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    Ladder to arts leadership

    Wednesday January 11, 2017
    By Communications Staff

    Queen’s University has launched a new ‘laddered’ Graduate Diploma and Master’s program that will provide students interested in pursuing or accelerating their career in the arts with a 360-degree view of the arts and culture industry.

    Through the programs, offered by the Dan School of Drama and Music in collaboration with the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, students can earn a Graduate Diploma in Arts Management with the successful completion of the six-week term, or continue with the Master’s in Arts Leadership.

    [Arts Leadership graduate programs]
    A new laddered Graduate Diploma and Master’s program at Queen's provides students interested in pursuing or accelerating their career in the arts with a full view of the arts and culture industry. (University Communications)

    With a focus on experiential learning through live site research assignments and a final term practicum placement in an arts organization, students are exposed to, and taught by, top practitioners in the arts industry. Students in the program will also be provided with assistance in securing their final term practicum by leading North American arts search consultants, Genovese, Vanderhoof and Associates. 

    “Queen’s offers its students a perfect balance of engagement with rigorous academic programs and access to first class practitioners and arts facilities,” says Gordon E. Smith, Interim Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science. “Both programs are cross-disciplinary – and will be delivered by instructors from the Dan School of Drama and Music, the Masters of Industrial Relations program, the Smith School of Business, as well as top practitioners in the field. In addition, the campus boasts world-class facilities including a major performing arts centre, art gallery, and library, all with senior staff whose management experience adds to the practical teaching environment.”

    The five core courses needed to complete the Graduate Diploma in Arts Management are offered during a single six-week session in May and June beginning in 2017. A student may then continue on to pursue the Master’s in Arts Leadership program through the completion of one additional term of coursework, partly or wholly online, followed by a third capstone term involving a practicum placement.

    “This is an ideal and complementary graduate program for those who have received an undergraduate degree in drama, music, fine art, film and related cultural fields,” says Craig Walker, Director of the Dan School of Drama and Music.  “It is designed to help students capitalize on the extensive transferable skills they have gained during their earlier studies.”

    “Students will gain a tremendous knowledge in resource development which is required in all arts leadership positions in an industry requiring substantial revenue growth to achieve its artistic and audience goals,” adds Tricia Baldwin, Director, Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. “The relationship-based and revenue development focus of the program will set graduates up for tremendous success in the field.”

    For more information and upcoming events for the Graduate Diploma in Arts Management and the Master’s in Arts Leadership visit the programs website.

    Tags: Arts and Culture|Arts and Science

    A night to remember

    Tuesday January 10, 2017

    • Patricia O’Callaghan plays the lead role in the musical theatre production 'One Last Night with Mata Hari,' which is being staged at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. (Photo by Tim Fort)
      Patricia O’Callaghan plays the lead role in the musical theatre production 'One Last Night with Mata Hari,' which is being staged at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. (Photo by Tim Fort)
    • Patricia O’Callaghan sings during the final rehearsal for 'One Last Night with Mata Hari,' which is being staged at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. (Photo by Tim Fort)
      Patricia O’Callaghan sings during the final rehearsal for 'One Last Night with Mata Hari,' which is being staged at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. (Photo by Tim Fort)
    • Gregory Oh performs the role of Dr. Bazinet, the last of Mata Hari's supporters, performed by Patricia O'Callagan in 'One Last Night With Mata Hari.' (Photo by Tim Fort)
      Gregory Oh performs the role of Dr. Bazinet, the last of Mata Hari's supporters, performed by Patricia O'Callagan in 'One Last Night With Mata Hari.' (Photo by Tim Fort)
    • The Dan School of Drama and Music's John Burge, left, and Craig Walker, right, collaborated to create 'One Last Night With Mata Hari,' with Gregory Oh and Patricia O'Callaghan in the roles of Mata Hari and Dr. Bazinet. (Photo by Tim Fort)
      The Dan School of Drama and Music's John Burge, left, and Craig Walker, right, collaborated to create 'One Last Night With Mata Hari,' with Gregory Oh and Patricia O'Callaghan in the roles of Mata Hari and Dr. Bazinet. (Photo by Tim Fort)

    A century after her execution, Mata Hari remains an intriguing character and is the focus of an upcoming production created by Queen’s University’s John Burge and Craig Walker.

