Calendars of Events & Happenings

Fall 1967

For its second brochure of event listings, the Centre for Communications and the Arts chose a smaller format and conservative layout – accented with a funky acid green elements. The design echoes the brochure's focus on promoting middle brow events, while only hinting at the counterculture movement already taking root at the new university. View a scan of the unfolded brochure, which lists events taking place in the SFU Theatre during the Fall 1967 semester. 

Highlights: 

• Opening concert: CBC Chamber Orchestra with John Avison, conductor
• Anna K. Sokolow Dance Company
• The Noon Show
  • "A weekly series of lunch-hour productions of short plays, lectures, revues, tapes, and improvisations."
• To See With a Camera's Eye: Fred Herzog photography
• A concert by French-Canadian chanteuse Monique Leyrac
• North Indian Music performed by Ali Akbar Khan and company

Spring 1968

The copy of the Centre for Communications and the Arts' Spring 1968 events brochure that was found in the SFU Archives survives as a photocopy. Due to the brochure's large format, certain sections were cut-off when it was photocopied, presumably years ago. 

This large, multi-page brochure lists in detail the many events hosted by the Centre in the spring of 1968. Notably, the Spring 1968 semester was organized around the theme of "bridges." As the brochure explains, it Bridges was "a series of lectures, films and discussions beginning with the bridge as artefact and as literary symbol and progressing to a look at some of the bridging experiments of recent times, especially in the field of the arts and the community."

Highlights: 

• Paula Ross Dancers
• Documents from Hell (Enrique Buenaventura, Columbian playwright)
• Colin Wilson: Author in residence 
• Poets and Playwrights, including John Mills and Robin Blaser 
• Master class in Korean dance with Won Kyung Cho
• Gallery exhibitions:
  • Centennial Suite of B.C. Artists
  • Bob Bigelow
• Savage God 3 1/2 (John Juliani)
  • Hurrah for the Bridge, a play
  • Hurrah, a film

Fall 1968

In the Fall of 1968, the Centre for Communications and the Arts created a large, poster-sized brochure to promote the events planned to take place in the theatre that semester. This brochure is unique as it is the only example that was found of a one-sided design, which would have lent itself to being tacked up on walls around campus in a similar fashion to a poster. While playful illustrations and a bright colour palette bring levity to the design, the small typeface and crowded layout would have lost the attention of many busy students on campus. 

Highlights: 

• The Hollow Crown (John Barton), directed by Peter Hay
  • Read by SFU Theatre Company Members Anne Hungerford, David Anido, Perry Long, John Donald
  • Period music performed by the SFU Choir (Phyllis Mailing Schafer, director)
• The Glass Menagerie (Tennesse Williams), directed by John Juliani (Savage God) 
  • Featuring films by Danny Singer    
• The Easter Egg (James Reaney); first west coast performance, directed by Peter Hay
• Coriolanus (Shakespeare), directed by Peter Hay

Spring 1969

In the Spring of 1969, the Centre for Communications and the Arts designed a brochure to promote events in the theatre, which folded several times to cleverly display an eye-catching cover design. The intricate brochure is notable for showcasing the SFU Film Workshop as an incubator for local young film-makers seeking to develop their talents. To this point, the brochure includes a behind the scenes photograph of student film-maker Peter Bryant with the cast and crew of Felix.  

Highlights: 

• International Night: 
  • "program of Indian and Chinese Dance, sitar, Chinese defense art, Chinese choir, Chinese Violinist, Latin American guitar, and European dances by students at SFU with films from Indian and China."
• Transcendental Meditation
• SFU Electronic Music, R. Murray Schafer
  • "The Dream Passage from his opera in progress, Patria."
• Sound Experiments, directed by Phil Werren
• Indian Dance and Music by Arvind, Usha and Chetna Thakore
• Showcase for New Film-Makers
  • Featuring Dave Rimmer, John Juiliani, Peter Svatek and Tony Westman, Peter Bryant and Al Sens

Summer 1969

The brochure promoting the Centre for Communications and the Arts' events in the summer of 1969 features a simple design: a large piece of white paper, folded twice with blue and black text and graphics. It includes a photograph of dancers Karen Rimmer (Jamieson) and Edith Feinstein of the SFU Dance Workshop, overlayed with text describing the "sound-space experiments" happening on camps at that time in collaboration with dancers, composers and theatre directors. 

