One of our primary roles is to be a major part of the University of British Columbia’s public face for the Okanagan campus. As such, we contribute to the intellectual and cultural life of the community. Our faculty members plan a number of events related to our programs, and with the relationships we have made over the years, we are able to host those events in a number of venues around the valley. This connection is not only important for the university community, but for our students as well, as it helps them to build their own relationships for their futures beyond the university.
Studio and performing arts play a vital role in Kelowna and in the Okanagan valley, and we are privileged to have strong connections to arts organizations, galleries and museums throughout the region. We work with some of the local galleries to give our students the opportunity to work as practicum students, or volunteer for exhibition installations or events, while they study in our Visual Arts program.
We are especially proud of our partnership with Opera Kelowna, and the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra and look forward to continuing this community partnership and developing others with the many outstanding arts groups in the region.
We also offer courses in our Cultural Studies program that focus on community engagement, where students have the opportunity to work in collaborative teams to complete projects that support the work of community partners such as:
Many other faculty researchers make connections with organizations that help foster projects that involve work from our undergraduate and graduate students.
One of them, Nancy Holmes, 2018 UBC Researcher of the Year, worked on the Border Free Bees project with the following community organizations:
The Woodhaven Eco Culture Centre is located in the Woodhaven Nature Conservancy Regional Park –29.8 hectares that the Regional District of Central Okanagan has designated for conservation of wild animals and their habitat. It is part of a vital wildlife corridor along Bellevue Creek which flows down from Myra Bellevue Provincial Park.
Through an agreement with the Regional District, FCCS manages a large heritage home with three self-contained apartments, providing opportunities for graduate students from FCCS to live during the academic year, and a place for visiting artists and scholars to stay during the summer months. There is a small Studio Cabin on the property that is an ideal place to hold seminars, small retreats, art projects, events, and meetings.
The Woodhaven Eco Culture Centre is located at 969 Raymer Road, and is in a vital wildland corridor along Bellevue Creek which flows down from Myra Bellevue Provincial Park.