    One Last Night With Mata Hari presents the final night of the exotic dancer before she is to be executed by French authorities on charges of spying for Germany during the First World War.

    The production offers a rare collaboration between two Royal Society of Canada fellows who are leaders in their fields: Dr. Burge in music and Dr. Walker in drama.

    As Dr. Burge explains, the idea got its start after he had completed the chamber opera The Auction and was looking for a similar theatrical project that was a little less time consuming.

    “I was incredibly excited about the whole experience of writing music with a more theatrical bent but it can take years – if not decades – to see an opera through from inception to the stage and I was a bit more impatient than that,” he says. “It seemed much more doable in the short term to work on a one-person show with piano and I had mentioned this idea to Craig Walker as a collaboration.”

    He says that with Dr. Walker’s skill set as a dramatist, lyricist, actor and director, he knew that whatever his collaborator came up with would be inspiring.

    The result is a musical piece with Mata Hari and her final supporter, Dr. Bizard, telling her story from a cell in Paris’ Saint Lazare Prison.

    “One of the sources of inspiration was that John and I both admire Billy Bishop Goes to War,” Dr. Walker says, referring to the award-winning musical about the Canadian war hero that follows a similar format. “But we wanted to write a show for a female performer, and I first thought of Mata Hari simply because she was a historical female performer. I also knew that when the records of her secret trial had been released there were serious questions raised about her guilt. So suddenly her life became more intriguing; it seemed that a little research might be repaid with an interesting story.”

    Finding the right actor for the role proved a bit easier as Patricia O’Callaghan jumped on board early in the process and participated in all of the creative workshops.

    It was an exciting bit of recruitment for the team. The award-winning singer also suggested Gregory Oh, a collaborator on a number of projects, for the role of Dr. Bizard.

    “We both owned many of Patricia’s CDs prior to this project and she was the first singer we thought could pull off what we had in mind. All the songs have been crafted to her extraordinarily expressive voice,” Dr. Burge says. “She has performed her own cabaret-style shows for years and in many ways, having Mata Hari telling her life through song on the night before she is to be executed, is a cabaret of intimate proportions that is often quite funny, despite the impending doom.”

    One Last Night With Mata Hari is being staged at the Power Corp Studio Theatre of the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, with shows set for Thursday, Jan. 12 to Saturday, Jan. 14, and Tuesday, Jan. 17 to Saturday, Jan. 21, at 8 pm. Matinees are scheduled Sunday, Jan. 15 and 22 at 2 pm. Tickets can be purchased online at theisabel.ca. A special ‘pay what you can’ preview performance will be held Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 8 pm.

    The show marks the first time that Drs. Walker and Burge have worked together creatively and both are eager to work on another project. The collaboration, Dr. Burge explains, mirrors the synergy created through the creation of the Dan School of Drama and Music last year.

    “I had gotten to know Craig quite well when we were both heads of our respective programs at Queen’s and worked together with the architectural team that designed the Isabel,” he says. “Now all these years later, it seems to me that this show is really quite indicative of the many ways that music and drama intersect at Queen’s and a tangible example of why the merger and renaming of the Dan School of Drama and Music has been so exciting for students, faculty and staff.”

    Tags: Arts and Culture|Arts and Science

    Space for creativity

    Wednesday December 14, 2016
    By Andrew Carroll, Gazette Editor
    [Stefy McKnight]
    After moving into a new home in Mackintosh-Corry Hall, the Department of Cultural Studies created ‘Pot-pourri: a collegiate exhibition,’  co-curated by Stéfy McKnight, above, and Michelle Smith. (University Communications)

    When the Department of Cultural Studies moved into their new home in the lower floor of Mackintosh-Corry Hall, it brought together all the pieces – students, faculty and staff – in one location.

    That provided some new opportunities.

    Walking through the doors of B176, visitors are now greeted by ‘Pot-pourri: a collegiate exhibition,’ a gallery space for Cultural Studies students.

    Co-curators Stéfy McKnight and Michelle Smith explain that Cultural Studies students can use their research and artistic practice as translational research or as a theoretical medium, allowing them to have conversations through different means and to engage with different materials. However, finding a display space on campus can be difficult.

