Articles tagged with: visual arts

  • Dramatic Arts Professor honoured at local arts awards

    Tuesday, June 23, 2026 | By

    Assistant Professor of Dramatic Arts Mike Griffin receives the 2026 Arts in Education Award at the St. Catharines Arts Awards on June 18 at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. (Photo credit: Bernardo and Nina Photography and Videography)

    published Tuesday, June 23, 2026 in The Brock News | by 

    From established performers and educators to emerging artists, members of the Brock University community are making an impact in the local arts scene through their creative vision and dedication.

    Brock graduates, faculty and guest artists were honoured as nominees across five categories for their creative talent and community engagement during the St. Catharines Arts Awards on June 18 at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

    For Assistant Professor of Dramatic Arts (DART) Mike Griffin, recipient of the 2026 Arts in Education Award, teaching theatre is about inspiring the future leaders of artistic communities.

    “As we train, we develop specialized skills, but we also create an appreciation for the thoughts, ideas and stories of others and for the beauty around us,” he said. “Theatre is about the exploration of humanity. The community that is developed through creating together and sharing that experience with an audience, that is one of the greatest gifts that we have.”

    A theatre educator, director and playwright, Griffin teaches acting, directing, devising, movement, mask and puppetry at Brock’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    He has also written and directed several DART productions, including The Mysterious Mind of Molly McGillicuddy, which explored mild traumatic brain injury and related mental health through full-mask and physical theatre, and Escape to Ilkanor: A Fantasy Play in Nine Chapters, which imagined the fantasy genre through a whimsical and theatrical lens using puppetry and mask.

    “I am so grateful to be recognized like this within my community amongst the many incredible artists, educators and supporters of the arts that were nominated,” he said. “What a rock star list of humans. I am inspired to go and see more art —  there is so much beautiful work happening in this city.”

    Comparative Literatures and Arts graduate Kosar Dakhilalian (MA ’23) received the 2026 Emerging Artists Award, nominated alongside Brock Studio Art grads Adam Wiebe (BA ’26), Jenn Judson (BA ’16) and Isabella Saranchuk (BA ’24).

    A director and playwright with a background in acting and literature, Dakhilalian was a two-time art resident with Suitcase in Point Multi-arts Company. A passionate arts educator, Dakhilalian has also taught in DART and delivered workshops on drama-based practices in education at Brock’s Centre for Pedagogical Innovation.

    Anne Carruthers (BA ’89, BEd ’95) and John Carruthers were awarded the Patron of the Arts Award, which recognizes an individual or business that has made a meaningful contribution to the arts in St. Catharines. The Carruthers were honoured for their generous support and advocacy for Niagara Artists Centre, extensive volunteer work and dedication to growing the cultural community in Niagara.

    Nicole Joy Fraser

    Multidisciplinary artist Nicole Joy-Fraser, a DART Walker Cultural Leader in 2025.

    Multidisciplinary artist Nicole Joy-Fraser, one of DART’s Walker Cultural Leaders for 2025-26, received the 2026 Jury’s Pick Award. A proud bear clan matriarch who grew up in Mississauga with Euro-Settler, Tsa’tinée, Nehiyaw and Métis bloodlines from Horse Lake First Nation in Alberta, Joy-Fraser played the role of the Métis Nutcracker in DART’s 2025 mainstage production.

    Nominees from the Brock arts community for the 2026 St. Catharines Arts Awards include:

    • 2026 Arts in Education Award — Mike Griffin, Assistant Professor of Dramatic Arts
    • 2026 Emerging Artist Award — Adam Wiebe (BA ’26), Studio Art graduate
    • 2026 Emerging Artist Award — Kosar Dakhilalian (MA ’23), Studies in Comparative Literatures and Arts graduate
    • 2026 Emerging Artist Award — Jenn Judson (BA ’16), Studio Art graduate
    • 2026 Emerging Artist Award — Isabella Saranchuk (BA ’24), Studio Art graduate
    • 2026 Making a Difference Award — Skye Rogers/retrograde: dance in motion (ARCS ’22, Certificate in Arts and Culture Studies)
    • 2026 Patron of the Arts Awards — Anne Carruthers (BA ’89, BEd ’95), Psychology and Fine Arts, Inservice Education graduate
    • 2026 Jury’s Pick Award — Nicole Joy-Fraser, Dramatic Arts 2025 Walker Cultural Leader

    A full list of this year’s award recipients is available on the City of St. Catharines website.

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    Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, Future students, In the Media, News, Uncategorised

  • Groundbreaking artists bring inspiration to Niagara

    Friday, August 30, 2024 | By

    Headshots of Jani Lauzon and Camille Turner side by side

    Image caption: Award-winning multidisciplinary artist Jani Lauzon (left) and artist and scholar Camille Turner will bring their creative expertise to Brock this fall as part of the 2024-25 Walker Cultural Leader Series.

    Friday, August 30, 2024 | by 

    From nurturing Indigenous-settler reconciliation through theatre creation and exposing silenced Black histories through an immersive art exhibition, Brock is bringing unique, hands-on learning experiences to the campus and wider community this fall.

    As the University kicks off its 60th anniversary celebrations, a new season of compelling cultural events, workshops and lectures launches in September as part of Brock’s 2024-25 Walker Cultural Leader (WCL) Series presented by the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA).

