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Current Students

Associate Professor Donna Szoke’s work include in publication.

Tuesday, October 17, 2017 | By amcbay

Associate Professor and Visual Arts Department Chair Donna Szoke’s work is discussed in the on-line journal New Media Caucus in an article by Lisa Moren, Professor of Visual Art and Graduate Program Director of Intermedia + Digital Art, MFA Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County [UMBC]. Her interactive video installation and all watched over by machines of loving grace is a humorous intervention in the dystopian reality of contemporary dataveillance and societies of control.

Image courtesy of Tim Nohe.

Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News
Visa Instructor part of two projects in Windsor, Ontario.

Monday, October 16, 2017 | By amcbay

Visa Instructor Donna Akrey is part of two collectives with projects being mounted in an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Windsor this fall:

Downtown/s: Urban Renewals Today for Tomorrow, The 2017 Windsor-Essex Triennial of Contemporary Art.
Art Gallery of Windsor
October 21 to January 28, 2018

(F)NOR
(L)Herbes Other Rivers
October 20, 7pm

In/Terminus Research Colective & the Hamilton Perambulatory Unit (Lee Rodney, Michael Daroch, Taien Ng-Chan & Donna Akrey)
Reconnaissance, Heart + Soul: the Windsor Armouries
October 20, 7pm

Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News
Exhibition: La Magaria

Tuesday, September 26, 2017 | By dtemprile

La Magaria #1

Brock Visual Arts student Lisette Costanzo presents an exhibition consisting of paintings, drawings, and installations that were inspired by La Magaria (Italian for witchcraft), metaphysics, and the divine. This is the first student art exhibition in the Visual Arts Exhibition Space for the 2017-18 season at the MIWSFPA.

Exhibition: Wednesday October 11, 2017 to Tuesday October 31, 2017

Regular visiting hours for the Exhibition Space are Tuesday through Saturday from 1-5 pm
For additional times see: the Gallery webpage or the Gallery Facebook page

Closing Reception: Tuesday October 31, 2017
Time: 5:00 – 10:00 pm

Location: Visual Arts Exhibition Space, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University

A free community event.

Tags: Arts, drawing, Exhibition, Free, La Magaria, Lisette Costanzo, MIWSFPA, painting, Student exhibition, Visual Arts, Visual Arts Exhibition Space
Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Events, Exhibitions, News
Visa Alumni mounting local exhibition.

Thursday, September 21, 2017 | By amcbay

Recent Brock Alumni, Katie Mazi & Jenn Judson are mounting an exhibition of their new collaborative photo series, ‘Cooler Than Cool.’ Join the artists at their opening reception this upcoming Saturday Sept. 23 from 7-10PM at the Niagara Artists Centre. There will be good food, drinks, prizes, surprises and prints for sale.

Reception is September 23rd and the show is on from Sept. 23 – Oct. 13th at NAC.

Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, News
Assistant Professor Amy Friend exhibits in Provence, France.

Sunday, August 20, 2017 | By amcbay

Récits Photographiques
August 24 > September 30, 2017
Abbaye De Silvacane, La Roque D’Antheron
Les Terrasses Du Chateau, Lauris
Provence, France

https://www.facebook.com/recitsphotographiques/

Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, News
MIWSFPA participates in Culture Days 2017: Special exhibit AWAKENING THE SPIRIT

Wednesday, August 16, 2017 | By dvivian

On Saturday, September 30th the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts will be opening its doors to the public in celebration of Culture Days! We welcome you to stop by every hour on the hour from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. for a guided tour of our new, state of the art facility. Not looking for a guided tour? Feel free to pick up a campus map and explore the spaces on your own! Representatives will be waiting for you at the David S. Howes entrance, adjacent to the Performing Arts Centre! Continue to check brocku.ca/miwsfpa for an updated list of events!