    “So that was a question we had: ‘How do we show people in our program that we are doing artworks in dynamic ways?’” says McKnight. “That’s where the idea of having our own space where graduate students in Cultural Studies can exhibit their work or even experiment with it came from.”

    By using the spacing the students are also gaining experience in curating, installing, applying to exhibitions and preparing a professional body of work. They are exploring the space, how to present and what to present, McKnight says.

    A new exhibition will be displayed each month.

    Response has been positive, including from Queen’s community members who previously occupied or visited the space.

    “They come down here and it’s ‘Oh my God, this space, it’s so fantastic, it looks so homey and roomy and we love it,’” says Smith. “Having that kind of reaction is really a positive reinforcement of what we have been doing and what we are trying to achieve. We’re trying to move away from just the utilitarian aspect of it toward this kind of connected space and this idea of community building.”

    That’s where Pot-pourri comes in – bringing various pieces together to make something new.

    With several exhibitions already complete, the co-curators are hopeful that the gallery will continue to evolve and expand with artists from outside Cultural Studies getting involved as well.

    “It has become a very dynamic space,” McKnight says.

    Tags: Arts and Culture|Arts and Science|Student Learning Experience

    Giving a voice to silent memories

    Wednesday December 14, 2016
    By Anne Craig, Communications Officer

    Queen’s professor Dorit Naaman’s new film retraces Jerusalem neighbourhood torn apart by the 1948 war.

    A new interactive documentary developed by Queen’s professor Dorit Naaman digitally brings the Palestinians and their descendants back to Katamon, retracing the rich Palestinian past of the neighbourhood before it was conquered by Israel during the 1948 war.  

    Jerusalem, We Are Here explores the streets of Katamon and visits some of the homes Palestinians were forced to flee. Dr. Naaman, an Israeli Canadian professor in Queen’s Film and Media, had the idea for the documentary during a stay in Katamon in 2008.

    [Dorit Naaman]
    Queen's professor Dorit Naaman returned to Katamon to create a documentary film. It's being presented in Kingston on March 3.

    “I rented an apartment in an old Palestinian home, and I saw a few tours exploring the neighbourhood,” says Dr. Naaman. “I realized I didn’t know anything about the history of the house I was renting. I asked myself, ‘what if I was able to find the families that used to live in these homes before they were driven out?’”  Then she found a hand drawn map, created in 1951 from memory by Hala Sakakini, listing the owners and residents of the houses, and the project took off.

    Dr. Naaman and her colleagues Anwar Ben Badis and Mona Halaby worked with former Katamon residents and their descendants to produce short films that are interlaced within a virtual walking tour of the neighbourhood. Some residents visited their old houses, others could not find them but lyrically imagined such visits, and yet others were coming to term with how radically changed the neighborhood is. She also included photos and documents the participants provided, and built an interactive map of the area, which will continue to grow as information is added by the public. There are also historical video clips of life before the war, which Palestinians refer to as The Nakba or “catastrophe.”

    “In a way, I am acting as the eyes and ears of the people who used to live and work in the neighborhood,” says Dr. Naaman of the documentary. “This film exposes what happened to the expelled families, and gives them a voice. I didn’t want this to be just nostalgic, but to engage with the present, and gesture towards the future.”

    The film project also gave some of Dr. Naaman’s students a unique hands-on learning experience.

    “Not only did it allow me to be a part of bringing such beautiful stories to life, giving the world a glimpse of silenced memories, but it showed me a way I could bridge my Queen’s experiences and what I’ve learned in meaningful ways,” says Leen Amarin a computing and cognitive science student (Artsci’17). “I was able to explore tools I’d never thought I’d need, and learn skills I didn’t know I had a hidden passion for. Being part of this project and seeing the amazing way graphics, interactive technology, and film came together gave me a whole new perspective on what my degree and my experience at Queen’s mean.”

    The film made its debut at the Montreal Documentary Film Festival and will next be presented on March 3 as part of the Kington Canadian Film Festival. The entire film is available online and information on the project is also available on Facebook. 

    Tags: Arts and Culture|Arts and Science

    16th-century books for a 21st-century library

    Wednesday November 23, 2016
    By Anne Craig, Communications Officer

    Seymour Schulich and Principal Daniel Woolf unveil new rare book collection at Douglas Library.

