In This Issue
Congratulations
Year II Graduates
Urinetown
Barbara Poggemiller
Congratulations
We'd like to extend a warm congratulations to the 2020-21 graduating class of the two-year Performing Arts Diploma program (most pictured here). These 27 students have weathered the past 15 months with humility and resilience. We're so proud of each of them for reminding us of the power of coming together and creating, dancing, and laughing.

Congratulations to all of you!
A few staff members who love numbers took to collecting a snapshot of this extraordinary year. There’s a lot to celebrate in here:

  • 10-month school year under COVID restrictions
  • 9 new grant applications
  • 8 offices relocated to create a new large studio
  • 7 fully produced productions  
  • 6 studios got an IT overhaul  
  • 5 members formed the Cultural Safety Working Group
  • 4 days of arts equity training
  • 3 esteemed alumni took on leadership roles
  • 2 distinct casts of Urinetown make history
  • 1 unwavering College community working together
  • 0 incidents of COVID-19 transmission
And here a few extra that we loved:
  • 4,500 hours of class video captured
  • 3,615 hours of in-person instruction
  • 189 days of in-person classes
  • 172 communities around the world were reached via livestream (Canada, the U.S., Mexico, UK, Dominican Republic, Chile, Japan, Denmark, New Zealand, South Africa, Scotland, Netherlands, & Sweden)

It was a remarkable year and we couldn’t have done it without the dedication and support of our staff, faculty, students, volunteers, and donors. Thank you!
Urinetown
As we wind down a wild 2020-21 College year, we'd like to celebrate the tremendous accomplishment that was Urinetown.

Let's give a mighty congratulations to the casts, crew, creative team, and staff that made the production such a roaring success. We are very proud of the work, and hope all involved are, too.

Please enjoy the trailer and some photography of the green cast knocking it out of the park.
2021 Faculty Leadership Award
Barbara Poggemiller
We are pleased to announce that the revered Barbara Poggemiller has been awarded the 2021 Faculty Leadership Award after over 20 years as part of the College's family.

The award recognizes longstanding commitments from our faculty members and is presented at the discretion of the Board, upon recommendation from the College’s senior management team. The award is to be presented to a faculty member who has demonstrated leadership and commitment to the College, including:

  • Leadership and commitment to a strategic initiative
  • Leadership and commitment to a special project
  • Leadership and commitment to a College department

Of our recent graduates, she had this to say:

"I hope for you that you find teachers to inspire you, directors to fire your heart, choreographers to touch your soul, musicians that encourage you to reach deep within... I feel blessed to know you. I am grateful for the creative spaces we have shared. I feel encouraged knowing that the future of art is in your hands, your minds and hearts."
-Barbara Poggemiller

Barbara has left an undeniable mark on the College with her compassion, generosity, and kindness. She's inspired that, and so much more, in our students over the past two decades. She is now looking to the next chapter in her life, and will be stepping away from teaching to give more focus to her family, specifically her beloved grandchildren.

From the students, faculty, staff and board of directors: thank you Barbara. We are grateful beyond words for all you have brought to the College over your time here.
The Canadian College of Performing Arts gratefully acknowledges the Lekwungen-speaking peoples (also known as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations), on whose traditional territory the college stands, and on whose home we learn, create, and perform.
indoor grad class photo by Andrea Cross
grad class drone photography by R.J. Peters
photo from urinetown (2021) by Peter Pokorny
photo of Barbara Poggemiller by Dorothy Eggenberger