- About
- Centre for Communications and the Arts
- Calendars of Events & Happenings
- Event Poster Collection
- The Communications Centre: Experiment in human experience
- Jade: Flower-child happenings and conceptual art projects in 1969
- Nini Baird: A Day in the Hectic Life of the Arts Centre Director
- Sound Recordings: Faculty Lectures from 1967 Communications Course
- Dance
- Film
- Literary Arts
- Music & Sound
- Music & Sound image gallery
- My "a-ha" moment with Murray Schafer
- World Soundscape Project
- Phillip Werren's electronic music
- Radio CKSF "on the air" fall 1966
- Robert Aitken performs with the Purcell String Quartet & Soundscape on radio
- David Skulski and the early music revival at SFU
- Phyllis Mailing: SFU Singer Who Reached the Top
- Purcell String Quartet: In High Demand
- Theatre
- Theatre image gallery
- How the early days of the arts at SFU changed my parochial little life
- Norm Browning, Jackie Crossland and Cece Granbois in Beverley Simons' new 1-act play "Greenlawn Rest Home"
- The Centralia Incident: "A theatre in search of a town—A town in search of its memory."
- The only escape: The early years of the SFU theatre
- Robin Patterson and the SFU Mime Troupe
- Theatre of Total Limbo
- Visual Arts
Event Poster Collection
Browse a curated and annotated timeline of posters from the Centre for Communications and the Arts to meet the artists and performers who made the new university a hub of creativity.
A remarkable selection of vibrant and fascinating posters from the Centre for Communications and the Arts still survives in the SFU Archives. This curated timeline of posters from the SFU Archives illustrates the variety of arts and cultural events presented at Simon Fraser University in its early years.
From theatre productions to rock concerts to visiting artists from New York to largely overlooked events from the past – such as a film festival co-sponsored with the SFU Chaplaincy – there was always something for curious students to try. To provide a glimpse into how students experienced the arts at the so-called “instant university,” this collection of posters emphases the opportunities for students to share their talents or interact with working artists, as this was what made the Centre remarkable.
This selection of posters can also be appreciated on an aesthetic level or examined to understand the marketing techniques of the day. Many of these posters were created by artists who worked for the university. While some of these charming posters were, presumably, the work of students trying out the silk-screening techniques that were taught at the Centre's visual arts workshops.
As these ephemeral materials were only needed for a few days, weeks or months to promote an upcoming concert, event or show, only a few of the posters preserved in the SFU Archives date before 1969, as the Centre was finding its stride in those first five years. Presented in chronological order, this online gallery of posters tells the story of the university's first decade of performances, events and exhibitions.
Learn how the Centre for Communications and the Arts changed over time and find out what was happening each year by browsing our timeline of event posters from 1969-1975.
Mother Tucker's Yellow Duck
March 3, 1969
In addition to organizing its own events, the Centre for Communications and the Arts also provided an event venue of many of the student groups on campus. The Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) organized a regular series of lunch-hour events in the SFU Theatre on Mondays, bringing rock bands, folk singers and theatre troupes to campus. Formed in Vancouver in 1967, Canadian psychedelic band Mother Tucker's Yellow Duck rocked campus on February 13, 1968 and returned a year later for this show on March 3, 1969.
Films by the SFU Film Workshop
September 17, 1969
Starting in 1968, the SFU Film Workshop hosted regular screenings of its members films on campus. This particular screening event included of the films Aphasia by Peter Bryant and Pat Corbett, Mein Thing by Bill Squibb, Lullaby and Made in Canada by Bryan Small, Mime by George Johnson and Holiday Theatre by Dorthea Atwater and Annabelle Paxton. Notably, the workshop also previewed a work in progress: the documentary Penticton Profile, one of director Sandy Wilson's earliest films.
Anti-War Films
October 1, 1969
As the precursor to SFU's Multifaith Centre, the SFU Chaplaincy opened in 1965 and originally represented seven denominations. As it evolved over the years, it would include more groups from diverse faiths. As part of its work serving the spiritual needs of students, SFU Chaplaincy partnered with the Centre for Communications and the Arts to present special events using art as a vehicle to explore religious themes and questions of faith, including this 1969 festival of films echoing Vietnam War protests on campus. In 1970, the Chaplaincy and the Centre would once again partner to present the Festival of Religion and the Arts.
Simon Fraser Theatre Company
February 26, 27 & 28 1970
Two plays by Sam Shepard (Chicago, Red Cross)
Concentration Moon: an Original Manfrog Traveling Show
Between 1969 and 1970, one of the ensembles that made up the Simon Fraser Theatre Company exclusively focused on staging the works of the young American playwright Sam Shepard. A voice of his generation, Sherpard's signatures as a playwright – experimental elements, black comedy and outsider characters – would have easily captured the imaginations of students at the Centre. In February 1970, the Shepard ensemble ventured off campus to the Colonial Theatre on Granville Street – which would be demolished only two years later in 1972 – for a show with local experimental theatre troupe, Manfrog, who performed one of their original plays.