    • Principal Daniel Woolf, left, and Seymour Schulich, right, look at one of the displays at the newly-opened Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection with Alvan Bregman, Head, W.D. Jordan Rare Books and Special Collections. (University Communications)
      Principal Daniel Woolf, left, and Seymour Schulich, right, look at one of the displays at the newly-opened Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection with Alvan Bregman, Head, W.D. Jordan Rare Books and Special Collections. (University Communications)
    • Principal Daniel Woolf, left, and Seymour Schulich, right, unveil the Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection during a ceremony at the Queen’s Douglas Library on Wednesday, Nov. 23. (University Communications)
      Principal Daniel Woolf, left, and Seymour Schulich, right, unveil the Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection during a ceremony at the Queen’s Douglas Library on Wednesday, Nov. 23. (University Communications)
    • Seymour Schulich and his daughter Judy Schulich are given a tour of the Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection by Alvan Bregman, Head, W.D. Jordan Rare Books and Special Collections. (University Communications)
      Seymour Schulich, centre, and his daughter Judy Schulich are given a tour of the Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection by Alvan Bregman, Head, W.D. Jordan Rare Books and Special Collections. (University Communications)
    • Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection comprises 400 books, focused primarily on 16th-18th-century English history and culture but also includes volumes on travel, antiquities, and Canadiana. (University Communications)
      Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection comprises 400 books, focused primarily on 16th-18th-century English history and culture but also includes volumes on travel, antiquities, and Canadiana. (University Communications)

    When Canadian business leader and philanthropist Seymour Schulich met Queen’s Principal Daniel Woolf (Artsci’80), it wasn’t long before the pair realized they had more than a passion for education in common. They also shared a love of rare books.

    Principal Woolf had long planned to donate his book collection to Queen’s. However, his discussions with Mr. Schulich inspired him to fast-track those plans.

    Mr. Schulich and Principal Woolf jointly donated their personal collections to create the Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection at Queen’s University, which was unveiled to the public during a ceremony at the Queen’s Douglas Library on Wednesday, Nov. 23.

    “There reaches a point where mortality dictates great collections must be shared,” says the 77-year-old philanthropist, who was accompanied by his daughter, Judy Schulich, at the unveiling. “I hope to be part of building one of Canada’s best English rare book collections.”

    Principal Woolf, a historian, scholar, and professor as well as administrator, shares the optimism of his partner in philanthropy. “By the time we’re done building this, I don’t think there will be a better collection outside of the Ivy League universities and the Folger Shakespeare Library in North America,” he says, “certainly not of historical and topographical books from the period.”

    The collection, a combined 400 books, focuses on 16th-18th-century English history and culture but also includes volumes on travel, antiquities, and Canadiana.

    Vice-Provost and University Librarian Martha Whitehead expects the collection to resonate with students. “Students get a real thrill when they encounter a physical volume from centuries past,” she says. “Studying original artifacts, rather than copies, provides an insight into the material culture of the time.”

    In addition to the books, Mr. Schulich made a $2 million donation to help build and preserve the collection and make it accessible to students and researchers, both at Queen’s and beyond.

    “This donation gives us the means to acquire items we would never otherwise be able to acquire,” says Dr. Alvan Bregman, Curator of the Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection. “The volumes are important, not only as texts but also as artifacts to be used by students and researchers in a wide range of subjects.”

    A titan of Canadian industry whose career spanned the financial services and mining sectors, Mr. Schulich has distinguished himself as a philanthropist over the last two decades, donating more than $350 million to universities and hospitals throughout Canada, the U.S., and Israel.

    In 2011, he launched the Schulich Leader Scholarships, a $100-million program that provides full scholarships to promising high school graduates with a passion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Since the program’s inception, Queen’s has been a top-five destination for Schulich Leaders. Fourteen of them have chosen to study at Queen’s.

    To take a virtual tour of the Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection, visit library.queensu.ca/schulich-woolf

    Tags: Arts and Culture|Campus Community

    Sounds of the season

    Wednesday November 23, 2016
    By Anne Craig, Communications Officer

    Festival of Carols, a 70-year tradition, continues at Grant Hall.

    For the 71st year in a row, Grant Hall will be ringing with the sounds of the season.

    Since 1945, the Queen’s University Engineering Society has hosted an annual carol service. This year, the tradition continues, with a few tweaks to the program to give it more of a community focus and provide a chance to sing with friends and family.

