Creative Excellence + Innovation
We take this time to acknowledge and celebrate Emily Carr University's community and our many achievements over the past year. The stories are inspiring and transformative, and help define the new landscape for the 21st Century. Included below are awards, innovative projects and milestone donations that have helped improve lives and connect hearts and minds.
June 10, 2013 | Sessional Instructor Scott Conarroe (’01) was selected as a 2013 Guggenheim Fellow.
June 12, 2013 | Rebecca Lemire, Project Coordinator in the Emily Carr Research Office, was awarded the Martin Eli Weil Prize for best essay, Organic Architecture and Indigenous Design Tenets: Frank Lloyd Wright in relation to the work of Douglas Cardinal, in architectural history.
June 17, 2013 | Bob Rennie, Director-at-Large for the Emily Carr Board of Governors, partnered with Emily Carr to benefit the University in a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo. The campaign, called Match It Up, allowed alumni from all over the world to give back to Emily Carr and receive exclusive perks and benefits for doing so.
July 2, 2013 | A critical milestone was reached with the announcement of the three proponents shortlisted following the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to design, build, finance and maintain the new state-of-the-art campus at Great Northern Way. Eight national and international proponent teams responded to the RFQ, with three shortlisted teams finally selected and the final contract awarded in the summer of 2014.
July 5, 2013 | Three students were selected as winners in the Student Category of the 2013 Applied Arts Awards. Current students Elena Syrovatkina and Daniel Gleiberman won for their joint project, A Colorful Guide to Colorblindness, and Sam Jiang (’13) for Paper Engine, his personal website.
July 11, 2013 | The Vancouver Art Gallery announced a major exhibition featuring the multi-faceted work of artist and alumnus Douglas Coupland (’84) to take place from May 31 to September 1, 2014. Douglas Coupland: everywhere is anywhere is anything is everything, is the first exhibition to survey the visual art of this well-known Vancouver author, designer and artist.
July 19, 2013 | Alumnus Tim Barber’s (’03) photography was selected as the cover for Elton John’s new album, The Diving Board, by none other than the man himself – Elton John.
July 19, 2013 | Suzy Taekyung Kim (’03) was awarded a commission by Percent for Art (Percent), the New York City Permanent Public Art Installation program funded by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.
July 26, 2013 | Samantha Knopp (’13) was the recipient of the Regional Award for British Columbia in BMO 1st Art! Invitational Student Art Competition, which honours visual arts excellence in post-secondary institutions across Canada, with each Regional winner receiving a $5,000 prize.
September 11, 2013 | 2013 grads Calen Knauf + Conrad Brown, otherwise known as Knauf + Brown, received the Student Notable award from Core 77’s Design Awards for their super-sleek Profile chair.
September 12, 2013 | Emily Carr University was proud to participate in events and exhibits that acknowledge the survival and resilience of Aboriginal people as part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s national Conference, held in Vancouver in mid-September. In recognition of the significance of the national conference, Emily Carr suspended classes on Friday, September 20th, to allow the University community to participate.
September 15, 2013 | Tor Aunet (’13) claimed the prestigious title of Best Film/Animation at the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) Student Film Showcase. His animation, TEAMwork, was the third consecutive win for Emily Carr Students at the TIFF Student Film Showcase. Also of note, Mitch Kraft’s (’13) Placement of the Grain was also selected to screen at TIFF in the Student Film Showcase.
September 19, 2013 | Emily Carr’s Social and Interactive Media (SIM) Centre and Vancouver-based startup accelerator, GrowLab, announced a new applied research partnership. In the fall of 2013, five students formed an innovative design research team at GrowLab’s headquarters that focused on developing a new methodology for connection design to startup companies.
September 22, 2013 | Students Caitlin McGinn and Carling Hind received first and second place respectively for Keeping Memory Alive, an international poster competition held by Yad Vashem in Israel. The top 16 designs, including a submission from a third year student, Joakim Sundal, will be exhibited at more than 90 locations around the world.
September 23, 2013 | Konstantin Steshenko (’12) was awarded the Best Canadian Student Animation Award for his graduation film, Wind & Tree, at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in September of 2013.
September 25, 2013 | In October 2013, the University welcomed Henrik Häkansson, one of the most successful Swedish artists of his generation, awarded one of two inaugural Audain Distinguished Artists in Residence for 2013/14. In the Spring of 2014, Jürgen Partenheimer, one of the most renowned German artists of his time, to Emily Carr as the second inaugural artist in residence.
September 26, 2013 | Kevan Funk (’11) continued his roll at the 2013 Vancouver International Film Festival marking the fifth straight year that he has had a film at the festival. His film Destroyer about a guilt-stricken junior hockey player who must choose between his teammates and the truth after witnessing an act of violence was screened as part of the shorts program Performance/Anxiety.