Highlights: 

• Purcell String Quartet
• SFU Dance Workshop: Noon Show by co-directors Karen Rimmer (Jamieson) and Edith Feinstein
• Phases: Phil Werren (Simon Fraser Electronic Music Studio) and Wilfrid Mennell
• Dancers on Film
• Ecuadorian Art, a lecture by James Warren Felter
• Peter Bryant films: Andy, Butcher and Felix (SFU Film Workshop)
• Arrabaleqsque directed by John Juliani (Savage God)
• Gallery exhibition: 
  • Joel Smith:The Smallest Documented One-Man Exhibition in the World

Fall 1969

The copy of the Centre for Communications and the Arts' Summer 1969 events brochure that was found in the SFU Archives survives as a photocopy. Due to the brochure's large format, certain sections were cut-off when it was photocopied, presumably years ago. 

This brochure is unique for mentioning statistics that provide insight into the size of the audience for the Centre for Communications and the Arts. According to this brochure "Last year 59,868 people attended 326 performances of 259 different events in the Simon Fraser University Theatre."

The brochure is also significant for highlighting Afro-American Evening, a student-created event celebrating black voices on campus. A photograph of students Scott Hines and Ranji Singh is included alongside a profile of the event. 

Highlights: 

• The Kinetic Art
• Afro-American Evening
  • Performances by SFU students, including Bill Robinson, Mike Charles, Greg Johnson and Scott Hines, sponsored by the Black Internationals of SFU and UBC
• Anti-War Film Series, co-sponsored by the SFU Chaplaincy
• Don Redlich Dance Company
• Tony Montanaro, mime
• Therapeutic Society, filmed by Stan Fox
• Gallery exhibitions:
  • Black Art, in connection with Afro-American Evening
  • Bella Coola photographs by Tony Westman

Spring 1970

For the Spring of 1970, the Centre of Communications and the Arts produced an events brochure which was folded and twice-stapled. The brochure is a significant artefact of Simon Fraser University's history as it promotes Penticton Profile, the second film directed by Canadian film-maker Sandy Wilson before her rise to fame. Long before directing My American Cousin (1985), as a female student in the male-dominated SFU Film Workshop, Wilson took the helm of this film capturing tensions between hippies and the establishment in her hometown. 

Highlights: 

• Penticton Profile, a documentary directed by Sandy Wilson
• SFU Videotape Workshop: Cable 10 Series
• Mahatma Gandhi Commemorative Program
• African Art: an illustrated lecture series by Abi Jones
• Religion and the Arts, co-sponsored by the SFU Chaplaincy
• Lunch Hour Concerts: California Time Machine
• Don Redlich Dance Company
  • "During the spring the dancers will collaborate with student tape music composers in an experimental Sound Dance Improvisation Workshop, directed by Miss [Iris] Garland and composer Phillip Werren."
• SFU Dance Workshop: Mediums
• Guitarist Alirio Diaz

Fall 1970

In the Fall of 1970, the Centre for Communications and the Arts finally hit upon a successful template for its seasonal events brochures. The events brochure for the fall semester of 1970 is the first in a miniature format, featuring a colourful cardstock cover, with its multiple folded pages stapled at the centre. These charming, tiny brochures fit in the palm of a hand or a jeans pocket, meaning they could be easily handed out to audiences and were easy for students to keep and browse throughout the semester. 

Highlights: 

• Savage God eee (John Juliani): "a continuous six hour presentation of a trilogy"    
• Olivier Messiaen
• National Theatre of the Deaf
• Traditional Chinese Dance performed by Lorita Jone
• A major theatre production by new resident Jim Garrard
• Gestalt Film Series
• Gilles Groulx: Quebec Film-maker in Residence
• Gallery exhibitions: 
  • Computer Graphics
  • Felter: 10 Years
  • Centennial Suite of B.C. Arists
  • Eskimo Graphics

Spring 1971

To promote the summer 1971 calendar of events, the Centre for Communications and the Arts reused the miniature booklet format. Each semesterly booklet features a different cover colour and the Centre's logo. By settling on a consistent format, the maturing program was making a move to cultivate greater brand recognition to build a stronger following in the community. 

This brochure is significant to the history of Simon Fraser University as it promotes the opening of the newly established Simon Fraser Gallery. Before opening in the space in the AQ it still occupies today, exhibitions at the university were generally displayed in the theatre foyer, the library or simply any free space on campus.