Dance Workshop Performance
July 3, 1970
Directed by Phyllis Lamhut, assisted by Iris Garland
In the summer of 1970, acclaimed American dancer and choreographer Phyllis Lamhut dazzled campus as a visiting artist, training both experienced and novice dancers alike through an intensive workshop. This potentially life changing opportunity to study under Lamhut – an innovator of the New York scene who began her career under the mentorship of Alwin Nikolais – concluded with a dance production of original choreography by students. To the delight of dance enthusiasts, Phyllis Lamhut would become a mainstay of the Centre’s visiting artist program, influencing a generation of Vancouver dancers by returning to SFU again in 1973 and 1975.
N. E. Thing Co. Ltd. Photography and Communications Departments
March 30 - April 16, 1971
North American Time Zone Photo - V.S.I Simultaneity, October 18, 2070
Alongside composer R. Murray Schafer and thespian Michael Bawtree, conceptual artist Iain Baxter& was one of the original three resident artists hired to create the vision for the new Centre for Communications and the Arts. As the President of N.E. Thing Co. Ltd., Baxter& frequently held "product demonstrations" – or simply put, exhibitions of inventive, eccentric and unexpected art projects - on campus. This exhibition, which included video displays, was part of the inaugural season of the Simon Fraser Gallery in 1971.
PURCELL STRING QUARTET
Undated
With its very future thrown into question as the freewheeling hippie era began to phase out, 1972 represented a watershed moment for the Centre for Communications and the Arts. By this time, the Centre was increasingly under pressure to prove its value to a skeptical university administration. It was at this crucial moment that its director, Nini Baird, hatched the brilliant plan to engage Vancouver's celebrated Purcell String Quartet as the Centre’s resident musical ensemble.
Landing the Purcell String Quartet as resident artists brought considerable cultural cachet to the so-called “instant university” and stirred up new excitement and respect for the Centre, now seeking to rebrand itself as a cultural hub serving the wider community. Its four extraordinarily gifted and charismatic musicians – Norman Nelson (violin), Frederick Nelson (violin), Phillippe Etter (viola) and Ian Hampton (cello) – had already found acclaim and a dedicated following as principals with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Although its line-up would evolve over the years, the Purcell String Quartet proved their longevity and influence, and frequently toured throughout the province, Canada and beyond. The Purcell String quartet went on to create a remarkable legacy as SFU’s resident quartet for the next decade (1972-1982), and continued to make music together until 1991.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON CONCERTS
SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER 1973
PURCELL STRING QUARTET
DAVID SKULSKI WITH PHYLLIS MAILING, PATRICK WEDD AND JON WASHBURN
SFU MADRIGAL SINGERS
By 1973, the Centre for Communications and the Arts increasingly focused its efforts on offering free cultural programming with the aim of increasing the fledgling university's profile in the local community. To make it easy for visitors from Burnaby, as well as Vancouver and its other suburban communities, to find their way to the mountaintop campus, the Centre organized free transportation to select events, such as the Sunday Afternoon Concerts in 1973.
Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas
June 1973
Resident artists Phyllis Mailing and Michael Fletcher took up the ambitious challenge of instructing students while also starring in the title roles of SFU's first operatic production, Dido and Aeneas. In addition to acting and singing in operatic style in their lavish costumes, Fletcher served as director, Mailing as musical director. Resident musicians the Purcell String Quartet joined the orchestra, conducted by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra's Simon Streatfeild. A massive cast and crew of students made numerous contributions, such as building extravagant sets and crafting sumptuous costumes designed by Martin Johnson, as well as acting, dancing and performing in the chorus and orchestra.
FUTURE OF THE INDEPENDENT WEST COAST FILM MAKER FORUM
SEPTEMBER 18 & 19 1973
Weeks before hosting the highly anticipated ARTS ACCESS conference – a milestone event that would shape the future of the arts in British Columbia – the Centre for Communications and the Arts staked its claim as a leader in the province's burgeoning film scene by hosting the Future of the Independent West Coast Film Maker Forum. The event featured screenings of Rocco Brothers and Morning Line, both by Peter Bryant. At that time, the recent graduate was making the transition from one of the SFU Film Workshop's most promising young talents to full-fledged filmmaker. Other independent filmmakers screening their short films included Zale Dalen, Bryan Small, Richard Patton and Ed Milanich.
