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This week I had the good fortune of participating in a tour of the Canada Hair Cloth Building in downtown St. Catharines. This was a working factory until 2007 and will (hopefully!) be home to the new Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts at Brock.
This is an absolutely exquisite building and I look forward to seeing this space transformed over the coming months.
The recent announcement that there will be new sidewalks put in various locations around the city is surely good news for anyone concerned with car-free issues in the region. A big thank to the City of St. Catharines for this!
Another “trouble spot” that always worries me is along St. David’s road leading up to the Brock campus. I frequently see students walking along the shoulder of the highway, going back and forth from Thorold (where a lot of students live) to the campus. There have been many people expressing their concerns about this over the years, and I’ve heard various rumblings that this location might be a candidate for bike lanes and/or sidewalks. I do hope these rumours prove to be true before an unthinkable tragedy happens!
On my travels through and near UVic I’ve found a number of great examples of graffiti. In addition to the example I blogged about the other day I found two more activist-themed examples on and around campus. The third example comes from Botanical Beach. I’m loving the West Coast Graffiti — keep up the good work!
I’ve posted before about the interesting things that can be found scrawled on the walls of bathrooms on campuses or other student hangouts, so I want to share this wonderful example from The University of Victoria.
Does it still count as graffiti when it is scrawled on a sticker instead of directly on the wall?
Big news at Brock today! Here’s the official scoop from the Brock website. I now am part of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. 
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Marilyn I. Walker donates $15 million to Brock University
Nov. 5, 2008
Brock University’s School of Fine and Performing Arts renamed after celebrated artist and philanthropist.
Renowned Canadian fibre artist Marilyn Walker has donated $15 million to Brock University’s School of Fine and Performing Arts — the largest donation the University has ever received. The gift is particularly remarkable as it is made in a climate marked by economic uncertainty and waning support for the arts.
Marilyn Walker is an award-winning fibre artist, author, teacher and philanthropist; she is also an active supporter of the arts and arts education across Canada, and at Brock University in particular. In tribute to the artist, Brock will rename its Arts School the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.
The entire $15 million will be endowed in perpetuity to support building the school’s programs, enhancing its facilities and positioning it to be one of the best in North America, if not the world. The school is committed to top-quality learning and research — and toward the creation of a world-class arts facility.
“Marilyn Walker has been instrumental in the cultural revitalization of the Niagara region,” said Jack N. Lightstone, President, Brock University. “Her commitment to improve the quality of life at the school, in the community and across the region is inspiring. The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts will attract the very best to Brock, create positive economic impact for St. Catharines and Niagara and serve as a tribute to a great Canadian artist and arts advocate. We are deeply appreciative of her support and thoughtful consideration.”
Rosemary Hale, Dean, Faculty of Humanities, explained “With this transformational donation, Brock will strengthen its commitment to artistic education and research and engage the community at large by transforming its School of Fine and Performing Arts into a world-class arts centre. Students in theatre, music, movement, fine art, and multimedia across Canada will have a home here that ranks among the best in the world. This gift will allow the School of Fine and Performing Arts, in the Faculty of Humanities, to build intellectual capacity in a permanent home.”
Marilyn Walker is among Canada’s most generous philanthropists. She has dedicated time and resources toward improving the quality of life for the residents of Niagara, most notably in the areas of education, art and health. Marilyn Walker is a recognized authority on Canadian quilts and has lectured widely on the artistic, historic and cultural significance of quilts across Canada and the United States.
Marilyn herself states, “In quilting and in life, people should be allowed freedom of speech and freedom of art.”
Marilyn Walker’s generous gift, made at a time when overall economic health and support for the arts is weakening, demonstrates her life-long commitment to art, education and community, and will encourage both students and faculty to push the boundaries of academic convention at Brock University.
For more information, please contact:
* Jeffrey Sinibaldi, Media Relations Officer, Brock University, 905-688-5550, ext. 4687; jsinibaldi@brocku.ca
* Liz Armstrong, FLIP PUBLICITY, 416-533-7710, ext. 237; liz@flip-publicity.com
Interested in Photography? Want to know more about the History of Visual Culture?
