a professor with the Dramatic Arts program, collaborated with dozens of migrant workers and Dramatic Arts students for two years to develop the play. The story features the character of Rangel, a Mexican migrant worker who has been travelling to Canada for years to work in the vineyards and greenhouses of Niagara.

    “I’m excited by this new script,” says Essential Collective Theatres’ Monica Dufault, a long-term Brock instructor who is directing the production. “It explores migrant worker issues in considerable depth with a real artistry that I’m keen to share with audiences.”

    “Having lived in Niagara for more than a dozen years now, I still feel that this is a reality that is consciously ignored: the lives of people who are our neighbours,” says Fancy.

    The cast of four, including Carla Melo, Juan Carlos Velis, Camila Diaz-Varela and Josée Young, features an exceptional range of Canadian acting talent with extensive stage and screen credits. Brock Dramatic Arts graduates James McCoy and Jo Pacinda are creating the design and costume design for the production.

    What: Our Lady of Delicias, performed by the Essential Collective Theatre

    When: Friday, Feb. 23 to Sunday, March 4

    Where: Robertson Theatre, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre

    SPECIAL OFFER: Present your ECT show program or ticket stub to receive a 20% discount on tickets for Top Girls presented by the Department of Dramatic Arts!

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    Categories: Events, Faculty & Instructors, Uncategorised

  • MEMORIES KNOWN AND UNKNOWN: exhibition opens Jan 9, 2018 / lecture on Jan 31

    Thursday, January 04, 2018 | By

    William Bell and Grandma, from the Bell-Sloman Collection of the James Gibson Library, Brock University

    A Walker Cultural Leader Series and Canada 150 Exhibition and Public Lecture:

    MEMORIES KNOWN AND UNKNOWN

    Visual Arts faculty have selected photographs and ephemera from the Bell-Sloman Collection of the James Gibson Library, part of a remarkable collection donated to Brock University by Rick Bell in 2010. The collection features more than 300 photos and various papers spanning more than a century that document the Bell and Sloman families, who descended from former slaves in the American south. The exhibition at the Visual Arts gallery will showcase some of the material presented at the Walker Cultural Leader series lecture on January 31, when we are pleased to welcome Dr. Julie Crooks from the Art Gallery of Ontario. Her research situates the Bell-Sloman Collection as a “fugitive archive,’ built with defiance and resistance, in order to preserve, salvage and recover the histories of African Canadian communities whose stories and material artefacts are often left untold or subject to erasure.

    Exhibition: Monday, January 9, 2018 to Friday, February 9, 2018
    Regular visiting hours are Tuesday through Saturday 1 to 5 pm.
    To check viewing times of the exhibition please see the webpage.
    Location of Exhibition: Visa Gallery and Exhibition Space, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University

    Note: The date of the exhibition reception is Wednesday, January 31 at 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
    The lecture follows at 7:00 p.m. A free community event. Please see below for more details.

    THE BELL-SLOMAN COLLECTION AT BROCK UNIVERSITY: A FUGITIVE ARCHIVE

    Dr. Julie Crooks of the Art Gallery of Ontario

    Dr. Julie Crooks is our second Walker Cultural Leader in Visual Arts for 2017-18. Her public lecture will draw on current research that examines the ways in which black communities, by the mid to late 19th century, in settlements throughout Southern Ontario, used photography as a critical and powerful tool for self-representation. Crooks’ research situates the Bell-Sloman Collection as a “fugitive archive,” built with defiance and resistance, in order to preserve, salvage and recover the histories of black communities whose stories and material artefacts are often left untold or subject to erasure. The exhibition at the VISA Gallery and Exhibition Space (above) will showcase some of the material presented in the lecture.

    Wednesday, January 31, 2018
    Time: 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Preceded by a reception for the exhibition at the VISA Gallery and Exhibition Space.
    Location: Marilyn I. Walker Theatre, Brock University (second floor, above the VISA Gallery)
    This is a free community event, but tickets are required and are available at wcl-bell-sloman-crooks.eventbrite.com

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  • Exhibition: ART BLOCK: BAC on the Block opens Dec .6

    Sunday, December 03, 2017 | By

    Work exhibited in last year’s edition of  ARTBlock: BAC on the Block exhibition.

    Members of the Brock Art Collective will host their third annual ARTBlock: BAC on the Block exhibition beginning Wednesday, Dec. 6 at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    The group, comprised of MIWSFPA students, will showcase works completed on 6-inch by 6-inch panels and made with a variety of mediums. Most works will be for sale starting at $40.

    The opening reception will be held Wednesday, Dec. 6 from 6 to 9 p.m.
    The exhibition, held in the Visual Arts Exhibition Space, runs until Friday, Dec. 22.

    Regular visiting hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m.

    More information is available on ExperienceBU or Facebook

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    Categories: Current Students, Events, News, Uncategorised

  • Bernhard Cella, Walker Cultural Leader visits Brock University

    Monday, October 30, 2017 | By

    Image by Bernhard Cella

    Walker Cultural Leader Series –  Lecture/Performance and Book-Making Workshop:

    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.

    The Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture (STAC) is invites you to attend and participate in the events and activities organized with artist and book maker Bernhard Cella during our Walker Cultural Leader Series in early November. Focusing on the making of art books and innovative forms of publishing, these events are free.

    A visual artist working in Vienna, Austria, Bernhard Cella is the founder of Salon für Kunstbuch, installed in the 21. Haus / Belvedere, and of the no-isbn project. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and at the University of Fine Art Hamburg. A book maker, Cella published an expanded edition of his No ISBN. On Self-Publishing in 2017.

