The University is proud to announce that Erdem Taşdelen (MAA '10 and current sessional faculty member), is the recipient of a Charles Pachter Prize!

Excerpted from Candian Art:

Taşdelen grew up in Switzerland, Germany and Turkey before settling in Vancouver, where he earned an MA in visual arts from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. His work—such as Worrier, which documents five therapy sessions with a psychotherapist over the course of two months to resolve anxieties about being an artist—often reflects humorously on self-expression and culture.

The $5K prizes, initiated by senior visual artist and historian Charles Pachter, are intended to “nurture emerging talent” in the visual arts in Canada. Awards were announced by the Hnatyshyn Foundation, September 23.

Congratulations Erdem!

The 2014 Mayor’s Arts Awards have been announced and will take place October 7 at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre.

Emily Carr is pleased to announce that this year's recipients include Al McWilliams, Public Art - Honouree ('69), Cedric Bomford, Public Art - Emerging Artist ('03), and Laura Piasta, Visual Arts - Emerging Artist ('06). Al Neil, musician, collage artist, writer and Emily Carr Honorary Doctorate recipient, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Mayor's Arts Awards juries are convened by the Alliance for Arts and Culture. Honourees in the studio and performing arts categories were chosen by juries of their peers, consisting of previous Mayor's Arts Awards recipients.

The selection in each category is made from nominations by individual jurors and solicited from the community at large. Each honouree artist is invited to select an emerging artist in their discipline who demonstrates the promise of the next generation, and all receive a cash award.

For complete details, visit Mayor's Arts Awards.

Emily Carr alumna Tiziana La Melia ('08) received the distinguished $25,000 RBC Canadian Painting Competition award Wednesday, October 1, 2014, for her work, Hanging onto the part. The award, now in its 16th year,  is one of the largest in Canada and recognizes emerging artists.

Tiziana's work, along with the two runner-up winners, will now become a part of the RBC Corporate Art Collection, which currently numbers more than 4,000 pieces.

Both Gavin Lynch ('09) and Laura Piasta ('06) were among the 15 finalists! The finalists’ paintings are currently on view at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art through to October 8, 2014. From there they will be on display at the Art Toronto Fair taking place from October 24 to 27, 2014.

Established in 1999, the RBC Canadian Painting Competition is a tribute to Canada's artistic talent. The goal of the competition is to support and nurture Canadian visual artists early in their career by providing them with a forum to display their artistic talent to the country and hopefully open doors to future opportunity. Each year the competition divides the country into three regions (western, central, eastern), with a three-member panel from each region choosing five finalists for the national face-off. This year’s finalists were announced in mid-June, culled from 600 entrants.

We are extremely proud of Tiziana, Gavin and Laura. Last year Colleen Heslin ('03) won for her painting Almost young, wild and free. Previous recipients include Rebecca Brewer ('07), Brenda Draney ('09), Jeremy Hof ('08), Arabella Campbell ('02) and Etienne Zack ('00).

Jason Cusator ('06) will be holding his first solo exhibition, This Exists. The Canadian artist spent his youth growing up in rural BC and the Yukon and took to art at a young age, finding it a grounding escape in periods of change and uncertainty. Working primarily in acrylic and oil on non-figurative abstract paintings, his work is at times dark with an undertone of vibrancy, all the while remaining playful. For Jason, abstract allows for the expression of what cannot be articulated in other mediums.

This Exists
434 Columbia Street, Vancouver BC
September 30 - October 12 | 11am-7pm daily (6pm on Sundays)

We're incredibly proud to share news of Judson Beaumont's ('85) 2014 BC Creative Achievement Award of Distinction.

Inspired by kids and their liberal acceptance of the bizarre, Judson is widely known for creating whimsical, imaginative and masterful furniture pieces. Since graduating from Emily Carr in 1985, Judson has been producing one-of-a-kind, interactive designs from his custom design studio, Straight Line Designs Inc. His company has completed unique design projects and installations throughout North America and around the world, including pieces for children's hospitals, museums, libraries, Disney Cruise ships and various exhibitions.

Judson was the recipient of a BC Creative Achievement Award in 2009 for his furniture design.

The awards will be presented later this fall at a formal ceremony at Shaw Studios in Vancouver.Congratulations Judson!