Highlights: 

• Utah Repertory Dance Theatre
• Phillip Werren: "a composer in collaboration with a film-maker"
  • Migration, directed by David Rimmer
  • Aaeon, directed by Al Razutiz
• SFU Mime Troupe featuring Robin Patterson
• Harro Maskow of the Canadian Mime Theatre
• Francesco Chamber Trio
• Simon Fraser Gallery:
  • Inaugural exhibition: Art of the Eskimo
  • Comics as an Art Form
  • B.C. Photographers
  • N. E. Thing Co: Photography Dept. 

Summmer 71

The event calendar for the Summer of 1971 is in the miniature booklet format and features a mustard yellow cover. At this time, the SFU Mime Troupe were in top-form, earning the honour of representing British Columbia at the National Theatre Showcase in Ottawa. In the summer of 1971, Simon Fraser University also had the distinction of hosting the first World Shakespeare Congress. To celebrate the occasion, Phyllis Mailing founded the SFU Madrigal Singers, starting the vocal ensemble's long and celebrated history at the institution. 

Highlights: 

• SFU Mime Troupe: Zeme
• The first World Shakespeare Conference
  • Debut of the SFU Madrigal singers, directed by Phyllis Mailing
• Peter Hall: Brave New World film shoot
• Jim Garrard and the Concrete Theatre
  • How our Love is like a Dwarf, a new collective creation
  • Orient Express by Jackie Crossland, directed by Norm Dawson
  • Dr. Faustus directed by Mark Vuliamy
  • Mime Sketches by Richard Bolivar
  • Home Free
  • Labyrinth
  • The Sayanasi

Fall 1971

The booklet promoting events in the fall of 1971 takes the familiar tiny format, this time with a purple cover. This brochure promotes the first musical group in residence at the Centre, The Lyric Arts Trio. Comprised of spouses Robert Aitken and Marion Ross alongside Mary Morrison, the group toured local schools, providing cultural experiences and community outreach for the university. The Lyric Arts Trio paved the way for the Purcell String Quartet's longstanding residency. 

Highlights: 

• Karen Uretsky Hering: Folk Dances of The Middle East, Hungary, Bulgaria and Russia
• Paul Taylor Dance Company
• The Lyric Arts Trio residency: Robert Aitken, Flute, Mary Morrison, soprano, Marion Ross, piano
• SFU Madrigal Singers
• Luke Bennet: The Editor
• Starship by Chard
• Studio Productions with Jim Garrard
• Simon Fraser Gallery: 
  • Recycled: The New Folk Art
  • Banners
  • New acquisitions by D'Arcy Henderson and Jack Shadbolt

Spring 1972

In Spring 1972, the Centre for Communications and the Arts again uses the mini-booklet format. This pink booklet is the only brochure of event listings to feature the SFU logo in place of the Centre's logo. The accomplishments of dancers are promoted in this brochure, as Karen Rimmer's star rose from her beginnings at the SFU Dance Workshop to joining the prestigious Alwin Nikolais Dance Theatre in New York. 

Highlights: 

• Alwin Nikolais: Master Class
  • "Karen Rimmer [Jamieson], member of the Alwin Nikolais Dance Theatre, began dancing in 1968 with the Simon Fraser University Dance Workshops."
• Cinema: The Quebec Scene, a special lecture with Rene Rozon
• The Purcell String Quartet
• SFU Madrigal Singers
• Okeanos by R. Murray Schafer, in collaboration with Bruce Davis and Bryan Fawcett
• Walter Zuber Armstrong, free form jazz concert
• SFU Mime Troupe at the Vancouver Art Gallery
• Major Theatre Production: Memories of My Brother, Part 1 (John Palmer), directed by Martin Kinch
• Simon Fraser Gallery:
  • British Columbia: Photographers
  • British Columbia Crafts Exhibition
• Filiming The Groundstar Conspiracy (working title: The Plastic Man)

Summer 1972

The copy of the Centre for Communications and the Arts' Summer 1972 Theatre brochure that was found in the SFU Archives survives as a photocopy. Due to the brochure's large format, certain sections were cut-off when it was photocopied, presumably years ago. 

Notably, this brochure only outlines theatre productions mounted with theatre resident Jim Garrard in the Concrete Theatre. Many of the productions were the original creations of theatre students working under Garrard's mentorship. 