Be sure to stop by our VISA art gallery to view this exhibit:

Awakening the Spirit

Select works from the Suzanne Rochon-Burnett Collection
VISA GALLERY – Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts

Opening Reception September 7th, 2017

An exhibition of one women’s journey to empower and support Indigenous arts in Canada and Globally through a collection of paintings, mixed media, sculpture, and personal objects. Never before exhibited original works including: Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Carl Beam, Roy Thomas, Vince Bomberry, Simon Brascoupe, Bruce King, and more

Samuel Thomas is the guest Curator for this very special exhibit.

For more information about the exhibit and the Curator please see:
www.celebrationofnations.ca/awakening-the-spirit

Check-in closer to the date for programming updates for CultureDays 2017!

Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Events, Exhibitions, Future Students, News
Concrete Cloud: A Brock Sculpture Class Mobile Exhibition.

Thursday, June 29, 2017 | By amcbay
Professor Donna Akrey’s Visa 2F05 sculpture class is mounting an exhibition titled Concrete Cloud: A Brock Sculpture Class Mobile Exhibition at the Niagara Artists’ Centre.

July 5 > 21
345 St. Paul Street

On July 5th, 2017, students from the Marilyn I Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts will be sharing their exhibition Concrete Cloud, on the streets of downtown St Catharines. Between 10am and 1:30pm students will be transporting their interactive sculptures to the Niagara Artists Center (354 St. Paul Street East) where they’ll be on display until July 21 2017.

see the route map for the travelling exhibit on July 5 between 10 am and 1:30 pm here

Several stops will be made along the route, as students hope to engage with the public through their sculptural works. Everyone is invited to enjoy Concrete Cloud as students tour their artworks from the MIWSFPA to NAC, by paths both playful and responsive, to anyone they encounter. This combination of performance and art walk will conclude with an opening reception at Niagara Artists Center, on July 5th from 2-5pm. The works will then be on display for the next two weeks; the exhibition is open to everyone, and gallery hours are Noon to 5 PM, Wednesday through Saturday.

Concrete Cloud is a collective of works from 16 artists, focusing on themes of information, the ‘natural world’, and public art. The sculptures are made from a diversity of materials, including wood, metal, plaster, cardboard, textiles, and found materials.

Participating student artists are: Rachel Anderson, Ahmed Bader, Renz Baluyot, Christian Bebis, Tom Denton, Syerra Jasmin, Michaela Laurie, Jess McClelland, Madison Mcfayden, Jill Newman, Anna Podvalni, Victoria Ridley, Chardon Trimble-Kirk, Amber Lee Williams, Jiahui Xu, and Jingwen Zhang.

See the Facebook event for more documentation about the mobile exhibition.

Read the article by art critic Bart Gazzola.
Tags: concrete cloud, course, donna akrey, Exhibition, Sculpture, spring course, summer course, Visual Arts
Categories: Current Students, Events, Exhibitions, Future Students
Visa Instructor and students mount exhibition in Buffalo New York.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017 | By amcbay

Visa Instructor Judy Graham and students Alex Chorny, Sam Goeree and Amber Lee Williams are mounting an exhibition titled Cloth Shells at 1045 Elmwood Gallery for the Arts in Buffalo, New York.

July 1 > July 31
Reception: Saturday, July 15th, 2 > 4pm

Categories: Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, Future Students, News
Award winner stresses mountains worth climbing to capture dreams

Sunday, June 11, 2017 | By dvivian

(Source: The Brock News, Friday, June 09, 2017 | by Maryanne Firth. Photo caption: “Jessica Vickruck, Aniqah Zowmi, Annika Mazzarella and Grant Yocom were each honoured with a Board of Trustees Spirit of Brock award during Friday’s faculties of Humanities and Math and Science Convocation ceremony.”)

Annika Mazzarella’s university years were filled with many ups and downs, all which contributed to an important life lesson.

When the 22-year-old St. Catharines native focused her studies on History of Art and Visual Culture, as well as Medieval and Renaissance Studies, she encountered people along the way who were discouraging, some even disapproving, of her chosen career path.

