by Yvonne Widenor | Jan 27, 2026 | Staff
Join ArtsCanisius as we welcome all three of our exceptional student ensembles to the stage. The annual Festival of the Ensembles is an evening of music that cannot be missed. The concert begins at 7:30 PM on Friday, February 20, 2026 in Montante Cultural Center. There will be a reception to follow the concert. General admission is $5 and can be purchased at the door or online at https://tinyurl.com/bdefv459
For more information about this concert or other ArtsCanisius events, please contact Yvonne Widenor, Director of ArtsCanisius at widenory@canisius.edu or visit canisius.edu/artscanisius
by Yvonne Widenor | Jan 20, 2026 | Staff
Please share with everyone the exciting new CALLI (Canisius Adult Lifelong Learning Institute) course being offered by Professor Johanna Fisher. Entitled “Exploring the Magic of Fairy Tales – Past and Present,” this course will introduce participants to a wide range of fairy tales and discuss the characters and relationships they depict. As Prof. Fisher notes, “In some ways fairy tales are built upon certain tropes, however, the tropes of these fairy tales are mostly in the archetypes—the beautiful princess, the three brothers, the good-natured, but troublemaking strongman [in the German tradition he is often known as Hans], etc- or else we see these tropes in plots themselves [i.e. Jack and The Beanstalk as overreaching]. At times, they are beautiful princesses or handsome princes turned into animals or monsters, [Beauty and The Beast]. In their retellings for a contemporary audience [i.e. Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories], we see that these tales can inform us about such human concerns as gender roles, power, and identity.”
Classes will be held on Microsoft Teams on Tuesdays from 12:00 to 1:00 PM EST. Learn more and enroll at https://blogs.canisius.edu/icms/lifelong-learners-2021/
by Yvonne Widenor | Jan 20, 2026 | Staff
Professor emeritus Ben Dunkle, MFA and ArtsCanisius invite you to an exhibit of his artworks inspired by the beauty of Crystal Beach. This exhibit opens on Friday January 30, 2026 with a reception from 2:00 to 4:00 PM in the Andrew L. Bouwhuis, SJ Library. “I was awestruck when I first visited Crystal Beach, Ontario. The expansive, velvety sand; the water extending beyond the horizon, filled with boats, swimmers, and occasionally surfable waves; the seagulls soaring, squawking, and raiding unguarded picnics – it all seemed so familiar, as if I’d been transported back to the south coast of Long Island where I’d grown up,” writes Dunkle in his artist statement for the exhibit. Both the exhibit and reception are open to the public, and we await this opportunity to admire his work inspired by sunlit, sandy shores – sunscreen and flip flops are optional. The exhibit will run until May 17.
For more information about this exhibit and upcoming ArtsCanisius events, please contact Yvonne Widenor, Director of ArtsCanisius, at widenory@canisius.edu
by Yvonne Widenor | Dec 4, 2025 | Staff
In case you missed the fantastic concerts by our student Chamber Orchestra, Chorale and Jazz Ensemble this semester (pictured below), save the date for February 20, 2026, when all three perform in one evening. The Festival of the Ensembles is an annual event for ArtsCanisius, and we look forward to seeing you there! General admission is $5 and can be purchased at the door or online through the Canisius Marketplace in the spring.
For more information about this and other ArtsCanisius events, please contact Yvonne Widenor, Director, ArtsCanisius at widenory@canisius.edu
by Yvonne Widenor | Nov 14, 2025 | Staff
This fall, a Reacting to the Past activity was woven into FAH109A History of Architecture. After attending the Reacting to the Past Summer Institute at Barnard College with Dr. Jonathan Lawrence and Tyler Kron, Piatek (made possible through the generous President Innovation Fund awarded to Dr. Lawrence in the 2024-25 academic year), Professor Yvonne Widenor assigned the “Building the Italian Renaissance: Brunelleschi’s Dome and the Florence Cathedral” game to her students.
For this activity, three factions of Florentine architects, stonecutters, sculptors, carpenters, masons, goldsmiths, and humanists prepared proposals for a dome that would cover a 143-foot six-inch opening in the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral (aka the Duomo).
Each faction was led by a goldsmith or painter, and their proposals were judged by members of the l’Opera del Duomo who had overseen the construction and repairs on the Duomo and intermediates – members of the Florentine guilds who all had a stake in the project’s completion. After debating the merits of each proposal, a unanimous vote awarded the project to the Brunelleschi faction.
The students did a marvelous amount of work and demonstrated the dynamic learning environment created by these games, and Professor Widenor looks forward to including this and other games in her classes.
Pictured are the students from the Three Factions: (L-R: D’Arringo, Brunelleschi and Ghiberti)
