Contemporary Arts
supplement
Thursday november 15, 2007
Imagination is the great architect behind every idea and achievement. Through the arts, we are able to see not only what is, but what
might be. Through the arts, we keep our imaginations agile.
— Milton Wong, Campaign Chair
A cultural legacy
Simon Fraser University is relocating its interdisciplinary School for the Contemporary Arts to the
historic Woodward’s redevelopment project in downtown Vancouver. The largest urban revitalization
project in British Columbia, the Woodward’s redevelopment will be a national model of urban sustainability and infrastructure renewal.
With a 30-year track record as a national training school for interdisciplinary arts — art and culture
studies, dance, film, music, theatre, visual arts — the School for the Contemporary Arts will be at the
centre of Vancouver’s lively arts and cultural scene and a magnet for visitors from across the country
and around the world. Already, news of the School has boosted housing market confidence: the resi-
dential component of the Woodward’s development sold out in under a day.
The facility is designed to welcome more than 5,000 arts enthusiasts to music, film, theatre, dance
and visual arts events throughout the year, in addition to the more than 1,500 students, faculty and
staff coming and going each day.
Alongside students showing, screening and performing at public venues; there will be performances
and lectures by faculty, alumni and their many worldwide connections. The School for the Contemporary Arts in its new home will have a dynamic program of community education and engagement.
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martin gotfrit
director, school for the contemporary arts
Realization
of a dream
The new facility for the School for the Contemporary
Arts is the realization of a 30-year dream that began
in a series of trailers on top of a mountain and will
continue in a state-of-the-art building in the heart of
downtown Vancouver.
Being uniquely interdisciplinary, there is joyful anticipation among faculty, staff and students in having
the architecture of our home express and support our
distinctive pedagogy and spirit.
We can now look forward to a building that will
support our work in performance, academic studies,
and technology of all kinds; a building where we can
present our work and the work of others at every level
from the informal and impromptu to the polished and
professional. The School for the Contemporary Arts produces
more than 100 events per year — from dance, theatre, music concerts, film screenings, exhibitions and
installations to public lectures and colloquia. Through
these public offerings as well as new programming,
we eagerly anticipate a deeper engagement with a
wider community, thanks in part to the accessibility
and convenience of our increased presence in the
heart of downtown Vancouver.
The Woodward’s site presents an opportunity
that may very well be unique in the world: a contemporary art school as an integral part of visionary
urban development in the centre of a diverse and
vibrant downtown community. We see the research
of our faculty of creators and scholars, as well as the
projects and writings of our students, reflecting and
amplifying the complexities and colours of our new
neighbourhood.
Sustainable
re-development
The Woodwards re-development project has high
environmental standards, including:
y extensive Green roofs throughout the site
y significant recycled and locally-sourced materials
y entire site uses the existing Beatty Steam plant,
converting steam to hot water radiant heating.
y the structure is built to last for more than 100
years (most buildings now have a 30–50 year
life expectancy).
simon fraser university news y school for the contemporary arts y Thursday november 15, 2007
supplement
a cultural legacy
In the new School for the Contemporary Arts, each of the main venues is multipurpose and adaptable for a diverse range
of performances and events. Flexible venues make efficient use of the space for student work and offer extraordinary
opportunities for community arts groups to present their own work to the public. The following renderings provide a virtual
building tour, an opportunity to explore the teaching, research and performance spaces, as well as the light-filled atriums and
public spaces that make up the new School for the Contemporary Arts. For example, the new facility will be connected to the
retail, office, residential, and courtyard space of the Woodward’s redevelopment project through a spectacular public plaza
and glass-topped atrium (above). This dramatic architecture captivates the space during the day while specially designed
illumination enlivens the night.
the building tour
Experimental Performance Theatre
The Experimental Performance Theatre can accommodate staging configurations from proscenium to arena and can seat up to 350 people.
The space can be subdivided to create a separate 125-seat performance space, to allow building or rehearsals without interfering with the
main space.