A new series of interactive stories made with handcrafted stop-motion is now featured on iTunes as the colourful characters from the popular children’s book series Windy & friends, leap into the virtual world. Created for young children, the 10-part series of interactive story apps will be released throughout the year.

The Windy & Friends series is a one of a kind collaboration, combining traditional crafting and stop-motion animation with interactive technology. The result is a uniquely engaging and creative experience. Creators, long-time friends and book designers, Judith Steedman ('97) and Robin Mitchell Cranfield ('03), are known for their award-winning aesthetic.

When transported to the stop-motion world, their creations quite literally come alive. Brought to life by the award-winning technical expertise of Loud Crow studio, whose art director, Talent Pun ('04) is also an Emily Carr graduate, and in production partnership with Leah Mallen of Twofold Films, and Marc Stephenson of Sheep Noir Films, storytelling has a vibrant new home.

TEDxVancouver is taking place this week, and along with the usual roster of fantastic speakers, you'll find a number of artworks, including live painting by our talented alumni, students and staff. 

Watch for Jonny Ostrem's  ('10), Artifact, Jeremy Wong's (staff) contribution to Harmonograph Swingset, and live painting mash-ups by Nomi Chi (4th year student) and partner Colin Moore, and Ola Volo ('12) and partner Peter Ricq. 

A member of the Wuikinuxv Nation, Bracken Hanuse Corlett is a graduate of the Enowkin Centre of Indigenous Art in Penticton and Emily Carr University of Art & Design ('11). He is a multi-disciplinary artist who began first working in theatre and performance prior to transitioning to digital-media and visual arts. Bracken represents a new face of Aboriginal art in Canada, with his ability to move between traditional and contemporary media with ease.

The BC Creative Achievement Awards for First Nations' Art celebrate artistic excellence in traditional, contemporary or media art.

The awards were selected by jury members: renowned artist Robert Davidson, international photo-based artist Roy Arden, contemporary visual art curator Tania Willard, MOA's curator emeritus Bill McLennan, and Kathleen Bartels, Director, Vancouver Art Gallery (non-voting chair).

The awards will be presented on November 28 at a ceremony in Vancouver. 

Visit the British Columbia Achievement Foundation for the complete list of recipients.

TOQUE is back! Join the Western Front for their annual fundraiser and craft fair on Dec 5 - 6, 2014.

The event showcases a carefully curated selection of 24 artists, designers and artisans with everything from books, ceramics and jewelry, to artisanal treats, skincare and fashion. Also available is the annual limited-edition tea towel designed this year by artist Casey Wei. Proceeds support Western Front’s year-round art and new music programs.

Participating vendors include many Emily Carr alum!
1UP Caramels, Anita Sikma, AW by Andrea Wong, Cumulus Project, Dear Pony, Draw Me A Lion, Erin Templeton, Fable Naturals, Fieldwork, Fleet Objects, Gailan Ngan, Gray Metal, Henderson Dry Goods, Hendrik Lou, Hives for Humanity, Made by Kin, Maggie Boyd Ceramics, Olla Flowers, Osmics, Paperback Note, Perro Verlag, Simply Read Books, WarmAndDrift and Woodlot.

Event hours:

• Friday Dec 5th from 6-10pm, with cocktails and winter bbq
• Saturday Dec 6th from 11am-5pm

Admission is by donation. Preview the vendor line-up.

TOQUE coincides with the Holiday Membership Drive, so join/renew at the event for perks and prizes and help them reach their goal of 200 members.

We're thrilled to announce that Brenna Randlett('14) has been awarded a Vancouver User Experience Award in the student category for her grad project, Parrot.

Parrot is a one or two player game for children with learning differences.  Created for my 4th year thesis project, it is an iPad game that utilizes the touch screen with quick and fun games to promote learning. The main objective with this project was to create a two player component that utilizes corporative learning. Children working together to get their best score. All of the games include components used in the classroom setting optimized for reading/spelling/and writing difficulties.

The Vancouver User Experience Awards recognize local user experience innovation and outstanding UX practitioners. The Lower Mainland’s UX community has a place to showcase the incredible work its professionals create every day.

Congratulations Brenna!

