Launched at the October 15 Annual General Meeting, this year’s President's Report celebrates NSCAD's long-time commitment to community and our aspirations for the future, as told through six inspired initiatives.
Read more about how our amazing critical and creative thinkers are making a difference in people’s lives in this, our first fully digital President's Report.
The recent passing of friend and mentor Professor Emeritus Gerald Ferguson shocked and saddened the NSCAD community. Jerry was beloved by his students and an inspiration to several generations of artists, while his distinguished teaching and artistic careers earned him an enduring reputation in the field of contemporary art.
A bursary in memory of Jerry is being established by his friends, colleagues and family.
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More than 100 Toronto-area alumni and friends gathered on November 13 at the Wynick / Tuck Gallery for a reception with President David B. Smith. The event was hosted by gallery owners David Tuck and Lynn Wynick, who represent a number of prominent NSCAD-educated artists.
In his remarks, Professor Smith encouraged alumni to support NSCAD’s scholarship and bursary program in the upcoming annual campaign. “Investments here will ensure future students have access to the same excellent education and experiences as you did when you were students,” he said.
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NSCAD University will receive $425,000 in federal infrastructure funding for much-needed upgrades to Granville Campus.
Thanks to the support from the Parks Canada National Historic Sites Cost-Sharing Program, NSCAD can now begin critical restoration work to preserve this block of historic buildings, including window replacements, roof repairs and masonry, and stone façade stabilization.
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As any university student will tell you, the biggest obstacle to achieving a university education isn’t academic - it’s financial. Fortunately, here at NSCAD University friends and supporters are stepping forward and funding new awards to help our students realize their ambitions.
In the past two years alone, new and long-time donors alike have committed more than $300,000 to scholarships and bursaries. “Our aim is simple: to ensure that all students wishing to pursue a career in the visual arts, regardless of their circumstances, can achieve their goals and realize their potential,” says David B. Smith, NSCAD University President.
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Since 2006, the RBC Emerging Artists Program has helped NSCAD students successfully bridge the gap between the academic and the entrepreneurial world of the arts. We are delighted that RBC recently agreed to renew its support for the 2009-10 academic year and ensure that initiatives like the Graduation Catalogue, Graduation Exhibition and the ArtExchange Gallery will continue.
Learn more about the
RBC NSCAD Emerging Artists Project in this year’s President’s Report.
Regular part-time NSCAD ceramics faculty member,
Joan Bruneau, BFA ’88, and instructor
Véronique MacKenzie were recently named 2009 recipients of the
Established Artist Recognition Award from the Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Alliance.
Over the past fifteen years, Joan has developed both a national and international profile as an inspiring teacher and innovative potter while maintaining her full-time studio, Nova Terra Cotta in Lunenburg. Véronique, a well-known dancer and choreographer, teaches the "Foundation Movement Art" class at NSCAD.
At the same event, works by NSCAD ceramics professor Neil Forrest and former NSCAD president Garry Neill Kennedy were recognized as finalists for the
Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Masterworks Arts Award.
Over the past several months, NSCAD film grads and students have walked away with top prizes at national and regional festivals.
Heather Young’s film, “Dog Girl,” took the
Norman McLaren Award as overall winner of the 40th Canadian Student Film Festival in Montreal. The prestigious award, sponsored by the National Film Board of Canada, provides Heather - a BFA ’09 grad - with $2500 in technical services towards her next production.
Meanwhile, short films by Joel MacKenzie, BFA ’08, Joel MacLeod, BFA ’09 and current student Adam Rafuse took top awards at the recent 29th Atlantic Film Festival. MacKenzie won best Atlantic short for "Super Science," while MacLeod and Rafuse shared the honours for best direction for "Ghost Vase," 22-minute film dedicated to the golden age of low-budget TV sci-fi.
Both "Dog Girl" and "Ghost Vase" were funded through
Film Nova Scotia's Partnerships in Training program, which provides $2500 for each of six thesis films produced by senior NSCAD film students. We are delighted to announce that Film Nova Scotia recently renewed its support for the 2009 - 2010 academic year.
Halifax-based artist, Jody Zinner, BFA '08, was named one of 12 regional winners of the prestigious
BMO 1st Art! Invitational Student Art Competition. Her winning work, "Circle of Hair," was selected from among a record 218 entries received from students across Canada.
Zinner’s artwork reflects both coming to terms with her family’s personal history as Holocaust survivors and the anxieties she experiences as a young person embarking on a career in turbulent , uncertain times. She is currently interim director of the artist-run Khyber Arts Society in Halifax.
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More than thirty NSCAD alumni and faculty were among the 208 artists represented in
Unity & Diversity, the Canadian exhibition - and featured pavilion - at the recent 2009 Cheongjiu International Craft Biennale in South Korea.
Organized by the Canadian Crafts Federation (CCF) and curated by NSCAD associate professor Dr. Sandra Alfoldy,
Unity & Diversity featured 212 pieces, making this the largest juried exhibition of Canadian craft anywhere.
A version of
Unity & Diversity, also curated by Dr. Alfoldy, will open January 13 at the Museum of Vancouver as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics’ Cultural Olympiad.
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Professor Mark Bovey’s recently curated Canadian section received one of three project awards at the 6th
Novosibirsk Graphic Art Biennial. The event, held at the Novosibirsk State Art Museum in Novosibirsk, Russia, featured 260 artists from 27 countries.
In addition to his receiving a curatorial project award - alongside the Netherlands and Germany - one of Bovey’s selected artists, Sean Caulfield, won the second-highest award given by the selection committee.
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Life (Part 2), a PBS program that looks at ways baby-boomers are redefining life after 50, recently featured NSCAD Professor Glen Hougan's "Empathy Suit." The device, which simulates the physical challenges that come with age, is intended to encourage the creation of better functioning and more attractive products for this age group.
Hougan, an assistant professor in Design, recently received the
Faculty Research & Creative Practice Award at the 2009 President's Convocation.
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This fall, the NSCAD community hosted three internationally renowned artists: Hamish Fulton, Maud Lavin and Ulrike Ottinger.
For two days in September, sculptor, photographer, conceptual artist and self-described “walking artist”
Hamish Fulton captivated students and faculty with presentations on his work, followed by group walking workshops. The experience of walking is fundamental to the UK-based Fulton’s practice, whose pieces are found in the collections of many major galleries and museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada.
In early October, art historian
Maud Lavin spoke on the new, complex, expansive
and mainly positive representations of feminine aggression in U.S. culture since the 1990s. Lavin, chair of and professor in Visual and Critical Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, was in Halifax as part of the NSCAD Public Lecture Series.
In the only Canadian stop on her North American tour, noted German filmmaker
Ulricke Ottinger spoke about her work in a public presentation on October 9. In the week leading up to the Halifax visit, the NSCAD film school screened a number of her films, including “Ticket of No Return” and “Exit Shanghai.”
Find out what former classmates like
Marta Swannie,
Vanessa Paschakarnis and others are doing. Click on
Alumni News to learn more about exhibitions, awards and achievements by NSCAD alumni worldwide.
And what are you up to these days? Drop us a line (and a visual, if you wish) and we'll share your news on the NSCAD website. All submissions should be addressed to
nscad.ca.VIVID is published quarterly by the Office of University Relations, NSCAD University, 5163 Duke Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J 3K6, 902.494.8251