Highlights: 

• Jim Garrard and the Concrete Theatre: 
  • The Magician, directed by Andrew Anthony
  • One for One, directed by Guy Robinson
  • Gilead, directed by Will Grant
  • The Mother, directed by Jim Garrard
  • The Collection and the Lover, directed by Tony Bessant

Fall 1972

The mini-booklet promoting the events and activities at the Centre for Communications in 1972 features a robin's ege blue cover and a funky typeface not seen on any of the other brochures. This is the first of the small booklets with postage printed on the backcover. Whereas the previous brochure teased the premier of the productions in the Concrete Theatre, this booklet features photographs capturing scenes from the summer theatre shows created by Jim Garrard's students.  

Highlights: 

• Ah Akh: The Performing Arts of Korea
• Okeanos by R. Murray Schafer, in collaboration with Bruce Davis and Bryan Fawcett
• Hortulani Musicae with the SFU Madrigal Singers
• James Cunningham and the Acme Dance Company
• Western Canada Dance Symposium
• Claude Kipnis Mime Theatre
• Leon Mandrake: on the occult sciences, hypnotism, magic, gambling and trickery
• Simon Fraser Gallery
  • Tibetan Woodblock Prints

Spring 1973

The events brochure for Spring 1973 uses the pocket-sized booklet format; its pink cover is the first to feature a photograph. During this semester, the Centre for Communications and the Arts hosted the Spring Arts Festival for the first – and apparently only – time from March 11 until April 8. According to the brochure, "The Spring Festival is another new departure for the Centre for Communications and the Arts. The great variety of work created by resident artists and their students in credit-free workshops during 1972-73 will be showcased under an Arts Festival umbrella."

Highlights: 

• The Purcell String Quartet: Sunday Afternoon Concert Series
• The Art of the Minstrel: a special residency by Martin Best, official guitarist and lutenist of the Royal Shakespeare Company
• Spring Arts Festival
• Mime Workshops: Adrian Pecknold & Harro Masko
• National Theatre of the Deaf: Gilgamesh 
• Tandarica Puppet Theatre of Rumania
• Noon shows: Plays in the Concrete Theatre 
  • Measures Taken by Jerry Zaslove
  • Organizer & There by Thomas Cone
  • Not Enough Rope by Michael Fletcher
• SFU Dance Ensemble Production
• Shakespeare on Film Series with the SFU Chaplaincy
• Simon Fraser Gallery:
  • Eskimo Graphics, 1960-1964
  • China: Fan Paintings
  • South America: Jungle Crafts and Folk Art of Ecudor

Summer 1973

This brochure of events taking place in the Summer of 1973 departs from the booklet format. The unfolded brochure was printed on heavy orange paper and was distributed by mail. Unlike the booklet brochures which contain more in-depth coverage of events and people at the Centre, this brochure highlights a handful of major events and productions, such as Dido and Aeneas, SFU's first venture into the opulent world of opera. 

Highlights: 

• Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas
• The Final Hour: A Four-Week Dance Workshop directed by Phyllis Lamhut
• Arturo UI (Bertolt Brecht) directed by Tom Kerr
• Purcell String Quartet: Okanagan Residency

Fall 1973

The brochure for the Fall of 1973 returns to the pocket-sized booklet format. At this time, the Centre for Communications and the Arts began to step into a more conscious advocacy or leadership role. According to the brochure's preface written by Nini Baird:

"October [1973] will be an important month for the future of the arts in British Columbia. ARTS ACCESS, a major conference to be held at SFU October 20 - 21 with the support of the B.C. Cultural Fund, will provide the entire arts community of the province with the opportunity to tell the government what needs to be done now to stimulate the cultural development of B.C. The Centre for Communications and the Arts will be paying special attention to the arts of B.C. in its fall programming with such events as the Third Annual B.C. Photographers competition, informal evening, sessions with B.C.'s leading visual artists, screening of new films by West Coast Independent Film Makers and a forum on film policy, plays by B.C. playwrights, and performances by B.C. musicians."

Highlights: 

• Mummenschanz (mime-mask theatre)
• The People Show
• Future of the Independent West Coast Film Maker Forum
• BC Artists and the Their Art: lecture series
• Arts Access Conference: A major conference on the arts in British Columbia
• Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
• Simon Fraser Gallery: 
  • Lumia Recital Hall
  • BC Photographers
  • Joel Smith: Postal Paintings

Spring 1974

Perhaps reflecting its aspirations to be recognized as an established, serious cultural institution, the Spring 1974 booklet of events features a somber, pale grey cover. The Purcell String Quartet, SFU's renowned classical musicians in residence, are profiled and their tour promoted, including the Quartet's highly anticipated New York Debut at Carnegie Recital Hall. 