The experimental theatre features two overhead gantries from which
the full lighting grid can be worked regardless of any sets or seating
in place on the floor below. This theatre and its technical capabilities
have been designed so as not to bias the space towards any particular
orientation or use. For example, the full area of the floor will be sprung
for dance or physical theatre.
engaging the community
At over 125,000 square feet (over 11,000 square metres) the school will
be a flexible, productive performance centre that will promote community
engagement with the arts and anchor Vancouver’s burgeoning arts and
culture activity in the Downtown Eastside.
y The School for the Contemporary Arts produces approximately 100
performances, exhibitions and public events in a year.
y People entering the building on any given day:
Experimental Theatre — 350 Cinema — 350
World Art — 150
Studio T — 100
Studio D — 100
Total — 1050
y Students attending classes: 1500+ per day
y In addition to School for the Contemporary Arts and SFU productions
and events, the venues will offer other programming, both produced
in co-operation with SFU and on a rental basis.
supplement
simon fraser university news y school for the contemporary arts y Thursday november 15, 2007
Simon Fraser University has been a university that exemplifies the role of post
secondary education in stimulating debate around societal issues like urban
decay, homelessness, mental health, and artistic expression as a shared
language to express differing cultural perspectives.
— Ian Gillespie, Westbank Projects
Studio D
With its focus on providing flexible space for
dance performances, this black box theatre will
be available for both student work and outside
dance companies.
Studio T
A black box theatre space for informal
presentations of theatrical and student works.
This intimate space will be made available to
community and professional companies.
World Art Studio
This studio will be an acoustically sophisticated venue for the performance and study of world music.
The World Art Studio will house the school’s suite of Indonesian Gamelan instruments and collection
of African drums for ongoing classes and performances, and will be made available to world music
ensembles for rehearsal and performance.
cinema
A 350-seat theatre featuring state-of-the-art projection and sound systems, the Cinema will showcase
student film projects and will become a venue for festival and community film screenings. With room
at the front of the hall for a small stage, the Cinema can double as a concert hall for small ensemble
performances.
Sound Stage
Designed to isolate all external noise and vibration, the School’s Sound Stage will be the city’s quietest
shooting stage, an excellent recording studio and an intimate venue to capture music. With its green
screen capabilities it will also be in demand for shooting CGI sequences for motion pictures and
games. Due to the sophisticated networking available throughout the building, all of the sound studios
will be linked to virtually all of the performance venues as well as many of the teaching and production
spaces. As a result, any one studio will be able to capture sound from a variety of acoustic spaces and
to project sound in distinctly different public venues.
Multimedia Lounge and Lab
Located in the heart of the building, the Multimedia Lounge and Lab will be central to many of the
School’s activities. It will be the principal new media teaching space, as well as a broadcast centre,
a cyber café and a workspace for individuals and small groups. With an extensive network of cables
and wireless systems, the School for the Contemporary Arts will be a model of connectivity with the
Multimedia Lounge and Lab as its hub.
teaching gallery
A teaching gallery on the ground floor will accommodate contemporary visual arts exhibitions either in
the street windows or in all or part of the room. Six moving wall panels can be arranged as display walls
or used to partition the gallery into three parts.
Screening Rooms
Two 35-seat screening rooms will be equipped with the most contemporary sound and digital
projection systems. The first will have a raked floor to accommodate classes and formal
screenings. The second will be more open and flexible and will offer students the opportunity to
work and screen in multiple film and video formats.
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simon fraser university news y school for the contemporary arts y Thursday november 15, 2007
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sfu’s school for the contemporary arts
Evolving the arts
Our growing legacy
The School for the Contemporary Arts offers a
dynamic and integrated arts curriculum at the
undergraduate and graduate level. Our undergraduate
programs in art and culture studies, dance, film,
music, theatre, and visual art focus on developing
creative artists and scholars equipped to excel in a
transforming world.
The School for the Contemporary Arts is
committed to the study, production, and promotion
of contemporary art. Theory and practice build
awareness of the historical development and
interrelationships among the arts.
The School uses evolving technologies and
cultivates in students a breadth of practical and
critical skills in an interdisciplinary context.
The ideal graduate is capable of critically engaging
with history and the present and has the flexibility
and creativity to thrive in a transforming world.
Cori Caulfield (BFA, Dance)
choreographer, performer,
interdisciplinary artist, instructor
Founder of Coriograph Theatre and the
Caulfield School of Dance, her works have
toured Canada, New York, China, Croatia,
Malaysia and Singapore. Caulfield has guestperformed in William Forsythe’s Frankfurt Ballet
Company, and in works by Cornelius FischerCredo and Grant Strate O.C.
“The School instilled in me an appreciation
for the role that art can play in society. It
taught me initiative, leadership, rigour,
risk, generosity, and a respect for true
collaboration. To this day, the instruction I
received continues to feed my imagination
and sense of creative possibility.”
Darren Copeland (BFA, Music) sound
designer, Electroacoustic composer
Copeland has produced works for concerts,
radio, theatre, dance, installations, as well
as Vancouver New Music, Luigi Russolo,
Hungarian Radio, La Muse en Circuit and
Phonurgia Nova. He is President, Canadian
Association of Sound Ecology, and Artistic
Director, New Adventures in Sound Art.