Nine Vancouver artists will be exhibiting a one-night media art and live electronic performance event, SKIN, curated and produced by students from VIVO Media Arts Centre's Career Development Mentorship with media artist, Wynne Palmer.

This event is hosted and supported by VIVO Media Arts Centre in conjunction with a BC Arts Council Youth Engagement Grant. SKIN addresses abstract concepts, derived from the material form of the physical body as a point of departure. The exhibition explores concepts including body architecture, gender, body shame, the remediated body, body as machine, collective health and spatial interactions. The famous Protagorean statement, "man is the measure of all things . . .” (aside from relativism) is an inspiration for using the human structure as a referencing unit of infinite things.

SKIN

Friday, December 5, 2014 | 8pm - 1am
This event is free to attend. 

Exhibitng/Performing artists include Emily Carr alumni:

Zandi Dandizette is a Vancouver transplant from Portland, Oregon and is a recent Emily Carr graduate with a BMA in animation. As an interdisciplinary artist, they try to embody their work whether in design, performance, animation, or curation. Their focus is on colour, gender, shape, and line in accordance to movement.

Wynne Palmer is a Vancouver-based interdisciplinary artist, curator and producer. She holds a BFA (Graphic Design + Photography) from U of A and BFA Visual Arts from Emily Carr ('03). Her practice focuses on the liminal space where the natural world and technology converge, bringing into question identity, concepts of location and the philosophy of language.

Vincent Parkeris an artist and musician working in Vancouver, BC (BFA '09). He has his own instantly recognizable brand of original electronic music that is informed by east van bass music culture and the psychedelic roots of the Pacific Northwest. Everything Vincent does is entirely performed and conducted Live P.A.

Matt Troy is a media and event curator, promoter and producer. Graduating in 2012 from Emily Carr and interning for media artist Paul Wong, Matt is now the Director of Vancouver Art & Leisure, hosting live media shows, performances and events.

Lead Curator/Producer: Wynne Palmer
Curators/Producers: Zandi Dandizette, Alanna Ho, Anchi Lin, Marchien Veen, Corie Waugh.

With special thanks: VIVO Media Arts Centre, Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, City of Vancouver and Gaming/Province of BC.

POLYPHONICS refers to the harmony of two or more textures in a melodious composition. This exhibit is to explore harmony between colours or chords. Unless working with light, artists work in a subtractive colour model to achieve these distinct ideas. Explorations are of colour harmonies such as cool, warm, complementary, analogous, monochromatic, or triadic, to create a whole concept. Works presented are largely involving multimedia imagery whether mimicking, projecting, or displaying.

This exhibition will show projects of emerging local artists in a variety of formats including media, installation, and painting.

POLYPHONICS
Saturday, December 13 | 7pm
The James Black Gallery | 144 East 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC

Featured artists include current students and alum, among others:

Derian Blake
Jane Q Cheng
Zandi Dandizette ('14)
Eden Cooke Hello
Rosalie Edwards
Carli Erin Gaudet ('14)
Daniel Brown Hozjan
Kirsten Hatfield ('13)
Jennifer Kate Koester
Chelsea O'Byrne
Derek Trowell
Marika Vanderkraats
Kangi Connie Wang
See Why

The James Black Gallery is dedicated to artists showing their work without having to pay a percentage out to the gallery. Artists-­in-residence show their work, curate, and run the space. AlumnaZandi Dandizettecurates this monthly exhibition. View the Facebook event page for complete details.

Knauf and Brown ('13) will be showing some new work at The Apartment gallery’s booth during this year’s NADA art fair, which is held in parallel with Art Basel Miami Beach.

On display will be the Standard lamp, from Knaufand Brown’s Standard collection, which was shown earlier this year at Sight Unseen’s OFFSITE in New York and has already received worldwide press. Also being presented for the first time is the Bachelor Credenza, a nod to dorm living resourcefulness, with elevated materiality and precision manufacturing processes, (limited to an edition of 10).

December 4 - 7, 2014
NADA Miami Beach 2014
The Apartment | Booth 2.32

Alumni duo Jesi Carson and Theunis Snyman - founders of Basic Design recently designed an installation, We Will Learn, as part of L A M P 2014, an international lighting design competition featuring a curated exhibition of 10 jury-selected finalists.

