In this Issue
Give to OCAD U
Free Career Webinars
Alumni Council Election
Alumni Profile
Alumni Social
A Loving Tribute
Alumni News
Design Guest Speaker
Alumni Travel
Alumni Day
May 5

Celebrate 135 Years of Imagination!

Alumni Day is open to all alumni and their families and is part of OCAD U's 97th annual Graduate Exhibition.


tables
 A student exhibit of the role of furniture as a medium of personal expression, as a reflection of social and cultural etiquette, and as an influencer of human activity.

January 18 to February 4


Home and Car Insurance


Increase your creative potential, build your career or explore new areas of art and design.

Workshops, software training, lectures, and studio courses available.



Twinning
Twinning Artists -
Twinning Cities
:

Avalon (Bangalore and Toronto)

January 26 to June 3

Explore fantasy through drama - dreams of flamboyant houses with eclectic facades - mythological imaginings of Kannada cinema - visual exploration of local micro organisms... Avalon is a place where art confronts the science of modernity.

 
 
Alumni Rings
Alumni Rings
OCAD University alumni rings are custom made-to-order by Candice King-Stewart, AOCAD'01 (Material Art & Design) and Orosergio Ltd.

OCAD U Logo


In the Name of Giving
Supporting the Annual Fund
Friends of OCAD University sidebar Ad
Whether you refer to it as "OCA", "OCAD", or "OCAD U", The Annual Fund appeal encourages you to renew your ties to your alma mater by making annual gifts -- the primary way for all of us to help sustain the special features that set this unique institution apart.

Your Gifts Make a Difference
Every gift to the Annual Fund, whatever its size, makes a valuable and immediate difference to OCAD U. These gifts help shape the experience of our students through financial aid, academic opportunities, and campus life initiatives. Your support helps OCAD U meet emerging needs and challenges.  

Recognizing Your Gift
Every gift is acknowledged by the University, and you will be included in our donor listing published in Sketch magazine. Gifts of $1,000 and higher are recognized with membership in the Art & Design Society.

Ways to Give
By Mail: Cheques should be made out to OCAD University and mailed to OCAD University, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1W1

Online: You can conveniently make your gift online.

By Phone: Call us at 416.977.6000 Ext. 487

We would like to thank you for considering making a gift to OCAD University. 

 Charitable Registration # 11906 7619 RR0001
Free Career Development Webinars 
A New Benefit for OCAD U Alumni  
CareerJoy
As part of our exciting new partnership with CareerJoy, Alumni Relations is please to announce the following upcoming free CareerClass webinars:

Wednesday, March 7, 2012
"Social Media & Your 3D Personal Brand"   

Wednesday, May 11, 2012
"Leadership Starts With You!"

Sessions will run online from 12 to 1 pm and 8 to 9 pm on each day.
Alumni Association Election
Alumni Council 2012
New Alumni Association Logo
Candidates
The candidates for the position of President:

Maggie Broda
Amanda McKinney

The candidates for Vice President I & II:
Tony Taylor
Virginia Trieloff

You can read short bios of the candidates here. The positions of Committee chairs will be acclaimed, as only one nomination was received for these positions. The newly appointed President will appoint appropriate Council members to the positions of Treasurer and Secretary.  

Voting
Voting for the President and Vice President I & II is open from January 12 until 12:00 noon January 25th. Please email your vote to alumni@ocadu.ca with the subject line that reads - "Alumni Association Election". All alumni members at large are allowed 1 (one) vote per position.

Special Meeting January 25
A special meeting of the Alumni Association will be held from 6:00 to 7:30 pm on January 25 in room 284, 100 McCaul Street to announce the newly elected Alumni Council. If you would like to attend this meeting please RSVP here.
Alumni Profile
Hector Greville, AOCA'48 & Joan (Sponagle) Greville, AOCA'50Hector and Joan Greville
 

Born in Toronto in 1925, Hector Greville served two years overseas in the Canadian Infantry before attending OCAD U, studying under such notable teachers as Franklin Carmichael, Eric Freif�ld, Jock MacDonald, Emmanuel Hahn and John Alfsen. At graduation he was awarded the Lieutenant Governor General's Medal for Proficiency in Drawing and Painting.

While a student at OCAD U, Greville met Joan Sponagle. As he recalls, "She was painting fishes". Joan was born in 1921 in Truro, NS (the same year, she proudly noted, when the Bluenose was launched). She had graduated from Acadia University and later served in the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRENS).

Following graduation Hector and Joan were married in 1950 and then attended The Art Students League of New York together. He studied under Robert Brackman and she under Trudioshi. Hector also studied for two years at the Lancaster College of Art in England under Walter Bayes, R.W.S.   

 
Hector worked for many years as art director for several commercial art studios in Toronto. When he needed to earn a teaching certificate in order to accept a job at the Board of Education, Joan provided critical assistance by helping him through the University of Toronto's Teachers certificate program.

In 1967, Greville created and taught a course on graphic design at the College Street location of George Brown College. The course was originally run under the aegis of the Toronto Board of Education and Manpower as an adult education course, and it was later transferred to the College.  

This specialized course was based on Greville's experience in the commercial art industry, and Hector and Joan authored all the course plans in their living room. Right from the outset Greville's students had very high placement rates. One of his students won the 1974 competition to design a flag for the City of Toronto.  By 1991, the course has become a two-year program and took over an entire floor of the George Brown College building.

Hector is also known for his design of the 1984 commemorative Canadian nickel dollar depicting Jacques Cartier's landing at Gasp�. Joan served as the President and other Board positions in the Alumni Association, and she taught Art in the Toronto secondary school system. 