October 1, 2013 | Coast Salish artist and alumnus Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun (’83), was awarded one of two prestigious Fellowships at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Eiteljorg Museum holds the world's foremost collection of contemporary Native American art and the Fellowships celebrate the established and emerging Native American artists of today.
October 2, 2013 | Colleen Heslin ('03) received the distinguished $25,000 RBC Canadian Painting Competition award in early October of 2013, for her work, Almost young, wild and free. Colin Muir Dorward ('07) was a runner up representing Central Canada and received $15,000. Additionally, the other 12 finalists were each awarded $5,000 in recognition of the 15th anniversary of the competition. Included in the finalists were Emily Carr alumni Brian Kokoska ('10), Rachelle Sawatsky ('05) and Sean Weisgerber ('09). Colleen is the sixth alumni in nine years to be awarded this prestigious honour.
October 8, 2013 | Beayue Louie, a fourth year Industrial Design student, was awarded the 2013 Association of Canadian Ergonomists Undergraduate Student Award for her assistive design project, Play By Ear: Adaptive Earring Clips, which was presented at ACE’s 44th Annual Conference in Whistler during October.
October 11, 2013 | Natural Capital was offered as an interdisciplinary, studio-based Community Projects course for the first time at Emily Carr in Fall 2012 and then again in Spring 2013. The course, offered in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation (DSF), was designed by instructor Sarah Van Borek to support DSF’s natural capital work while enabling students to apply their art skills to sustainability initiatives in the community. The course made the cover story in Sustainability: The Journal of Record, which has a global visibility and reach in more than 170 countries, in November of 2013.
October 30, 2013 | Emily Carr University's Research Centre in Social + Interactive Media announced the launch of Lightbeam, a new Add-on for the Firefox browser that enables users to visualize online data tracking in real time. Mozilla, the developer of Firefox, partnered with the University on a year-long research project to improve Lightbeam's interactive visualization. The Emily Carr University research team was led by Associate Professor Amber Frid-Jimenez, who worked with student design researchers Sabrina Ng, Joakim Sundal and Heather Tsang to provide applied research in three key areas of the visualizations: browsing history, deep dive into time and metrics as widgets.
November 4, 2013 | The Vancouver Canadians were awarded Minor League Baseball’s top honour, the John H. Johnson President's Award. Jake Kerr, Emily Carr University’s founding Chancellor, and Jeff Mooney, purchased the club in 2007. The John H. Johnson President's Award has been annually presented since 1974 to honor the complete baseball franchise. The award's criteria are based on franchise stability, contributions to league stability, contributions to baseball in the community and promotion of the baseball industry. The Vancouver Canadians join the Eugene Emeralds (2001) as the only Northwest League clubs to win the John H. Johnson President's Award. Vancouver is also just the second club from outside the United States (Mexico City, 1976) and the fifth Short Season-A™ or Rookie® League club to be selected as a President's Award honoree.
November 14, 2013 | Western Economic Diversification announced Federal Government funding of $595,000 to support research at Emily Carr so that we can stay relevant and competitive in the film, health and advanced materials sectors through the purchase of state-of-the-art motion capture, post-production, and 3D prototyping equipment. The new equipment is housed in Emily Carr’s Intersections Digital Studios (IDS), which fosters research using innovative digital technologies.
November 15, 2013 | Emily Carr University’s design program was evaluated and selected by IKEA as one of only 12 schools internationally for inclusion in their prestigious 2014 internship competition. Invited to put forward three of our most interesting candidates’ submissions, Emily Carr announced that fourth year Industrial Design student, Scott Forsythe, was one of only three IKEA Interns for 2014.
November 20, 2013 | Lisa Fraser ('10) received the 2013 Carter Wosk BC Creative Achievement Award in the Industrial Design category for her medical assistive device, Snug Vest - an inflatable vest that provides Deep Pressure Therapy.
November 27, 2013 | VentureLabs was launched by Emily Carr University, Simon Fraser University, the University of Victoria and the BC Institute of Technology. The new accelerator was designed to help British Columbian entrepreneurs commercialize new technology companies.
December 5, 2013 | Kathryn Mussallem (MAA'08/Continuing Studies Instructor) was awarded the 2013 Educator Scholarship Master of Professional Studies in Digital Photography program at the School of Visual Arts New York, New York. This $20,000 USD scholarship was awarded for study in the Low Residency MPS in Digital Photography Program.