Join us for “A brief history of the Camera Obscura, the Pinhole Camera and the
Photobased Work of Dianne Bos.” This is a public lecture by Dianne Bos, presented by the Department of Visual Arts, Brock University
Friday, November 7th
Noon – 1pm (Bring your lunch!)
GLN 162
All are welcome!
I just got back from a conference in Montreal — it was a very interesting event and I’d like to blog about it in more detail once I’ve unpacked and had some sleep. As I unwind tonight, however, I want to blog about graffiti. Specifically, I want to blog about how interesting graffiti in the bathrooms of campuses can be. I’m not talking about the boring “AB + DC = 4-EVER” kind of graffiti but, rather, the scrawled dialogues about politics, the environment, gender, etc. that are often found in campus bathrooms. (Perhaps this happens in other locales too, but in my experience this tends to be a university or college phenomenon.) It is especially fascinating when one person’s scribbles spark a whole range of replies. I remember one particular bathroom at the U of A in which two sharpie-wielding members of the campus community carried on an extensive debate about abortion for weeks. It was fascinating — more so for the venue and manner in which this debate was carried out than in what was specifically being said.
I noticed this weekend that the bathrooms at Concordia had some pretty interesting material as well. Environmental politics seem to dominate these bathroom walls at the moment — a reflection of the greening of political debates in a wider sense? As I read the Concordia graffiti it struck me that I haven’t encountered this sort of thing at Brock. At first I wondered if it was maybe a phenomenon exclusive to large urban campuses, but then I remembered that Queen’s University had its fair share of politically-engaged bathroom graffiti. Now, I’d never suggest students vandalize campus property, but I sure am curious about the reasons for this absence. Maybe it happens, but just not in the parts of the campus that I tend to frequent. Perhaps I don’t see this kind of graffiti because we have an especially diligent custodial staff at Brock. Are Brock students finding other fora in which to express their political views? I believe I may have to conduct some research into this.
I rarely make New Year’s resolutions in January, but at the start of Sept. I find myself making lists, getting organized and promising to do (or not do) things I didn’t do last year. The fall brings that feeling of a “new beginning” — a chance to start fresh. Sure, I didn’t get as much as I’d hoped done in the summer, but there’s no point in dwelling on that, right? Time to look forward and to make plans for the coming weeks.
There is a buzz in the air, campuses are starting to get busy once again. It is an exciting time of year and I’m trying to feed off that energy. I’ve made some changes to my courses this year, changes that I hope will improve the courses while at the same time allow me to use my time more efficiently. I’ve got a good teaching schedule this term and will try my best to keep those “research days” free for doing research. I always have the best of intentions, but I have been guilty of letting meetings, errands and other activities encroach on those days in the past. This year I need to make sure I protect those days and use them wisely.
To everyone starting a fresh academic year — Happy New Year! Here’s hoping the 2008/09 academic year will be a happy and productive one.
Fall term started this week, and the campus has sprung back to life. I love the renewed sense of energy that accompanies the start of the fall term, but after a relatively quiet summer it can take a day or so to adjust to the hustle and bustle that September brings. There are a few spots on campus, however, where it is possible to slip away for a quiet moment of tranquillity. Yesterday I stopped by for a quick visit to a lovely little pond nestled in among the campus buildings. I sat for a moment and watched a frog hopping around along the edge of the water.
As I was sitting at the edge of the pond I recalled a faculty event held in a room overlooking the pond last spring. A number of us (including the president of the university) were fascinated to discover a beaver swimming around in the pond. The event concluded with faculty members from all disciplines and departments pressed up against the glass, straining to get a better look at the beaver. I didn’t see the beaver yesterday, but I did see a structure that looks like it could have that Castor canadensis touch. (The zoom on my camera isn’t great, but you can sort of see it in the middle area of the second photo).
