“Xanax” by Colleen Wolstenholme is one of two bronze castings on display in the lobby of the Pharmacy building in downtown Kitchener. Public visiting hours are Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Gallery curator Ivan Jurakic says a camera crew from CBC will visit the on-campus gallery today to do a piece on Colleen Wolstenholme and will also make a stop at Pharmacy.

One artist's pills, another's airplane

The first two exhibitions of the 2011-12 year for the university’s art gallery — “UWAG”, no longer “Render” — open today with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. in the gallery space in East Campus Hall. Both shows continue through October 29, and both extend beyond the walls of the traditional gallery, says curator Ivan Jurakic.

He describes one of the shows, “Jump Cuts” by Laurel Woodcock, located in Gallery One in ECH, as “a mid-career survey of interdisciplinary artworks by the Toronto-based artist. Known for her appropriation and translation of everyday subjects and catchphrases, the survey features a selection of a dozen works that span the last decade of the artist's perceptual investigations ranging from more recent works such as on a clear day and cloud, to earlier projects such as wish you were here. The exhibition forms a snapshot of the artist's use, and purposeful misuse, of language, ideas and subtle humour.

“As an extension to the exhibition, the artist will be restaging her popular project wish you were here, featuring a chartered plane flying over the campus (left) with a banner that simply reads WISH YOU WERE HERE. Flight times: Saturday, September 17, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday, September 24, from 11:55 to 12:55 p.m. (Rain dates: September 20 and 27, 12:00-1:00.)

“The project is being presented in partnership with CAFKA.11: Survive. Resist and Reunion 2011. Wish you were here has been made possible by the generous support of the Waterloo Region Arts Fund.

“In conjunction with the Fine Arts Speaker Series, Laurel Woodcock will present an artist talk on Tuesday, October 18, at 11:00 a.m. in East Campus Hall Room 1219.

“Laurel Woodcock is a Toronto based artist whose work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She has had solo exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto; Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria; Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery, Halifax; Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph; and Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston. Laurel Woodcock is represented by MKG127, Toronto.”

Meanwhile, Gallery Two will show “Synaesthesiac” by Colleen Wolstenholme. Says Jurakic: “Recognized for her larger-than-life sculptural renderings of pharmaceuticals, particularly anti-depressants commonly prescribed to women, Synaesthesiac is a blend of established and new work. Spill, a series of 20 cast plaster pills, is paired alongside the debut of an eponymous wall-based collage developed in collaboration with New York artist Gillian McCain. Wolstenholme's artwork evokes the detrimental side of prescription medicines, and her work draws parallels between healthy and traumatized states of mind.

“In addition, there will be an off-site component featuring recent bronze casts Xanax and Dilaudid on display in the lobby of the School of Pharmacy. The off-site component is being presented in partnership with the 25th Annual Conference of the Society for Literature, Science and the Arts being held September 22-25 in Kitchener and CAFKA.11: Survive. Resist.

“In conjunction with the Fine Arts Speaker Series, Wolstenholme will present an artist talk on Friday, September 16, at 11:30 a.m. in East Campus Hall Room 1219.

“Colleen Wolstenholme received her BFA from the Nova Scotia School of Art and Design and her MFA from the State University of New York at New Paltz. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown; Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax; Art Gallery of Calgary, Calgary; Cambridge Galleries, Cambridge; Artspeak, Vancouver; Real Art Ways, Hartford; and the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto. Her artwork has been featured in numerous magazines and journals. The artist lives and works in Hansport, Nova Scotia. Wolstenholme is represented by Art Mur, Montréal.”

Both artists will be present at tonight’s reception, Jurakic said. From now through the end of the exhibitions, the gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., or by appointment.

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New Keystone leader seeks volunteers

by Jude Doble, office of development

The Keystone Campaign has a new leader at its helm — Dipali Batabyal (right), who was recently hired as the development officer responsible for Waterloo’s faculty, staff and retiree fundraising program.

“I’m thrilled to take on the challenge of building Waterloo’s culture of philanthropy with the leadership and support of a dedicated team of volunteers,” says Batabyal. “My goal is to shine the spotlight on Keystone and to raise participation among our campus community, both past and present.” Batabyal, who has worked in the office of development for the last four years, has a background in fundraising, volunteer management, and program development.

The Keystone Campaign, known for the picnic each June and the Valentine’s Day treat-a-gram fund-raiser, has collected more than $13 million for Waterloo scholarships, bursaries, research and equipment. More than 1,400 people take part in Keystone activities each year, including the annual picnic. They’re meant to bring colleagues together, fostering a stronger sense of community and pride in Waterloo, while building support to provide learning opportunities for students.

Anyone who would like to learn more about Keystone and join its passionate team of volunteers is invited to a Keystone volunteer information session on Tuesday, September 20, 12 p.m. in the Environment 1 courtyard. (“Bring your own lunch but treats will be provided.”) Participants can pre-register by e-mail, dbatabya@ uwaterloo.ca, or call ext. 37195.

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Fed guide 'facilitates' online linkages

A new product from the Federation of Students offers a guide to “uWaterloo lingo”, as well as a directory of Facebook pages and Twitter names that students ought to know about.

Or, as Kirsty Budd of the Feds explains, she and her colleagues have “travelled to the far reaches of Facebook and scoured the Twitterverse” to come up with the university’s first Social Media Directory. Says Budd: “Compiled by the Federation’s marketing and communications department, the Social Media Directory aims to be a comprehensive list of online presences and contacts for everything uWaterloo.”

She quotes Federation president Matt Colphon: “Our students are communicating in a new way. We know that instead of looking up a phone number, a lot of students are searching out institutions and departments online, and we wanted to help them find what they were looking for easily.”

The directory also has what Budd calls “a uWaterloo lingo section, detailing the many acronyms, phrases and names that are specific to uWaterloo. This section was written to help new students who might not immediately know what a C&D is or who Porcellino and King Warrior are.”

Colphon explains: “We wanted to help our students jump right in at uWaterloo and instantly feel part of the community. Speaking the uWaterloo language is an important part of that. Some of the most interesting conversations on campus are happening online; we want to help facilitate that kind of communication and keep the conversation going.”

The Social Media Directory also includes sections on the university’s Campuses, Departments and Centres; Faculties, Societies and Colleges; Federation of Students Campaigns, Businesses and Services; “For information”; “For some good old-fashioned social media fun”; “Important Twitter lists and hashtags”.

The Social Media Directory “will be an organic, ever-evolving document that can be added to as new social media presences begin to emerge,” Budd promises. “The Federation of Students would like to encourage additions, and if any uWaterloo-related areas have a social media presence they would like to see added please email k2budd@ feds.ca.”

By the way, there are other routes to at least some of that lingo. See, for example, the university’s official style guide and building list offered online by communications and public affairs. It’ll tell you, for instance, that a certain institution affiliated with the University of Waterloo is properly called “St. Paul’s University College”, and not, as yesterday’s Daily Bulletin wrongly said, “United” College.

CAR

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