THE BINOCULAR BY THOMAS CONE
MARCH 1974
SFU THEATRE WORKSHOP, DIRECTED AND DESIGNED BY KEITH PEPPER
Long before receiving the prestigious Mayor's Arts Award in recognition of his lifetime achievement as an advocate of avant-garde art and experimental music in Vancouver, playwright Thomas Cone started his career as a Teaching Assistant in Communication Studies at SFU. By the time the Centre for Communications and the Arts staged his original play The Binocular in 1974, Cone had already established himself as an up-and-coming playwright working in the West Coast theatre scene with his plays There and The Organizer. Cone would go on to write one of his best-known plays, Herringbone, one year later in 1975. Resident artist Keith Pepper directed the SFU Theatre Workshop production of Cone's play, The Binocular.
Gladys Bailin in Concert
June 1974
with Marcia Sakamoto, accompanied by Ellen Silverman
Over her long and influential career at the university, resident artist Iris Garland used her talents as an educator and connections in the dance world to cultivate a loyal following for dance on campus. The excitement around the dance program was constant, as Garland regularly invited some of North America's most visionary talents to visit Simon Fraser University in the summer semesters. Garland brought New York to Burnaby Mountain, as Alwin Nikolais himself and several stars from his company visited to teach at SFU at various times throughout the era. One such star of the New York scene, American dancer and choreographer Gladys Bailin, visited SFU in 1974 to teach an intensive workshop on dance technique, improvisation and composition. Bailin brought her extensive experience teaching with the Nikolais/Louis Dance Theater Lab and New York University School of the Arts to train the students of the SFU Dance Workshop in innovative approaches to dance. The dancers concluded their master class experience with the once in a lifetime opportunity to proudly perform on stage alongside Bailin herself.
DANCES BY KAREN RIMMER AND SAVANNAH WALLING
NOVEMBER 1974
1974 was a remarkable year for dance on Burnaby Mountain. From their shared roots as members of the SFU Dance Workshop to launching their careers as acclaimed performers just a few years later, Karen Rimmer (Jamieson) and Savannah Walling returned to the university stage for two nights of stirring performances. Throughout their celebrated careers in the Vancouver arts community, the two women have each gone on to lead their own creative projects while also demonstrating their shared social conscience and deep appreciation of the healing power of the arts. Founding her own dance company in 1983, Karen Jamieson Dance continues to break new ground in community engaged and cross-cultural dance. Savannah Walling meet and fell in love with Terry Hunter in 1971 through their involvement in the SFU Mime Troupe. The creative and community-minded couple are also life-long collaborators, co-founding the Vancouver Moving Theatre and the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival.
LENNY: A PLAY BY JULIAN BARRY BASED ON THE LIFE AND WORDS OF LENNY BRUCE
NOVEMBER 1974
FEATURING WAYNE ROBINSON AND THE SFU REPERATORY ENSEMBLE DIRECTED BY RICHARD OUZOUNIAN
1974 would represent a changing of the guard for the theatre program at SFU. In the fall of 1974, Artist-in-Residence Richard Ouzounian established the Simon Fraser Repertory Ensemble (SFURE). The SFURE represented a new approach to what had become a languishing program, in the opinion of the Centre's director, Nini Baird. Richard Ouzounian would lead an ensemble of visiting theatre artists who would act in and oversee the productions at the Centre, providing students with the experience of working in a professional theatre environment. In Lenny, visiting artist Wayne Robson starred as the controversial – and ultimately tragic – comedian, satirist and social critic, Lenny Bruce. Bringing the production out of the SFU Theatre for a more immersive experience in Studio II, Ouzounian created a night club atmosphere for the performances – cocktail menus from the show can even be found in the SFU Archives.
The Chekhov Kids: A new play by Richard Ouzounian
February 18 - 22, 1975
directed by Wayne Robinson
In February 1975, the SFU Repertory Ensemble staged the world premiere of Richard Ouzounian's original play, The Checkhov Kids. According to the press release, visiting artist Kayla Armstrong played Kate Ramsey, "a Hollywood star shooting a film on location in the Kootney region of British Columbia." The Checkhov Kids, appears to be a full-circle moment for The Centre for Communications and the Arts, as the end of an era was immanent: a major restructuring by the university would arrive shortly in 1976. The Checkhov Kids inspires this feeling of déjà vu, as its plot intersects with the earliest days of the SFU Theatre Company and the buzz around its first leading man, who had just "gone Hollywood." Before enrolling at SFU and starring in SFU’s first major production, A Man for All Seasons in November 1965, Blain Fairman was already an established local theatre actor and had landed a role in The Trap (1966), a major film shot on Bowen Island. According to The Peak's November 17, 1965 issue, to celebrate the opening of the SFU Theatre, Fairman invited the film's star, British actress and "known movie star" Rita Tushingham, as the guest of honour at the premiere of A Man for All Seasons.