The York University School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD) is one of the most comprehensive schools of arts, design and culture in Canada.
With the return of in-person activities and the resurgence of art and design in all forms, AMPD is proud to present the Year of the Arts – a curated set of events, exhibitions, instillations, and performances to showcase leading research and creations in diverse communities.
Year of the Arts: Overview
PAST EVENTS
York U Motion Media Studio and Shooting the Set present Salted
June 16, 2023
Grads and undergrads worked together as actors, writers, DOPs, editors and directors to create this anthology series of original stories, linked by the thematic of salt.
“The Heights” Unveiling
April 25, 2023
The Keele/Finch gateway into DUKE Heights Business Improvement Area (BIA) features a new grand art sculpture known as “The Heights”, designed and installed by York University AMPD professor and artist Brandon Vickerd. This public artwork was initiated and partially funded by the BIA in cooperation with the City of Toronto.
York University Wind Symphony
April 2, 2023
The York University Wind Symphony presents the premiere of Music Professor, Randolph Peters adaptation for Wind Ensemble composition entitled “io”. The concert will also feature music by Andrew Balfour, Katahj Copley, Marie Douglas, Frank Erickson, Gustav Holst, Randolph Peters, Omar Thomas and Eric Whitacre.
nD::StudioLab presents A Visual Music Exquisite Corpse
March 31, 2023
This project started as an online experiment during the pandemic as a way to build community within the lab. Lab members would live code and share audio-visual signals with each other using tools such as Zoom, Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/), and Discord (https://discord.com/).
Scenes by Design
March 29-April 1, 2023
Scenes-by-Design is the York University Theatre Department’s annual exhibition showcasing the work of the Design and Production area. Scenes-by-Design offers an insider’s look at the creative work done behind the scenes in class as well as our students personal projects they have been working on. The exhibition features original set designs and maquettes, costumes, props, renderings, drawings and lighting and sound design by students in the production/design area.
Dance Nation
March 25-April 1, 2023
Somewhere in America, an army of pre-teen competitive dancers plots to take over the world. And if their new routine is good enough, they’ll claw their way to the top at Nationals in Tampa Bay. A play about ambition, growing up, and how to find our souls in the heat of it all.
Sound and Sense: Jewish Music @ York
March 23, 2023
The Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies and the Department of Music in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design presented a chamber music recital celebrating the music of Canadian Jewish composers as part of the year-long performance series “Sound and Sense: Jewish Music @ York”. The diverse program features rarely performed works presented by acclaimed York department of music faculty.
2023 Goldfarb Lecture in Visual Arts: Meryl McMaster
March 1, 2023
The McMichael is pleased to present a special artist’s talk by Meryl McMaster, Canadian artist of nehiyaw (Plains Cree), British and Dutch Ancestry, who explores the self in relation to land, lineage, history, culture and more-than-human world.
York Dance Ensemble: Cardinal Points
February 15-17, 2023
Cardinal Points is a rich collection of dance works created and performed by members of the Department of Dance and guests that reflect the diversity of perspectives from around the globe, as well as from within the multiplicity of intersecting cultural, philosophical and personal imperatives.
Terri Lyne Carrington: Oscar Peterson Jazz Artist-in-Residence
February 7-9, 2023
Award winning drummer, Terri Lyne Carrington, was the second of two musicians featured as part of the Department of Music’s 2022-2023 Oscar Peterson Jazz Artist-in-Residency. During her residency, she delivered masterclasses, performances, workshops and seminars for York University, Department of Music, students.
More-Than-Human
February 1-May 13, 2023
more-than-human presents media artworks at the intersection of art, science, Indigenous worldviews, and technology that speculatively and poetically use multimodal storytelling as a vehicle for interpreting, mattering, and embodying more-than-human ecologies. The artworks in this exhibition aim to critically and emotionally engage with the important work of decentering the human and rethinking the perspective that sees nature as a lifeless resource for exploitation.
Department of Design Alumni Exhibition
January 20-February 19, 2023
For over two decades the Department of Design at York has emphasized creative and strategic thinking in an interdisciplinary context. It has combined practice, theory and history to educate the design leaders of tomorrow. While in partnership, the York/Sheridan Program in Design built a global alumni network. York is home to the first baccalaureate design degree on Ontario. This is the first public gathering of alumni projects including print, packaging, motion, interaction design and more!
Ballet Creole presents Soulful Messiah
December 17-18, 2022
This Canadian-grown holiday tradition is rooted in music and movements from the African Diaspora, integrating traditional and contemporary vocabulary created by Caribbean-born, Artistic Director, Patrick Parson and inspired by the powerful musical arrangement of Quincy Jones entitled “Handel’s Messiah – A Soulful Celebration”.
love in the time of werewolves
November 20-26, 2022
World premiere of new play by Governor General Award-winning playwright David Yee, with directing and dramaturgy support from Dora-award winning artist Nina Lee Aquino. love in the time of werewolves is a farce about the politics and chaos behind the scenes of a community theatre group attempting to get through Tech Dress of an epic new play.
I am the Child of…
November 11-13, 2022
York University Department of Theatre faculty member Ian Garrett will present an AR work at the show I am the Child of.. in partnership with Kaeja d’Dance, at the Harbourfront Centre between Nov 11-13 as part of TORQUE International Contemporary Dance Series 2022.
Beast A La Mode
November 2-5, 2022
Beast A La Mode by York University Department of Dance faculty member, Syreeta Hector, examines the powerful influence the environment has over identity, aspects of ourselves that are revealed or concealed depending on different locales and social context. Beast A La Mode investigates the uneasy contradictions of character we develop in order to survive everyday life, and highlights our essential need to compete depending on circumstance. Beast A La Mode was created through the Creative Encounters Program with ProArteDanza.
CineSiege 2022
October 24, 2022
In its 20th year, CineSiege is an annual showcase screening of outstanding productions created in the previous year by undergraduate students in the Department of Cinema and Media Arts at York University. CineSiege features a juried selection of short films, chosen by industry leaders in Canadian film and media.
Sensoria 2022: The Art and Science of Our Senses Symposium
October 4-5, 2022
SENSORIA: The Art and Science of Our Senses symposium presents keynote lectures, discussions and performances around the connective aesthetics of everyday sensing and the knowledge-creation potential of artists and scientists collaborations.
Streams ~ Nuit Blanche 2022
October 1-2, 2022
The Art Gallery of York University (AGYU) and York University presents Streams ~ Nuit Blanche 2022 at York University, an evening of campus-wide exhibitions, art installations, and events featuring 34 artists and showcasing 18 projects located around the central core of York’s Keele Campus and surrounding the Harry Arthur Commons.
Biophilia: Artist and Archive|(Streams ~)|Nuit Blanche 2022
October 1-2, 2022
In collaboration with the Archives of Ontario, Archive/Counter-Archive is organizing six media art installations across York University’s Keele campus as part of this year’s Nuit Blanche festival. Five of these will be united under the exhibition title, Biophilia: Artist and Archive, with the sixth being tied to the launch of CineMobilia, a new mobile infrastructure dedicated to digitizing archival moving image material.
Nuit Blanche + RUTAS Symposium: A Home for Our Migrations
September 27-October 3, 2022
Nuit Blanche + RUTAS Symposium: A Home for Our Migrations will bring together scholars, artists, and community activists for lively dialogues/conversatorios, workshops, keynote speakers, and performances. Over 60 invited presenters will engage with a range of timely topics in response to emerging artistic practices, as well as growing migration and environmental crises.
People Behind the Work