Highlights: 

• Viola Faber Dance Company
• David Watmough, monodramatist
• Mia Anderson's 10 Women, 2 Men and a Moose
• SFU Film workshop: Ivory Founts, directed by Chris Aikenhead, Norman McLaren Award winner
• W.O.R.K.S. (We Ourselves Roughly Know Something) of Calgary
• Dr. Peter Goldmark
• Simon Fraser Gallery: 
  • M.C. Escher: Beyond Reality
  • Emily Carr's Contemporaries
  • The Graphic Art of Sylvia Tait
  • Dana Atchley: Fragments 1963/1973 - Images, Words and Space Debris

Summer 1974

In contrast to the previous booklet, the events brochure for the Summer of 1974 is one of the most playful in the SFU Archives' collection. The Summer 1974 brochure is a large, folded piece of sunny yellow paper, with a surprising amount of space filled by a cheerful crayon drawing by Vincent Yue, a Grade 1 student at Sperling School. Also included is The First Year, "an exhibition and presentation of work produced by students during their first year in Simon Fraser University's Department of Communcations Studies." 

Highlights: 

• The First Year
• The Purcell String Quartet
• The Academy Strings (Norman Nelson)
• Academy Choir and the SFU Madrigal Singers
• Court Dances of the Renaissance
• Gladys Bailin in Concert with Marcia Sakamoto
• Gladys Bailin Student Workshop in Performance

Fall 1974

The Centre for Communications and the Arts produced a large, folded brochure on pale blue paper to promote its events in the Fall of 1974. Perhaps again summoning the Centre's inner child, as expressed through crayon drawings in the previous brochure, this season's events include a Children's Puppet Series. As the Centre inched towards its final years and the hippie era began to fade away, the broad mix of events represented in this season hints at the program's struggle to understand its own identity as it attempted to attract and entertain both suburban families and rebellious youth. 

Highlights: 

• Purcell String Quartet Prestige Series
• Dan Wagoner and Dancers
• Yass Hakoshima, mime
• Manhattan Theatre Project in Alice in Wonderland
• Michael Lorimer, Classical Guitar
• La Troupe Grotesque
• Simon Fraser Gallery:
  • Artists' Stamps and Stamp Images
  • 50x50 Netherlands Graphics

Spring 1975

The calendar of "events and happenings" from the Spring of 1975 is one of the most memorable and creative brochure designs produced for the Centre for Communications and the Arts. A large, folded brochure featuring bold magenta ink on white paper, the brochure's "groovy" take on the university's logo will make any SFU alumnus with a nostalgic streak smile.

Highlights: 

• Songs for Connoisseurs, Joan Patenaude, soprano, Judith Forst, mezzo-soprano, Phyllis Mailing, mezzo-soprano
• Alwin Nikolais
• SFU Repertory Ensemble
  • A Comendy for the Company, directed by Wayne Robinson
  • Marat/Sade (Peter Weiss), directed by Richard Ouzounian
• The Purcell String Quartet (peripatetic concert tour on campus)
• Mario Escudero, flamenco guitar
• Cassenti Players
• Martin Best
• Simon Fraser Gallery:
  • Art of Ching-Ku Chang
  • Vehicular Art (Montreal) Ltd.
  • Pacific Rim Counsciousness

Fall 1975

The copy of the Centre for Communications and the Arts' Fall 1975 events brochure that was found in the SFU Archives survives as a photocopy. Due to the brochure's large format, certain sections were cut-off when it was photocopied, presumably years ago. 

In 1975, the Centre for Communications and the Arts celebrated its 10th Anniversary Season. It would be a bittersweet occasion, as the Centre wrapped a remarkable decade while the presence of a major restructuring of the program by the university loomed overhead as 1976 arrived. On the cusp of a new era – the program was renamed as simply "The Centre for the Arts" and lost its non-credit workshops – the Centre for Communications and the Arts used this, one of its final seasons, to recognize International Women's Year. 

Highlights: 

• Focus on International Women's Year
• Video in Canada and Outside
• Lorita Leung Chinese Dancers
• Toronto Dance Theatre
• Phyllis Lamhut Dance Company
• NDWT Company in The Donnelly Trilogy (James Reaney) and Hamlet (Shakespeare)
• Trojan Women performed by the Simon Fraser Reperatory Ensemble
• Viveca Lindfors in I am a Woman