We Will Learn will be showcased from now until Sunday, January 4, 2015 as part of Science World's feature exhibition, LIGHT: Illuminating Science & Art.

The pair's installation was selected from over 50 worldwide lighting design entries – with a unique take on the event’s theme of Fibre. Jesi and Theunis interpreted this theme as ‘Moral Fibre’ and took the opportunity to make a statement that light is a luxury in many parts of the world, eventually winning the People's Choice Award for the L A M P 2014 exhibition.

The installation comprises of a series of solar powered bottle cap lights designed for use in rural villages with little or no access to electricity, where students are often unable to study after dark. Research and development for the original bottle cap light design entitled "Tutasoma" (Swahili for "We Will Learn") was undertaken by Theunis Snyman, Jeremy Lee, Jeremy Calhoun & Elizabeth Eng as part of an Emily Carr University course. Through the L A M P competition, Jesi and Theunis's goal was to raise awareness about their vision to bring light to those in need by creating a beautiful installation using unexpected materials. 

We Will Learn is now on display at Science World after being selected from the L A M P finalists to to participate in their current exhibit, Light: Illuminating Science and Art.

Next steps for Jesi and Theunis include development of a Kickstarter campaign to fund advanced product development of the Tutasoma bottle cap light. Their goal is to manufacture and distribute the lighting solution to those in need through their networks in the village of Shongwe, South Africa and beyond. Film students who are interested in helping out with the Tutasoma Kickstarter, can get in touch by sending an email to holler@basicdesign.ca.

Publication Studio Vancouver is pleased to present Trapp Editions: Love & Ornament, an exhibition by Trapp Projects featuring artwork and publications by Claire Greenshaw, Tony Romano ('01), Isabelle Pauwels (01), Kathy Slade (Head of Gallery Communications and Publications, Emily Carr) , T&T (Tony Romano & Tyler Brett'01), Jacques Villeglé and others.

The exhibition launches a new edition Love and Ornament (2006-2014), a photographic “record” by Toronto-based artist Tony Romano. A subsidiary of Trapp Projects, Trapp Editions is based in Vancouver where it has, since the late nineties, worked with artists to produce artworks that have at their core the impulse to repeat and multiply. While Trapp Editions has produced close to two hundred editions that vary in form from music recordings, photographs, lenticular prints, sculptures and publications, this exhibition presents a selection of works that fit the context of Publication Studio. On display in the exhibition are prints, artists’ books, catalogues and record covers.

Trapp Projects was initiated by Associate Professor Patrik Andersson in 1997 as a curatorial platform on which to introduce local and international artist to as wide an audience as possible while not being limited by the mandates of traditional exhibition spaces. Over the years, this project has led to collaborations with a wide range of people and spaces to highlight both emerging and established practices. One of the best examples of this collaboration has been the support of graphic designer Judith Steedman ('97) and Dr. Zenon Trylowsky who has allowed Trapp Projects to turn his downtown Vancouver dental office into a temporary art gallery on seven different occasions. Other collaborations have led Trapp to open exhibitions internationally in shopping malls, artist studios, grain silos, museums, artist-run spaces, commercial galleries, books, magazines and boxes. In each case, the characteristics of the particular site has helped to shape the exhibition outcome.

Trapp Editions: Love & Ornament
Publication Studio Vancouver
December 5, 2014 - February 14, 2015
Reception: Saturday, December 13 | 2pm

Please note: Publication Studio will close for the holidays from December 21 - 2014 - January 6, 2015.

Caroline Mousseau ('12) has been selected as one of only two painters working in Canada to be featured in Thames and Hudson’s new publication, 100 Painters of Tomorrow.

The 288-page catalogue introduces the work of 100 emerging international painters chosen by an extensive jury from over 4,300 global submissions. The jury featured some of the most prominent names in contemporary art, including Cecily Brown, Tony Godfrey, Yuko Hasegawa, Suzanne Hudson, Jacky Klein, Gregor Muir, Valeria Napoleone, Barry Schwabsky, Philip Tinari and publication initiator Kurt Beers.

The book was launched on October 30, 2014, at Christie’s Gallery in London and Mousseau’s work was featured in the group exhibition, 100 Painters of Tomorrow, in New York from November 7 to December 6, 2014.