    Supported by the generosity of the late Marilyn I. Walker, the series enriches local creative and intellectual life by inviting recognized cultural leaders, top researchers, scholars, professionals and visiting artists from all disciplines to Brock’s downtown arts school.

    MIWSFPA Director and Associate Dean of Fine and Performing Arts Linda Carreiro said the significant impact of arts and culture at Brock, and society at large, is highlighted by the work of renowned visiting artists and scholars in this year’s lineup.

    “It’s always such a pleasure to host cultural leaders with deep knowledge and expertise who are so willing to share their talents with the local community,” Carreiro said. “Our Walker Cultural Leaders provide not only examples of artistic excellence, but this year’s series also facilitates important conversations about respectful and meaningful collaboration, inclusion, reconciliation and redress.”

    The series begins Saturday, Sept. 7 with creative workshops, led by celebrated Montréal-based visual artist Marc-Alexandre Dumoulin, exploring art making and how art is defined.

    In October, award-winning artist and scholar Camille Turner, whose work combines Afrofuturism and history, will bring her Afronautic Research Lab project to the MIWSFPA Visual Arts Gallery in an immersive exhibition. She will also provide a workshop, Afronautic Research Methodology, to students and members of the public on Saturday, Oct. 5, with advance registration required.

    Gemini award recipient Jani Lauzon, a multidisciplinary artist of Métis, French and Finnish ancestry, will take the stage at FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre’s Film House on Wednesday, Oct. 2 for a public talk alongside Kaitlyn Riordin. The two co-authored the play 1939, which takes place in a fictional residential school in northern Ontario.

    Lauzon will continue to work with Dramatic Arts (DART) students, faculty and theatre production staff throughout the year in workshops on Indigenous productions in preparation for an upcoming DART mainstage production led by Métis DART faculty member Matthew MacKenzie.

     

    In the winter, Chicago-based composer, performer and music educator John Robert Matz will be in residency at Brock for a “sound jam” in partnership with Digital Humanities where participants will create video game prototypes using sound in innovative ways.

    Matz will also give a public lecture at FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre about his experience of being invited to compose the score for the game Tchia (Awaceb2023) by members of New Caledonia, offering perspective on ethical, cross-cultural collaborations with Indigenous communities.

    Many of the WCL Series events are open to the public. Visit the MIWSFPA WCL website for more information on the visiting speakers and registration information.

    “Marilyn I. Walker’s generous gift continues to support impactful programming for our students and for the public who take part in the events,” Carreiro said.

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  • Brock artists to draw inspiration from new bursary

    Monday, January 30, 2023 | By

    Paul Green and Ginny Medland-Green at Canada Games Park this past summer.

    Through a gift to Brock’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Paul Green and Ginny Medland-Green are supporting students who’ve chosen to pursue a career in the arts.

    Originally published in The Brock News | FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2023 | by 

    When Ginny Medland-Green and Paul Green toured Brock’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) early last year, they left impressed by the community that exists for young artists at the downtown school.

    The couple, who have a deep love and appreciation for the arts, moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake seven years ago and have been pleasantly surprised by the cultural richness of the region. Through a recent gift in support of the MIWSFPA, they hope to support the study of the arts for students and showcase the impact their work can and will have on communities such as Niagara.

    “It’s courageous to study fine and performing arts at university and set a goal to be a working artist,” Medland-Green said. “We hope our bursary will inspire students to set both imaginative and practical goals for their capstone project and assist financially in a way that energizes them as they work creatively and tirelessly in what is a very competitive environment.”

    Currently taking applications, the Medland and Green Inspiring Artists Bursary is open to all third-year Honours students enrolled in Dramatic Arts, Music and Visual Arts at the MIWSFPA. The bursary has been established to assist students pursuing a unique opportunity such as travel, an internship or training that will benefit their upcoming capstone project or production, taking place in the 2023-24 academic year.

    “The Greens’ gift is a true investment in the future of our students, our downtown campus and the arts in our community,” said Sonia Dupte, Executive Director, Development and Campaigns. “Through its endowment, it will impact generations of inspiring artists at Brock.”

    From the onset of conversations with Brock and the MIWSFPA about the gift, Medland-Green and Green emphasized the importance of the bursary supporting a learning activity that not only excites the student recipient, but also professionalizes and shapes their career path in the arts.

    Linda Carreiro, Associate Dean of Fine and Performing Arts, commended the uniqueness of the bursary and the opportunities it will support for students at the downtown arts school.

    “Students at the Marilyn School are lucky to have a variety of awards established to support them throughout their studies,” she said. “The Medland and Green Inspiring Artists Bursary is unique in the way that it really hones in on the learning and professional development that often happens outside of a classroom.

    “Financially supporting students to pursue an opportunity they’ve identified to advance their own learning will not only inspire them towards a career path, but will also instil confidence that their skills are important and they can in fact make a living by pursuing a career in the arts,” Carreiro said.

    Interested applicants are invited to submit a short proposal (up to 500 words) and budget for the event, project or opportunity for which they are requesting funding. The submission should also include how the funding will assist in the application of their final-year project or production.

    Comprehensive applications, which include the proposal and budget, can be submitted to Brock’s Awards and Bursaries web page and will be reviewed by an advisory committee. The deadline for submissions is Friday, Feb. 10 at 4 p.m.

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    Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, Future students, In the Media, News