December 28, 2013 | Kim Dorland (’98) held an unprecedented show at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. In a bold and unprecedented move, the gallery hung approximately 50 of Dorland’s works on its walls alongside 33 canvases from its permanent collection, by Tom Thompson, David Milne, Emily Carr and other such luminaries. In addition to this, Dorland was named Globe Arts’ Artist of the Year by the Globe + Mail.
January 3, 2014 | President Dr. Ron Burnett, C.M. RCA, was appointed Member of the Order of Canada. One of the highest civilian honours in the country, the appointment recognizes his leadership in arts education, notably as president of Emily Carr University.
January 3, 2014 | Esteemed Alumnus, Douglas Coupland was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada for his contributions to our examination of the contemporary human condition as a novelist, cultural commentator and artist.
January 21, 2014 | Kevin Eastwood’s (’99) Emergency Room premiered on BC’s Knowledge Network and brought in record-breaking audiences: nearly 200,000 people tuned in for the first episode, making it the most watched program in its timeslot and the biggest documentary series premiere in the history of the network.
January 23, 2014 | Corin Sworn (’02) was named the winner of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women. The prize includes a six-month residency in Italy, followed by two major solo exhibitions at the Whitechapel Gallery in London and Collezione Maramotti near Milan.
January 24, 2014 | The Guardian’s Sean O’Hagan, Photography critique, wrote a glowing review of Jessica Eaton’s debut British exhibition, Ad Infinitum, in his column, calling her “the hottest new artist on the block.”
February 6, 2014 | Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel had some fun with alumnus Viktor Briestensky’s (’12) Dude Chilling Park, in a monologue. The piece has made the news after being officially approved as a piece of public art by the Vancouver Park Board.
February 13, 2014 | Kristi Malakoff (’05) and Fiona Ackerman (’02) were both featured in Creative Block, a contemporary book filled with inspiring images, words, advice and tips to help amateurs and professionals alike, find their way through those days when the ideas won’t come and how they push themselves through those moments.
March 3, 2014 | The first Satellite Studios for Teens to run outside the Lower Mainland are taking place in the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) and the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) thanks to Continuing Studies at Emily Carr. The studios will offer students a challenging and creative curriculum that emphasizes collaboration, creative communication, critical analysis and design thinking.
March 4, 2014 | As part of his Low Residency MAA internship, Andres Wanner (MAA 2013) completed a residency at TRIUMF. Symmetry Magazine published an article about his work during that period.
March 18, 2014 | Third year student Christian Huizenga’s piece, Bench Way, was selected as the winner of the First Capital Realty Sculpture Contest. He will work with representatives from First Capital Realty, Emily Carr University, engineers and fabricators over the summer to complete the project, which will be located at Harbour Front Centre in North Vancouver.
March 24, 2014 | Ten new projects, ranging from banners and posters to videos and a mural, have joined Vancouver’s public art collection in an exhibition to honour and celebrate the City’s Year of Reconciliation. Brian Liu (’09), Sonny Assu (’02), Jeremy Borsos (former student), Krista Bell Stewart (’06), Peter Morin (’01), Bracken Hanuse Corlett (’11), Jeannette Sirois (Continuing Studies) and Dionne Paul (’06 and MAA Candidate) all have work featured in and around the City of Vancouver.
March 28, 2014 | Third year student Richard Heikkilä-Sawan was the recipient of this year’s IDEA Art Award. His painting, Settlement, will join the permanent collection and will be displayed in the Sub-Acute Medical (SAM) Unit located in the Centennial Pavilion at Vancouver General Hospital.
April 1, 2014 | Twenty-six year old Lisa Fraser (‘10), founder and CEO of Squeezease Therapy Inc., was named one of BC Business’ 30 Under 30 Winners for 2014.
April 8, 2014 | A major gift from Scotiabank in the amount of $250,000 was provided to Emily Carr University. The funds will be used to launch an exciting new program, the Scotiabank Platform Entrepreneurship Program (Platform). Platform will allow the university to meet and expand on our current achievements – developing the next generation of creative entrepreneurs to further Canada’s economic success and to fill the void of unemployment.
April 8, 2014 | Albert Law (’10) will have his work featured, for the second year in a row, in the Applied Arts Photography Annual. His winning entry for 2014 features his continued photography work with the Canadian Army. The winning entry will be featured in the May/June 2014 issue of the magazine.
April 11, 2014 | Alumna and sessional faculty member, Mina Totino ('82), and former student Skeena Reece, are the recipients of $10K VIVA Awards, granted annually by the Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation. The VIVA awards were created and financed in 1988 and are awarded annually to celebrate achievement by BC artists in mid-career.
April 11, 2014 | Noted photographer and Emily Carr Honourary Doctorate recipient Fred Herzog has been honoured with the Audain Prize for the Visual Arts for lifetime achievement. Awarded annually by the Audain Foundation, the award is worth $30,000.