David Usher (BA)
International recording artist with 1.5 million
records sold worldwide. Leader singer of Moist
with the solo albums Little Songs, Morning
Orbit, Hallucinations.
— Max Wyman, OC, past president, The
Canada Council for the Arts Canadian
Commission for UNESCO
contact
public affairs and media relations
T 778.782.3210 y E sfumpr@sfu.ca
Ms Chris arnet, Campaign director
T 778.782.5304 y E arnet@sfu.ca
Karen Jamieson (BFA, Dance)
Choreographer, dancer, artistic
director
Award-winning leader of the Karen Jamieson
Dance Company. After performing nationally
and internationally, she returned to Vancouver
in order to do integrating staged work and
community engaged work in the Downtown
Eastside and beyond.
Hiro Kanagawa (MFA, Interdisciplinary
Studies) Actor, director and playwright
Kanagawa has acting credits in film and
television including Best in Show and Smallville
as well as roles in art videos and independent
films with acclaimed Canadian directors Mike
Hoolbloom, Stan Douglas, and Bruce Spangler.
“The School for the Contemporary Arts put me
in an incredibly collaborative environment. I
studied and worked with a range of artists,
which meant challenging preconceived ideas
of what film was, or could be. By working
with artists in other disciplines, by viewing
the idea of film through their forms of
expression, I changed profoundly.”
Andrew Currie (BFA, Film)
Co-Founder, Anagram Films
Director’s Guild of Canada nominee for ‘Fido’
and writer and director of ‘Mile Zero’. Awards
include: Platinum Award for Best Feature at
2002 Houston Worldfest and Best First Feature
at Victoria International Film Festival.
“My imagination opened at SFU through work
with dancers, theatre artists, and musicians.
I got the push I needed to pursue new ideas.
All great art, regardless of genre, has a
wonderfully perpetuating energy. SFU’s
School for the Contemporary Arts let me
discover that energy and the interconnected
nature of artistic endeavour.”
Paul Plimley (BA, Music)
This world -renowned jazz pianist, composer
and improvisor has toured Europe, Canada and
the United States, collaborating and recording
with musicians from around the globe.
International TV and radio broadcasts have
been made of his concerts and collaborations.
Norman Armour (BFA, Theatre)
Producer, director, actor, and
interdisciplinary artist
Artistic producer and co-founder of Rumble
Theatre Productions, Armour recently directed
The Designated Mourner (Felix Culpa), and has
won 8 Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards and
41 Jessie Richardson nominations for over 36
presentations shown in Canada and beyond.
For more than 30 years, Simon Fraser
University’s School for the Contemporary
Arts has helped to shape artistic innovation
in Vancouver and across Canada. Its
choreographers and dancers, actors and
directors, composers, film makers, visual
artists, media experimenters and writers
continue to make a significant contribution
to the imaginative ferment and creative
health of the larger community.
Over its thirty-year history, the school has
produced outstanding alumni who have played
a major role in redefining the arts in Canada.
Maiko Bae Yamamoto (BFA, Theatre)
Producer, director, writer, actor and
instructor
Co-founder of Boca del Lupo theatre
company, and the Artistic director of Urban
Ink Productions, Yamamoto has worked with
Rumble Productions, NeWorld Theatre/ Leaky
Heaven Circus and the Firehall Arts Centre.
Keith Behrman (BFA, Film)
Director, Flower and Garnet, Behrman has
won the Best Canadian Feature at Victoria
Int’l Film Fest, the Genie Claude Jutra Award
for film Direction, and best Feature, Director,
Screenplay, Actor and Supporting Actor/ess,
Music, Cinematography at the Leo Awards.
“SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts
was right for me. I was lucky: many of my
classmates were mature students who just
talked and thought hard about art, politics
and all sorts of issues. I met students from
dance, theatre and film. We were close
and attended one another’s exhibitions,
screenings or performances. It changed my
life completely and for the better.”
Ken Lum (BFA, Visual Art) Visual artist,
writer and professor, UBC
A Killam Award-winning visual artist and
scholar, Lum was named a Guggenheim
Fellow in 1998, and has twice been a visiting
professor at L’École des Beaux Arts in Paris.
Over the past fifteen years Lum has exhibited
his work throughout Canada, the US and
Europe including at the Walter Phillips Gallery
in Banff; Art Institute of Chicago; Aix-enProvence, France; the Newhouse Center for
Contemporary Art, New York, and the biennale
in Venice, Sao Paulo and Johannesburg.