    Preparing to sing their hearts out are: Back row (l to r): Ryan Kwast, Nick Hetherington, Thomas Rautenbach, Sam Mason and front row (l to r): Alex Bennett, Steven Ta, Monet Slinowsky, Claire Dederer 

    In 2013, the service, formerly the Carol Service, was renamed the Festival of Carols and the programming was updated to make it more inclusive and diverse. While carols are still sung, organizers now welcome two choirs to perform and, this year, the concert will close with an anthem dedicated to Nelson Mandela.

    “Initially the concert was attended by members of the engineering faculty but then alumni starting participating and now it’s open to the community,” says organizer Monet Slinowsky. “The concert has slowly changed over the years, but there will still be singing of traditional carols and readings from the Bible. And there are now other elements that will appeal to everyone.”

    Community choirs The Caledonias and All the Queen’s Men will perform and Ms. Slinowsky has also formed a new choir, The Festival of Carols Choir.

    “The theme for the concert this year is ‘Love is light in the darkness’, and I think the programming will reflect that,” says Ms. Slinowsky. “It’s a chance for Queen’s and the larger community to get together and just sing. Music is a universal language and we are celebrating that. It’s also a chance to get everyone in the Christmas spirit.”

    The concert will take place Sunday, Nov. 27 starting at 7:30 pm in Grant Hall. Admission is free, donations to the food bank are accepted.

    Tags: Arts and Culture|Campus Community|Engineering and Applied Science

    Award-winning Agnes

    Friday November 18, 2016
    By Communications Staff

    • For the Agnes' Winter Season Launch in 2016, Brendan Fernandes mesmerized audiences with "In Touch", a solo dance performed in the galleries by Lua Shayenne. (Photo by Tim Forbes)
      For the Agnes' Winter Season Launch in 2016, Brendan Fernandes mesmerized audiences with "In Touch", a solo dance performed in the galleries by Lua Shayenne. (Photo by Tim Forbes)
    • Visitors enhance their experience of the exhibition "The Artist Herself" at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre through the online component created by Studio Blackwell. (Supplied Photo)
      Visitors enhance their experience of the exhibition "The Artist Herself" at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre through the online component created by Studio Blackwell. (Supplied Photo)
    • Jennifer Nicoll, Collections Manager and Exhibition Coordinator at the Agnes, won the Colleague of the Year Award from the Ontario Association of Art Galleries.
      Jennifer Nicoll, Collections Manager and Exhibition Coordinator at the Agnes, won the Colleague of the Year Award from the Ontario Association of Art Galleries.

    The Agnes Etherington Art Centre is the winner of three major awards from the Ontario Association of Art Galleries (OAAG): Innovation in a Collections-Based Exhibition Award; Digital Project Award; and Colleague of the Year Award.

    The Innovation in a Collections-Based Exhibition Award was given to Brendan Fernandes: Lost Bodies, a contemporary art project that sprang from the Justin and Elisabeth Lang Collection of African Art. The Digital Project Award for design was awarded to Studio Blackwell for the interactive and online component of The Artist Herself: Self-Portraits by Canadian Historical Women Artists. Jennifer Nicoll, Collections Manager and Exhibition Coordinator, was named Colleague of the Year.

    The winners of the 39th annual OAAG Awards were announced on Thursday, Nov. 17 at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. The OAAG Awards are annual, province-wide awards for artistic merit and excellence. They recognize excellence in exhibitions, publications, programs and community partnerships produced by Ontario’s public art galleries over the previous year.

    “Such peer recognition of the quality of our work is a fantastic achievement,” says Agnes Director Jan Allen. “I'm completely delighted. These awards point to the success of the whole Agnes team; their ongoing enthusiasm, generous efforts and commitment to excellence are making an impact.”