Dynamo Arts Association presents In an unusual place, a gathering of works of photography, print, installation, and collage by artists whose pieces engage with the relationship between identity, physical space, and the social tensions unleashed by the intersection of these two forces. 

Featuring work by current students Ray Chen, Luke Maddarod and Alina Senchenko and alumnus Hei Lam Ng ('14).

In an unusual place
Dynamo Arts Association
Opening Reception | January 24, 2015,  7 - 10pm

View the Facebook event page.

Co-curated by 2014 alumni Carli Erin Gaudet and Hei Lam Ng.

Alumna Katherine Soucie's (MAA '13) gorgeous upcycled textile line, Sans Soucie, is featured on the cover of Belle Armoire Magazine, Winter 2015.

The issue includes two articles she penned, From the Studio and Eco Fashion: More than just a trend.  This issue is available at select Chapters locations, specialty magazine stores and online.

Watch for the opening of Katherine's Vancouver studio later this year. Join the mailing list, info@sanssoucie.ca to receive updates and info on new work, sales and events. 

This exhibition presents a selection of work by Kim Kennedy Austin ('01) produced over the past two decades. The aim has been to highlight the broad aesthetic, intellectual and cultural territory that Austin weaves together into a unique and labour intensive practice. Austin looks at structural systems and emotive aesthetics in the ubiquitous sea of printed matter that is trying to sell us products, religion and lifestyle.

Operating on the fringe of the social and economic milieu that this material is produced for, and often finding attraction in things that have just gone out of style or lost their function, Austin re-invests these images and objects with labour and attention to detail. Transforming mechanically reproduced forms into uniquely handmade objects, Austin points us back to the creative impulse and imagination that likely inspired their original production.

In this exhibition, the mechanical language of industry is asked to co-exist with spiralling and heart shaped sentimentality of popular culture in the form of text-based drawings, watercolours and needlepoint cross-stitching. Austin activates an artistic position that can neither be called dry conceptualism or wet expressionism as it folds references to music, literature, industry, television and craft into its own structure and sensibility. Here we find a dialogue between instinct and intellect that ultimately visualizes a labour of love. Accenting this first survey of Austin’s practice will be a new body of work produced for the West Vancouver Museum that emerges out of Austin’s interest and research into the iron bridges that connect the North Shore not only to other land masses, but other histories.

The title of the exhibition, Industry, Charity, Faith, Hope, is taken from the refrain of Oh Industry, a song performed by Bette Midler in the 1988 film Beaches. The exhibition is accompanied by a text-based response written by the writer, poet and archivist Larissa Beringer. This exhibition is guest-curated by Patrik Andersson. The artist and curator dedicate this exhibition to their friend and long-time supporter of the arts, Jack Adelaar (year…-2014)

Kim Kennedy Austin: Industry, Charity, Faith, Hope
West Vancouver Museum
January 13 - March 7, 2015
Opening Reception: Tuesday, January 13, 7pm

View the Facebook event page.

About the Artist: Kim Kennedy Austin is a Vancouver-based artist. Since graduating from Emily Carr in 2001, her work has been shown locally and internationally at galleries including Vancouver’s Contemporary Art Gallery, The Vancouver Art Gallery, the Charles H. Scott Gallery, State Gallery, Lawrence Eng Gallery, and Neon, Sweden.

About the Curator: Patrik Andersson is a curator and art historian who teaches contemporary art and ideas at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. He holds a PhD in Art History from the University of British Columbia and has published numerous articles and books. Since 1997 he has been operating the independent curatorial and publishing project Trapp.

About the Writer: Larissa Beringer is a writer, and an art librarian at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. She has lectured on alternative libraries and archives, the documents of contemporary art and artists' publications.

'Drive In' is a series that was photographed during a 15,000km North American road trip in 2010. The series explores the dialogue between architecture and its environment from a social perspective; of literal and metaphorical structures and the spaces it can unavoidably create around itself. 'Drive In' will be installed at the Main Street SkyTrain Station until spring/summer 2015.

Krista Jahnke ('09) is an award winning photographer and multi-disciplinary designer. She weaves her interests in photography and architecture to explore the architectural landscape -- how we populate, circulate through and understand it. Along with her BFA, Photography, from Emily Carr, Jahnke holds a Bachelor of Architectural Studies from Carleton University.