It was her time at Brock that taught Mazzarella the importance of striving to achieve her dreams, regardless of any obstacles in her way.

The naysayers she encountered were offset by the optimistic community at Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts and at Rodman Hall Art Centre, where Mazzarella always felt included and supported to pursue her career ambitions.

The experience caused her to develop a new sense of self-confidence, refusing to back down from the goals she has set for herself.

That determination, among other impressive qualities, earned Mazzarella the Board of Trustees undergraduate student Spirit of Brock award for the Faculty of Humanities, presented during Friday’s Convocation ceremony — a joint celebration for the faculties of Humanities and Math and Science.

The morning event also saw Grant Yocom recognized as the Humanities graduate student Spirit of Brock recipient, and Aniqah Zowmi and Jessica Vickruck honoured as the undergraduate and graduate student recipients respectively for Math and Science.

Mazzarella said her Brock experience, both inside of and beyond the classroom, provided her with a “solid foundation” to support her future career path as an art curator.

In addition to studying abroad in Italy last spring through International Plus, Mazzarella joined several Brock organizations, including Brock Dance, Brock Niagara Lifesaving Club, Brock Niagara Masters, Brock Student Leadership Network, and Brock’s Medieval and Renaissance Society.

She also represented the University as a student delegate at the 2016 Canadian Conference on Student Leadership.

“With each involvement I had different experiences, however, they proved to me that you can do anything you put your mind to and that there is always something new to learn,” she said.

Mazzarella plans to move to Ottawa this fall to pursue her master’s degree in Art History with a concentration in Art Exhibition and Curatorial Practices.

Her advice for incoming students, in the words of Henry David Thoreau, is to “go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you imagined.”

For Zowmi, earning the Spirit of Brock designation meant accomplishing her final university goal.

“I have been fortunate to have had so many great opportunities,” said the passionate advocate of youth civic engagement, who is known as a leader in the Brock community.

“One of the best things about Brock is that it is a small community and you feel very much supported,” Zowmi said. “It is also a place that encourages you to develop yourself both professionally and personally.”

Zowmi is the first Brock student to win a 3M National Student Fellowship Award for her efforts to empower youth and encourage equality in education.

She served on the University’s Human Rights Task Force, was a member of the Canadian Youth Delegation to the Commonwealth Youth Forum in Malta, where she addressed more than 700 youths at the UN Headquarters, and was a Youth Advisor to the Canadian Commission to UNESCO.

Zowmi, a National Youth Ambassador for Passages Canada, also co-founded BrockU Talks, a speaker’s series for students to promote their engagement on global issues such as peace and sustainability.

Both Spirit of Brock graduate recipients were also recognized for their hard efforts on and off campus.

Yocom has been a leader among graduate students of the new PhD in Interdisciplinary Humanities in its formative years.

He twice served as the graduate student representative on the council in order to provide a student voice as the program structured its regulations and established the format for its comprehensive examinations.

Described as an inspirational leader, Yocom brought students together and has helped to make the PhD in Interdisciplinary Humanities the exciting and innovative program that it has become.

Vickruck has demonstrated exemplary leadership in her research group and among graduate students in Biological Sciences.

Her Master’s of Science produced three published manuscripts on pygmy carpenter bees, and her PhD will produce four major papers on the subject.

She has also worked with a research scientist at the Canadian National Insect Collection in Ottawa, a collaboration that led to offers from scientists at several other Canadian and American universities.

Tags: convocation, Curatorial Concentration, HVAC, MARS, Spirit of Brock award, visa
Categories: Alumni, Current Students, In the Media, News
New Visual Arts Department student award announced.

Friday, May 26, 2017 | By amcbay

The “Regent Student Living Award” is selected by the VISA Faculty and presented to the Visual Arts Major with the highest overall standing in 1st or 2nd year with at least 5 full credits completed. The award is graciously donated by Regent Student Living (an all-inclusive student residence located downtown St. Catharines) and presented in May or June after the completion of the academic year.

Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, News