    INNOVATION IN A COLLECTIONS-BASED EXHIBITION AWARD

    The Agnes was recognized for the exhibition Brendan Fernandes: Lost Bodies, curated by Contemporary Art Curator Sunny Kerr, developed in partnership with the Textile Museum of Canada, and presented at the Agnes Jan. 9- April 10. This exhibition is now on view at the Textile Museum of Canada in Toronto. Collection-based exhibitions are platforms for vital conversations. Lost Bodies brought artist Brendan Fernandes’s visual and choreographic work into dialogue with two of the country’s best collections of African art: The Justin and Elisabeth Lang Collection of African Art at the Agnes and the collection of the Textile Museum of Canada (TMC). From these collections, Fernandes selected objects with origins in former French West Africa and reconsidered them in a set of new video, print and spatial intercessions. He explored their postcolonial dynamics through ballet—a form of courtly deference that itself became professionalized in colonial France. Drawing upon his background as a former dancer, Fernandes attempted to invoke the lived experiences lost to African objects by mixing the legacies of this pivotal colonial moment. By re-articulating museum display through classical dance, Fernandes’s intervention allowed works from the Lang and TMC collections to perform differently—sometimes positioned as looking subjects, as bodies of queer mash-up, or as the objects of long overdue deference. The exhibition galvanized large audiences and invited new forms of participation across disciplines and in the wider community, and was a site for rich dialogue about museums, audience and postcolonial ethics and aesthetics.

    DIGITAL PROJECT AWARD

    The Digital Project Award is a design prize awarded to Kelsey Blackwell and Jonathan Gallivan of Studio Blackwell, Toronto, for the interactive and online component of The Artist Herself: Self-Portraits by Canadian Historical Women Artists, co-curated by Alicia Boutilier and Tobi Bruce and coproduced by the Agnes Etherington Art Centre and the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Pat Sullivan, Public Programs Manager at the Agnes, and Alicia Boutilier compiled the interpretive material for the digital project. Visitors to The Artist Herself were invited to learn more about three works in the exhibition: Pauline Johnson’s Performance Costume, Lady Marie-Reine-Josephte Belleau’s Sentiment Album, and Marion Wilson’s and Margaret Frank’s Button Blankets. This interactive component remains available on the Agnes website today. Studio Blackwell created a gorgeous, fluid online space that sensitively expanded on the exhibition content, bringing life to the extraordinary material culture of this exhibition.

    COLLEAGUE OF THE YEAR AWARD

    Through almost 10 years at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Jennifer Nicoll has excelled in her dual role as Collections Manager and Exhibition Coordinator. While significantly advancing the storage rationalization and digitization of the Agnes collection of 16,000+ works, she has smoothly coordinated numerous loans, acquisitions and exhibitions. In addition, she has conscientiously and generously mentored future young professionals in the field of museum exhibitions and collections management. Under her guidance, students, interns and volunteers have gained hands-on experience in digitizing, inventorying, cataloguing, condition examining and re-housing collection and exhibition objects. This award recognizes Nicoll as an astute and thoughtful administrative powerhouse who always takes the time to further her professional knowledge, and to nurture and share with others.

    Tags: Arts and Culture

    Producing an honorary degree

    Thursday November 17, 2016
    By Anne Craig, Communications Officer

    Emmy winner Michelle MacLaren returns to Queen’s to receive her Doctor of Laws.

    For Hollywood director and producer Michelle MacLaren, receiving the call saying she had been selected to receive an honorary degree from Queen’s was not unlike her first Emmy nomination. The film graduate received her Doctor of Laws degree during the Nov. 17 convocation ceremony.

    “I am so incredibly touched, honoured and humbled,” says Dr. MacLaren when asked about receiving an honorary degree. “It’s not something I ever thought I would receive, it never entered my mind. I’m pleased Queen’s respects what I do.”

    Michelle MacLaren speaks during convocation on Thursday, Nov. 17.

    Dr. MacLaren has been working in the film industry for 30 years and is best known for directing and producing a number of award winning television shows including The X-Files, Law & Order, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. Both her Emmy wins came for Breaking Bad in 2013 and 2014.

    It’s been 30 years since the two-time Emmy winner has been on the Queen’s campus. Film and media professor Blaine Allan had the honour of escorting Dr. MacLaren around town and she found it to be an emotional experience.

    “It was actually surreal, walking around campus,” she says. “We went to the original Film House where I started my education. We took some pictures, touched the wall of the building, it was emotional for me. That’s where I got my start.”

    She also had an opportunity to drive by her old house where she lived with six other people and tonight she’s planning to visit the Underground with her nephew who is also studying at Queen’s. Dr. MacLaren waitressed there for three years when it was still called Alfie’s Pub. Her housemates actually attended the convocation ceremony to support her.

