Highlights from our students, faculty and staff are also included.

You can read ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s 2020-21 annual report .

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The Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) recently announced that ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ University’s Dr. April Mandrona, Assistant Professor in the Division of Art History and Contemporary Culture and Director of Art Education, was awarded a Partnership Development Grant in the sum of $199,999. April is the principal investigator and therefore has primary responsibility for the overall direction of the research and its related activities.

The research, titled Storying Transnational Knowledges: Connection through Narrative, aims to address the potential of multimodal storytelling (e.g. written and spoken language, visual, audio, etc.) and network building for the well-being and cultural “survivance” of newcomer young people and their communities in Canada and Australia. This research will be explored across four locations: Halifax, Nova Scotia; Montreal, Quebec; Darwin, Northern Territory; and Adelaide, South Australia. Each site will engage 15-20 young people and five adult knowledge keepers. This new partnership involves ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ University, McGill University, Charles Darwin University, the University of South Australia, Byenvini à Montréal, and the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia.

Partnership Development Grants provide support to foster new research and/or related activities with new or existing partners; and to design and test new partnership approaches for research and/or related activities. The grants are valued at $75,000 to $200,000, over one to three years. The program purpose is to provide funding to enable social sciences and humanities research collaboration with partners across the academic, public, private and not-for-profit sectors. This program helps stimulate leading-edge, internationally competitive research, fosters strong and productive research collaborations with multisectoral partners and accelerates the use of research results by organizations that can harness them for Canadian economic, social and cultural development.

Please join us in congratulating April! We look forward to seeing this research develop and the connections and stories that unfold through this important work.

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ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ University is saddened to announce that retired Professor Emeritus H. Dennis Young has passed away. Dennis came to Nova Scotia by way of England and Toronto. In 1972, he met ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ legend Jerry Ferguson, who would become his long-time friend. Jerry visited Dennis at the Art Gallery of Ontario with a portfolio of prints from the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ Lithography Workshop. A year later, Dennis was invited to create the Art History Department at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.

Dennis initiated ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s extensive slide collection and worked with then-President Garry Neill Kennedy to build the Craft Division. When the college created the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ Press, Prof. Young chaired the publications committee and oversaw the design and translation of its first book, Paul-Émile Borduas: Écrits/Writings 1942-1958.

Dennis retired in 1990 after serving as Chair of the Art History Department for eighteen years. He was then conferred as Professor Emeritus. The Board of Governors appointed Dennis as a Life Fellow of ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ University in 2017.

Memories of Dennis Young, by Jayne Wark, March 31, 2021

I first knew Dennis Young when I was a student in his twentieth-century art history course at ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ in 1977. Thinking I was a little smarty pants who didn’t need to study much for the midterm exam, I was shocked when I got a “pink slip” advising me to drop the course. When I took the course again, it was with a much greater respect and appreciation for Dennis’ erudition, especially his deep insight into Marcel Duchamp (this time I got an A+). One might say that Duchamp was Dennis’ avatar, both as a Socratic educator and as an elegant person of great wit and charm. Dennis’ teachings about Duchamp stayed with me and through a circuitous path would lead me on to study art history in graduate school. When I heard that Dennis was retiring in 1990, I jumped at the chance to apply, successfully as it turned out, for his vacated position. After moving to Halifax to take up this position our relationship changed from teacher and student to friends and colleagues. Dennis graciously came as a guest to my classes many times to lecture on Duchamp.

Over the years we had many fine times together, including lunches at Dennis’ apartment and family dinners at our house. We shared a love of esoterica about turn-of-the-century art, cabaret performance culture and the eccentric and often subversive characters that animated it. While Dennis embodied the disposition of the upright English decorum in which he was raised, he was also a Francophile who took perverse delight in the black humour and anti-bourgeois insults of such people as one Joseph Pujol, who became famous as Le Pétomane for his ability to fart The Marseilles onstage. Such was Dennis’ incongruity, and such was the basis of what became our deep friendship. We spent many happy hours talking and laughing as we perused his extraordinary collection of rare and precious books and ephemera. Dennis was a captivating storyteller, and there was a story behind every one of these treasures. Dennis loved a bit of gossip too, truth be told, as long as it was lively and not too mean-spirited.