April 15, 2014 | More than 200 business leaders across Canada, including Jimmy Pattison, have placed Emily Carr student Chenny Xia (’14) on the list of Canada’s most promising young entrepreneurs. The Next36 selected Chenny and 35 others from 1000 enterprising young applicants to participate in the entrepreneurship-immersion program, but Chenny is especially unique among her peers. Chenny puts Emily Carr on the list of just 13 Universities represented - she is the only designer in her cohort and it’s the first time that a specialized art and design school is part of this exciting program.
April 23, 2014 | The prestigious $25,000 Joseph Plaskett Award for 2014 was awarded to Collin Johanson (‘04). Collin will be the fifth winner to be associated with Emily Carr University.
April 29, 2014 | Emily Carr University announced a $100,000 sponsorship from RBC Wealth Management. The contribution will help increase the University’s capacity to deliver events and exhibitions beginning with this year’s graduation exhibition, The Show at Emily Carr University. This marks the largest sponsorship the University has received, and will provide students with opportunities for significant public engagement, which are key to developing emerging artists’ talent, presentation experience and confidence. These events also deliver immense social capital to an expanding events and exhibitions culture in Vancouver that the University, its students, faculty and alumni, have contributed to since 1925.
May 2, 2014 | Real Estate developer Reliance Properties announced a $7 million donation which publicly launched Emily Carr’s capital campaign, THE BIG IDEA. This contribution sets a new standard for philanthropy as it is the largest gift ever given to Emily Carr University. The donation will help build the Libby Leshgold Gallery and the Reliance Lecture Theatre at Emily Carr’s new campus on Great Northern Way.
May 5, 2014 | Connor Buchanan ('09), Francisco-Fernando Granados ('10), and Tobin Gibson ('13) were named to ARTINFO Canada's 30 Under 30.
May 28, 2014 | Emily Carr University announced a milestone donation of $400,000 from the RBC Emerging Artists Project. This gift brings RBC's total contribution to Emily Carr University's THE BIG IDEA capital campaign to $500,000 and is the largest investment that a financial institution has ever made in support of the University. The RBC Emerging Artists Project supports programs that bridge the gap from academic excellence to professional careers in all art forms. Emily Carr University will use this generous gift to establish a creative grant program for students and will recognize this commitment by naming the media gallery space at Emily Carr’s new campus at Great Northern Way.
June 3, 2014 | Retired faculty member Liz Magor twas awarded the prestigious 2014 Gershon Iskowitz Prize. The Gershon Iskowitz Foundation, in partnership with the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), recognized Magor for her outstanding contribution to the visual arts in Canada with this prestigious award, which includes a $50,000 cash prize and a solo exhibition at the AGO next year.
June 4, 2014 | Shaira (SD) Holman ('92) was the recipient of a 2014 YWCA Women of Distinction award for her work with Vancouver's Queer Arts Festival. The festival, now one of the fastest growing cultural festivals in Canada, was started by Holman seven years ago.
June 4, 2014 | It was announced that Nadia Myre (’97) was named to the shortlist for the Sobey Art Award, Canada's preeminent award for contemporary Canadian art. Emily Carr is proud to note that five of the final twenty-five on the award longlist included: sessional faculty member Allison Hrabluik, Peter Morin (’01), Dan Starling (’05), Cedric Bomford (’03) and Nadia Myre (’97). The annual $50,000 prize is given to an artist under 40 who has exhibited in a public or commercial art gallery within 18 months of being nominated.
June 2014 | This year is a historic milestone in Emily Carr's history. Therefore, in our annual list of successes, we wish to honour our esteemed Chair, Emily Carr University Board of Governors and Co-Chair, The Big Idea Capital Campaign, Evaleen Jaager Roy, for her immense contribution to the future of this institution. Her work and dedication have been integral to our University's recent, successful quest for a new campus and the launch of our first Capital Campaign, THE BIG IDEA. Evaleen's commitment to advancing Emily Carr's mission has amplified our reach, our opportunity and our capacity to continue inspiring creative excellence and innovation -- within our community of students, faculty, staff and alumni, as well as more broadly, within Canadian culture and indeed, around the world.
She presently serves on the Board of the Vancouver YWCA and on the Advisory Council of the Jack Austin Centre for Asia Studies at Simon Fraser University. Evaleen acts as a mentor for the prestigious Trudeau Foundation.
Evaleen holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an Honors BBA (Outstanding Alumni) from Simon Fraser University. In 2011, she received Business in Vancouver’s Influential Business Woman Award and in 2012 she was given a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award for service to Canada.
For her expertise, devotion and for our recent successes, we must sincerely thank and recognize Evaleen Jaager Roy.