    When asked about her inspiration, Dr. MacLaren talked about former Queen's professor Peter Morris. “He instilled in me an understanding that the film world is a reflection of what is going on in the outside world. Film reflects the world - past, present and future. To think outside the box, open my eyes and see the world in new ways. That is one of the most important lessons I learned.”

    During her convocation address, Dr. MacLaren talked about her successes and failures: “It is possible to be tough, strong and kind. I’m often asked how I can do what I do and still be so nice. I just smile and I say ‘I’m Canadian.’”

    To wrap up her speech, Dr. MacLaren encouraged the students to be good people and appreciate those around them.

    “Lastly, one of the most important things is to be grateful, especially to those who love and support you… Dare to dream, go make history and be good people along the way.”

    Tags: Arts and Culture|Arts and Science

    Award-winning performance

    Tuesday November 15, 2016
    By Communications Staff
    [Isabel Chamber Award]
    Tricia Baldwin, Director of the Isabel Centre for the Performing Arts, right, holds the award from the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce, along with the event's other award winners. (Supplied Photo)

    The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts has won an award from the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce.

    The Isabel received the Business Achievement Award in the tourism/hospitality category in recognition of the role it plays in Kingston and in attracting visitors through its programming of world-class and emerging artists and state-of-the-art venue.

    “We were thrilled to receive this award from the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce. What an honour it was to receive it,” says Tricia Baldwin, Director of the Isabel. “The Isabel has been working on cultural tourism and national and international recognition of this magnificent, state-of-the-art performing arts centre with terrific results. Our focus is on excellence in programming, attracting top emerging and established artists to our stage. We are also investing in imaginative interdisciplinary programming which has been so stimulating for Queen's students, faculty and staff as it has been for the community at large and tourists attracted to this top tier destination.  It is this focus on excellence and innovation that has enabled us to reach beyond Kingston. The Chamber recognized both the quality of this new arts centre and the efforts to attract cultural tourists to this wonderful city.” 

    Opened in September 2014, The Isabel offers a 90,000 square foot venue that includes a studio theatre, a film screening room, an Art and Media Lab and a music rehearsal hall.

    Since then, the Isabel has presented a performance series of the best local, national and international artists and many community initiatives while, at the same time, supporting the development of emerging artists.

    The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts was made possible by a transformational gift from Alfred Bader (Sc’45, Arts’46, MSc’47, LLD’86) and his wife Isabel (LLD’07) as well as the financial backing of the federal and provincial governments, the City of Kingston and additional philanthropic support. The Isabel is a hub for artistic study, creation, exhibition and performance at Queen’s. It is home to the Department of Film and Media and also provides learning and working space for the university’s other creative arts disciplines.

    Tags: Arts and Culture|Arts and Science|Campus Community

    Bringing Shakespeare's women to the stage

    Wednesday November 9, 2016
    By Communications Staff
    [Women of Shakespeare]
     In the Faculty Artist Series concert The Women of Shakespeare, Queen's faculty member Chick Reid, centre, is joined by Queen’s faculty pianist Julia Brook, left, and visiting soprano Donna Bennett. (Supplied Photo)

    The Dan School of Drama and Music presents a Faculty Artist Series concert that combines both disciplines in a rather unusual concert on Sunday, Nov. 13 at Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. 

    Commemorating the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare, Queen’s faculty member and Stratford veteran actor Chick Reid is joined by visiting soprano Donna Bennett, as they both present their favourite versions of some of the bard’s most beloved female characters in script and song in The Women of Shakespeare.  

    Queen’s faculty member and pianist Julia Brook, adds instrumental colour from the keyboard. 

    Excerpts include Romeo and Juliet, Anthony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, and others, as well as music from Handel to Cole Porter. 

    Some of the characters to be performed by Chick include Juliet, Julia, Gertrude, Cleopatra, Queen Margaret, Miranda, Titania, Helena, Luciana and Katherina. The musical selections based on the same characters include songs by Applebaum, Purcell, Schubert, Bellini, Bernstein, Handel, Cole Porter, Vaughan Williams and Rodgers and Hart.

    The show starts at 2:30 pm.

    For ticketing information and to purchase tickets, visit the Isabel website.

    Tags: Arts and Culture

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