Dennis played an important role in the formation of ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ as we know it today. Although art history courses had been degree requirements since 1969, Dennis was recruited from his post as Curator of Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 1973 to form an Art History Division and formalize a slate of courses comparable to art history programs at other universities. Dennis also made a major contribution to research by organizing an international conference in 1987 on Marcel Duchamp and editing the resulting book, The Definitively Unfinished Marcel Duchamp, co-published by the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ Press and MIT Press in 1991.

Dennis Young lived a long and rewarding life. I was honoured to be one of his many students, friends and colleagues. He was well cared for in his final months by two other former students and great friends, Lorelei Horne and John Kennedy. Dennis will be much missed.

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Fogo Island Arts (FIA) and ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ University are pleased to announce a new internship partnership made possible through the generous support of artist and former ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ faculty member Eric Fischl. The Eric Fischl Fogo Island Arts Internship will offer two ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ University students or alumni the opportunity to gain valuable work experience in arts administration with Fogo Island Arts in 2021-22.

“We are delighted to pursue our work with Eric Fischl and to forge new connections across the Atlantic Region, all in the service of creating exceptional opportunities for learning and exchange,” said Nicolaus Schafhausen, FIA Strategic Director. “We are extremely grateful for Eric’s support as well as the chance to work with students trained within the rigorous creative framework and celebrated history of ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ University.”

Participants in The Eric Fischl Fogo Island Arts Internship program will work as support staff in the offices of Fogo Island Arts, contributing to day-to-day program operations and communications over a three-month period. The interns will receive a stipend and will be provided with housing, travel expenses, and studio space, in addition to invaluable opportunities to engage with FIA’s international artists-in-residence and community members across Fogo Island. The ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ University partnership is the second FIA internship program funded by Fischl and follows the same parameters as the ongoing partnership with the New York Academy of Art (NYAA), established in 2017.

“Fogo Island Arts is a place where artistic exploration, research and knowledge-sharing is nurtured and encouraged,” says Melanie Colosimo, Director of ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ University’s Anna Leonowens Gallery. “This type of learning opportunity is incredibly valuable, as putting practice into play can prove to be a pivotal moment in establishing a career in the arts. The ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ community is fortunate to have access to this internship.”

The partnership between FIA, Fischl, and ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ University reflects a shared understanding of the need for expanded educational opportunities within the contemporary art world, as well as the critical role that art and education play in enriching communities.

Applications will be open to ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ students and alumni in March 2021. For more information on the internship and application procedure, please visit ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ University’s .

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Time: 1 p.m.

Where:

Meeting ID: 861 5654 6749

Passcode: 2sf2sh

Hosted by ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s Painting and Drawing Department, Josette Urso will deliver an online artist talk on Thursday, October 22, 2020.

Josette works directly and urgently in response to her immediate environment. She works with a playful sense of purpose, an exploratory urgency and a moment-to-moment focus.

Josette has exhibited in New York at the Drawing Center, Markel Fine Arts, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Storefront, Norte Maar, DFN and the New York Public Library. She has received numerous awards throughout her career, including:

• Gottlieb Foundation award
• Two Pollock-Krasner Foundation grants
• Basil H. Alkazzi painting award
• Ruth and Harold Chenven award

She has also been awarded residencies from the AIEP American Artist’s Abroad program (Cambodia), Ballinglen Arts Foundation (Ireland), Camargo Foundation (France), Stock 20 (Taiwan), Ucross (Wyoming) and Yaddo. Josette was a participant in the Bronx Museum of the Arts AIM program.

She received her MFA (Painting) from the University of South Florida and currently works in Brooklyn, NY.

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Highlights from our students, faculty and staff are also included.

You can read ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s 2019-20 annual report .

The post ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ releases 2019-20 Annual Report appeared first on ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ.

“A residency program is an exciting option for artists who have an interest in community engagement, developing teaching skills, and sharing their work with a diverse group of art enthusiasts,” said Martine Durier-Copp, PhD, Dean, ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ University. “Residents become active participants in their host communities, engaging town residents in the visual arts through exhibitions, receptions and guest lectures.”

ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s artist-in-residence programs take part in three communities: Lunenburg, New Glasgow, and Sydney.

In Lunenburg, Jessie McLaughlin (BFA 2020), Sienna Maeba (BFA 2020), and Undine Foulds (BFA 2020) are the artists-in-residence this fall. McLaughlin is a textile and fashion artist who explores how materials, text, colour and the textile process ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵes of weaving, quilting and applique create knitted and woven clothing. Maeba has an interdisciplinary practice that also incorporates fashion and textiles, with a focus on colour palettes, while Foulds is an interdisciplinary artist working in ceramics with a focus on slip casting.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Jessie, Sienna and Undine to Lunenburg ,” said Lunenburg Mayor Rachel Bailey. “The artist in residence program contributes greatly to the cultural vitality of this community and also to the development and creativity of local artists.”

ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s first partnership was forged with the Town of Lunenburg in 2006. Since its establishment, many of the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ alumni who moved to Lunenburg through the program continue to live and work in the area. Each year, up to three ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ alumni share the large, light-filled studio in the triple bays of Lunenburg’s former fire hall.

Merryn Tresidder (MFA 2020) will serve as artist-in-residence in New Glasgow this fall. Tresidder is particularly interested in the Celtic diaspora and immigration, and has a keen interest in collaborating with First Nations communities. The ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ-New Glasgow Artist Residency program is a partnership between the Town of New Glasgow and ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ University.

In Dartmouth, Nick Nylen (BFA 2020) and Natasha Verbeke (BFA 2020) are the successful artists-in-residence. Nylen has experience working and organizing youth summer camps, and as an early childhood educator. He explores ideas surrounding the natural and unnatural through various forms of paint applications. Verbeke has significant experience with community engagement, having worked with high school students in South Africa through the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ Art in Schools program. She creates large scale abstract oil paintings and brings elements of historical painting into a contemporary landscape.

ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s partner in Dartmouth is the MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning, a community youth hub which offers programming in the visual arts, music, video, creative writing and technology for youth between the ages of 12 to 19. The incoming ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ residents share a studio on the third floor of the bustling teen centre in downtown Dartmouth.

The Sydney program partners with the Cape Breton Centre for Craft in concert with ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s Masters in Art Education and the Creative Entrepreneurship Lab led by Special Advisor Gregory Adolphe-Nazaire.

Learn more about ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ community studio residences here.

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Carla Taunton, ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ associate professor of Historical and Critical Studies, is part of a panel discussion this week on memory and monuments as part of the Nuit Blanche (Toronto) speaking series.

This speaking series offers in-depth conversations with Nuit Blanche artists, scholars and curators all year long. The insightful discussions, conversations, panels, Q&A’s and performances tackle some of the most relevant and urgent issues of our time: access, opportunity, land, geopolitics, sustainability.

Carla’s areas of expertise include Indigenous arts and methodologies, contemporary Canadian art, museum and curatorial studies as well as theories of decolonization, anti-colonialism, and settler responsibility. She was recently named co-recipient of the CSN-REC Prize for Best Article published in the Journal of Canadian Studies.

Dr. Julie Nagam is the Artistic Director of the project and moderator of the panel, which takes place on Thursday, September 17, 9 p.m. (Atlantic time). Enjoy the discussion by registering at .

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Fabienne Colas, ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s virtual Visiting Artist in Residence in Film and Media Studies, delivers an online public lecture on Tuesday, September 15 at 6 p.m. (Atlantic time).

Fabienne’s lecture is titled My long and hard journey toward inclusion of Black artists in front and behind the camera and in the arts, and will include a question-and-answer session with the audience. The event is hosted by ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ alumni Duane Jones (BDes 2004), creator of the clothing line and podcast ‘.’

Enjoy Fabienne’s lecture by logging on . This is a highly-anticipated lecture by a well-known and accomplished artist, so please log in early to make sure you’re online in time!

Read more about Fabienne at /fabiennecolas/.

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