    This education program is generously founded by Marilyn I. Walker.

    Lecture/Performance:

    Wednesday, November 1, 2017
    Time: 6:00 p.m.

    Artist, curator and art book maker, Bernhard Cella (House 21/ Belvedere and Salon für Kunstbuch, Vienna, Austria) demonstrates and performs contemporary book making.

    Location: Rodman Hall Art Centre, 109 St. Paul Crescent, St. Catharines, ON
    Open to the public.

    For more info, visit: experiencebu.brocku.ca/event/65852

    image by Bernhard Cella

    workshop:

    Medium/Media: All media that can be captured on paper. A book making workshop with Bernhard Cella.

    Friday, November 3, 2017
    Time: 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

    The objective of this workshop is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the medium “book” as a production process, and for individual participants to produce their own small publication or part of a larger one. This workshop focuses on the current status of the printed (analogue) book and associated questions. Participants will design and develop their own publications, from the initial idea through to the finished product.

    During recent years the development of desktop publishing and digital printing has promoted a significant resurgence of micro editions of artistic publication projects. In contrast to industrial manufacture, micro editions facilitate a high degree of interaction between production and conception so that technical processes may influence decisions on content.
    Referring to current examples and historical models, we will analyze various approaches and forms of production for our project. These include analyzing pictorial language, formats and varieties of paper, text production, typography and typesetting techniques. In small groups, we will discuss concepts and prepare mock-ups for various book projects – prototypes that allow a different way of thinking about the space that is a book.

    Location: Niagara Arts Centre, 354 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines, ON L2R 3N2
    Limited spaces available. Sign up by contacting Catherine Parayre – email: cparayre@brocku.ca

    For more info, visit: experiencebu.brocku.ca/event/65852

     

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    Categories: News, Uncategorised, Walker Cultural Leader Series

  • Brock University Annual Homecoming Weekend and Ontario 150 Presents … A Free SESQUI Virtual Reality Experience

    Tuesday, September 12, 2017 | By

    Saturday, September 16, 2017 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
    Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines, Ontario

    SESQUI, in collaboration with the James A. Gibson Library’s Makerspace, will be bringing a free Virtual Reality Experience to the Marilyn I. Walker Campus. The VR experience features 5-minute stories about Canadians who are shaping their world through creativity.

    Visitors can also make their own Sesquatch, allowing Canadians to explore their identity in an interactive and playful way.  Alongside virtual reality, the Makerspace will also be showcasing some of the emerging technologies, such as 3D printing, robotics, and circuitry, available at the James A. Gibson Library.

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    Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Department/Centre News, Future Students, News, Uncategorised

  • RBC Foundation Music@Noon – March 7

    Friday, February 10, 2017 | By

    RBC Foundation Music@Noon
    Our Tuesday Music@Noon series is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation. This free concert series takes places most Tuesdays at noon throughout the academic year. Held in the acoustically excellent Cairns Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, our Music@Noon series provides ample opportunities for artists to display their creativity.

    Performing: Walker String Quartet: Vera Alekseeva and Anna Hughes, violins, Andrée Simard, viola, & Gordon Cleland, cello

    The Walker String Quartet (WSQ) is the Department of Music’s quartet in residence. The group gives prominence to the department through public performance and working with students in high school string programs to share in the joy of music and promote Brock’s music program.

    Quartet members include Music instructors Vera Alekseeva (first violin), Andrée Simard (viola), and Gordon Cleland (cello), along with second violinist Anna Hughes who hails from Guelph. All members of the WSQ are also regular players in the Niagara Symphony Orchestra.

    WSQ workshops with secondary school students over a number of weeks, developing closer ties between the schools and Brock while working together towards a public performance.

    “With this high-level ensemble we are able to bring a new energy to our performing presence in the region, on top of the vital work they are able to do in high schools with students, giving them a sampling of what Brock has to offer,” explains department chair Professor Karin Di Bella.

    “Prospective students will have the experience of having worked with their future teachers, and once they are at Brock they know they will receive the very best instruction possible.”

    In 2016 members of the quartet worked with music students from Laura Secord and Sir Winston Churchill Secondary Schools. At both schools the quartet performed a short program of standard repertoire, talked about Brock and its music programs, and distributed music parts to the students to work on in their classes. A number of weeks later, the quartet returned to the schools and held sectional workshops with the students to work on their parts.

    Finally on November 25, 2016, the high school students came downtown for a day of workshops and tours at the Marilyn I. Walker School of the Fine and Performing Arts, followed by a combined rehearsal and short public performance in Cairns Recital Hall. The gathered audience was appreciative, and the initiative forged closer ties between the two schools and the Department.

    The WSQ also held a similar event with Ridley College students, with a performance by the quartet, combined rehearsals, and a public performance.

    Concert performances are another important aspect of the quartet’s activities. In November, paired with strategic timing of the invitational workshop, the WSQ performed as part of the Department of Music’s Encore! Professional Concert Series in Partridge Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

    The WSQ was formed in 2016 through funds from the Walker Cultural Leaders Series endowment. The series brings leading performers, artists, practitioners and academics to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    Discussions are underway to build on this success for the 2017-18 season, when the quartet will expand their activities further afield into the Hamilton/Burlington region.

    The Walker String Quartet’s performance takes place on Tuesday, March 7th from 12 noon to 12:50 pm in Cairns Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. This is a free community event!

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