 

As we were about to send out this newsletter we were informed of the sad news that Joan passed away in Toronto on January 13. We extend our sincere condolences.  

 

Alumni Social 
February 7, The Gladstone Hotel, Toronto
Beat the February blahs! Please join us at The Gladstone Hotel for the first alumni social of the new year, and mingle with other OCAD U alumni.

FEBRUARY 7, 2012
The Melody Bar
The Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen Street West, Toronto
6:30 pm - 9:30 pm  

Please RSVP here.

The first 30 guests to RSVP will receive a free drink! 
A Loving Tribute 
The Enid and Rod Robbie Memorial Fund
Enid & Rod Robbie
Celebrated architect Roderick "Rod" Robbie had planned to establish an endowment fund to support print-making students at OCAD U, in memory of his late wife Enid Robbie, AOCA'73, herself an artist. After having graduated from the Slade School in London in 1954, Enid attended OCAD U from 1971-1973.

So when Rod suddenly passed away in early January, his children Karen, Caroline, AOCA'87, Nicola, and Angus decided to fulfill their father's wish, but also pay tribute to him by creating the The Enid and Rod Robbie Memorial Fund.

While it's likely he will be best remembered for being the architect of the SkyDome in Toronto and the Canadian Government Pavilion Katimavik at Expo '67 in Montreal, Rod has a special place within the OCAD U community for his amazing collaboration with British architect Will Alsop on the construction of the Sharp Centre for Design.

The Enid and Rod Robbie Memorial Fund is a loving and fitting tribute to a couple who had such strong ties to OCAD University. It's a legacy their granddaughter Samantha continues as a second-year student at OCAD U.

If you would like to make a donation to this Fund please click here.
Alumni News
Career Updates & Accolades
faith 2
"Faith" Erik Tonatiuh

Jessica Ching, BDES'99 (Industrial Design) has recently blogged for the Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation about her experience of turning her senior thesis into an innovative company called Eve Medical.

Keesic Douglas, BFA'08
(Photography), was featured in a December article in Northern Life about leading a workshop in Sudbury focused on the aboriginal visual culture program at OCAD U, which teaches aboriginal art and art history.

Fernanda Figueroa, BFA'10 (Photography), was recently featured in Inside Toronto about her still-life scenes, which comment on contemporary consumption patterns. She is currently participating in the Emerging Artists Exhibit at Toronto's Gallery 1313 closing on Jan. 22.

Will Munro, Class of 1997, is being remembered in a retrospective at the Art Gallery of York University from Jan 11 to March 11. Titled History, Glamour, Magic the exhibit spans Munro's creative output from his time at OCAD U until his death in 2010. Incorporating drawings, posters, films, photographs, installations and his infamous salvaged underwear textile assemblages.

Louie Palu, AOCA'91, recently presented a talk at Ryerson University's School of Image Arts about his documentary photography, which examines the social and political landscape of our time. Palu has received a National Magazine Award, Photojournalist of the Year, Alexia Foundation Documentary Photography Grant, Aftermath Foundation Grant and was a 2011 Bernard L. Schwartz Fellow. 

Nadja Sayej, BFA'04 (Fine Art) is now based in Berlin, where she has launched an influential web-TV show called ArtStars*. This art critic and cultural curator also offers "Business 101"-- online coaching for creative professionals.

Erik Tonatiuh, BFA'07 (Sculpture), has been featured in Xtra! magazine for his upcoming exhibit Transmogrifying the Christian Body--a series of sculptures, installations and paintings that reimagines the terms on which we allow our bodies to be defined--showing on campus at the Graduate Gallery until January 20.  
 
 

David Trautrimas, AOCA'03
(Fine Art) has a new photography show called By Facet & Scale opening in February at The Al Green Gallery in Toronto. Proceeds will be donated in part to The Al Green Gallery Student Bursary, a non-repayable award for students at OCAD U. 

 

Faculty of Design Guest Speaker
Civil rights advocate on campus January 19    

The Faculty of Design TD Speaker Series welcomes U.S. Special Advisor on International Disability Rights, Judith Heumann, to OCAD U on Thursday, January 19, 2012.    


Judith Heumann is the Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the U.S. Department of State. She is an internationally recognized leader in the disability community and a lifelong civil rights advocate for disadvantaged people.  

 

She served as the World Bank's first Advisor on Disability and Development and served in the Clinton Administration as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education from 1993 - 2001. She previously worked with numerous disability rights organizations including co-founding the World Institute on Disability.

 

This event will be taking place in the OCAD University auditorium. For more information and to RSVP please go here.

Sponsored by: TD Logo
Alumni Travel 
"Art & Life in Italy" May 6 -16, 2012 
Medici
Join other OCAD U alumni on this art lovers trip to Florence, Siena and Rome. Take it all in with a comprehensive exploration of art and architecture, in situ,and in museums.

Maggie Broda, AOCA'72 (Drawing & Painting), leads this exploration, joined by local artists and art historians on site. Days to be filled with frescoes, paintings, marble and wood, and punctuated with espresso, gelato and divine food and wine.

Whether this is a long-awaited first visit or a happy occasion to return to your favourite places, this trip will stimulate and revitalize you. For more information, costs, and itinerary please click here.

Brought to you by the OCAD U Alumni Association + Worldwide Quest 

 

Keep in Touch  
Update your contact information/Send us your career news  

Megan Skyvington, BFA'11
(Drawing & Painting)
Assistant, Development & Alumni Relations Events
(416) 977-6000 Ext 4880
mskyvington@ocad.ca

OCAD U Alumni Relations
205 Richmond Street West, Room 320
Toronto, Ontario M5V 1V3