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As one of the top fine arts schools in Canada, we have a vital impact on culture both at home and abroad. We also host over 200 events a year, both on- and off-campus. Read our blog for all the latest Fine Arts stories, follow for breaking news on Twitter or find us on or Instagram.

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Media archive

As acknowledged experts in fields ranging from classical and popular music to art history, digital media, pop culture and so much more, our faculty are frequently in the news. Catch up on our expert opinions by visiting our media archive, which offers story briefs and links to media coverage.

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Orion Lecture: Screenwriter Michael MacLennan, Feb 2024
Screenwriter, producer, playwright & UVic alumnus Michael MacLennan gave this Orion Lecture to UVic's Faculty of Fine Arts on Feb 8, 2024: “How to Kick an Elephant: A Border Town Survival Guide”. Michael MacLennan has been nominated seven times for the Writers Guild of Canada Canadian Screenwriting Award, and received the WGC’s 2018 Showrunner of the Year Award. A producer of nearly 300 episodes, his credits include co-executive producer of Queer As Folk (Showtime/ Showcase), creator and EP of Godiva’s (CityTV), co-EP on Flashpoint (CBS/CTV), Bitten (Space) and the hit series The Fosters (ABC/Freeform). He co-created and show-ran Bomb Girls (CBC), which was twice nominated for Best Series by the Canadian Screen Awards and honoured as Outstanding Dramatic Series by the US Gracie Awards. He served as executive producer and showrunner of The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco (ITV/Britbox) and, most recently, created Tiny Pretty Things for Netflix, which was their number-one series worldwide for 14 days. Michael received a degree in English Honours at UVic and, as an award-winning playwright, began his writing career in Victoria. A two-time nominee for the Governor General’s Award for English-Language Drama (The Shooting Stage and Last Romantics), he has also written two operas with Canadian composer Jeffrey Ryan.
Distinguished Women Scholar: "Critical Conversations About Collections"
This roundtable discussion was filmed as part of the Distinguished Women Scholar event on Jan 27, 2024. Panelists include Lynda Gammon (Professor Emeritus, Visual Arts, UVic), Ry Moran (Associate University Librarian, Reconciliation, UVic), Heather Igloliorte (Canada Excellent Research Chair, Decolonial and Transformational Indigenous Arts Practices, Visual Arts, UVic), Dorian J. Fraser (PhD candidate, Art History, Concordia), Alice Ming Wai Jim (Concordia University Research Chair in Critical Curatorial Studies & Decolonizing Art, Art History, Concordia), Anne Dymond (Associate Professor of Art History, Art, Lethbridge) plus moderator Carolyn Butler Palmer (Legacy Chair in Modern & Contemporary Arts of the Pacific Northwest, Art History & Visual Studies, UVic)
Distinguished Women Scholar: Dr Anne Dymond on "Getting the Keys to the Vault"
Dr. Anne Dymond, Associate Professor of Art History, Department of Art, University of Lethbridge, speaks on "Getting the Keys to the Vault: How feminist, decolonizing and anti-racist work is changing collections." This Distinguished Women Scholar lecture was presented as part of the "Latent: Critical Conversations about Collections" event presented by UVic's Department of Art History & Visual Studies at UVic's Legacy Galleries on January 27. 2024. Anne Dymond's book, "Diversity Counts: Gender, Race, and Representation in Canadian Art Galleries" has been described as “a path-breaking study and an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the contemporary art scene in Canada.” She is an Editor at RACAR: Revue d’Art Canadienne/Canadian Art Review and Treasurer of the Universities Art Association of Canada. She has been awarded the University’s Senate Volunteer Award and the Lethbridge YWCA Women of Distinction Award for her work bringing refugees to Lethbridge.
Orion Lecture: Dr Alice Ming Wai Jim on “Curating in Crisis: Benin Bronzes to Extreme Weather.”
Dr. Alice Ming Wai Jim of Concordia University offered this Orion Lecture as part of the Distinguished Women Scholar series "Latent: Critical Conversations about Collections" on January 27, 2024, at UVic's Legacy Galleries, presented by UVic's Department of Art History & Visual Studies. An art historian and curator based in Montreal, Dr Jim is currently Concordia University Research Chair in Critical Curatorial Studies and Decolonizing Art Institutions and founding editor-in-chief of the journal "Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas". Jim has galvanized a new generation of students and scholars in the study of ethnocultural art histories that extends to curatorial studies and critical race museology.
Orion Lecture: Visiting Artist Anne Low
Anne Low creates sculptural forms, often using techniques and methodologies associated with histories of decorative arts and domestic interiors. Having trained as a weaver over the last decade, hand-woven textile history informs much of her work, alongside other arcane material histories, from that of utilitarian objects to furniture making. Despite being grounded in highly specific techniques, her work seeks to understand how these ways of making can provide a ground or conduit to explore the less tangible aspects of subjec-tivity, desire and memory. Low lives and works on Sointula Island. She has exhibitied extensively in North America and abroad, and was shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award in 2019 and the Loewe Craft Prize in 2017.

See more videos from the Orion Lecture series playlist on YouTube.