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Contact:
Martin Gotfrit, 604.291.3766, martin_gotfrit@sfu.ca
Henry Daniel, 604.291.3897, hdaniel@sfu.ca

Three Simon Fraser University professors are among the first university-based artists in Canada to receive federal grants historically reserved for humanists, social scientists and scientists in medical or natural science research. Martin Gotfrit, director of the school for the contemporary arts in Burnaby, and Kenneth Newby, an assistant professor at the school of interactive arts and technology in Surrey, are co-recipients of a Research/Creation grant. Another such grant went to Ron Wakkary, an associate professor at the Surrey school.

The grants are awarded under the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s (SSHRC) newly created Fine Arts program. "The Fine Arts pilot program was created primarily to meet the needs of university-based artists who have for some time had trouble securing funds from either SSHRC or Canada Council," says Craig McNaughton, a senior SSHRC program officer. "Until now, professors who are artists have had to cross-dress to secure major federal funding," says Gotfrit, the recipient of a $167,000 Research/Creation grant over three years. "We’ve had to basically put on a white lab coat and couch our research in conventional terms that imply scientific or industrial applications."

"We use the same technologies in art to make movies such as The Matrix as scientists use to study the workings of the human brain or body," says Daniel. His Research/Creation grant application was accepted but not funded because the program had enough funds for only 34 of 200 applicants. The dancer/choreographer has been awarded a $40,000 Research Development Initiatives (RDI) grant under another SSHRC program.

Gotfrit’s Fine Arts grant will help finance his adaptation of emerging technologies, and existing hardware and software to better serve artists’ creation of sound and film. Gotfrit, Newby and collaborator Aleksandra Dulic, a SFU media artist and experimental film director, envision SFU becoming a major provider of open-ended, Internet-accessible compositional tools for artists. Wakkary is using his $157,500 Fine Arts award over three years to further his development of interactive technology in museum exhibits.

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Websites:
Martin Gotfrit: www.sfu.ca/~gotfrit
Henry Daniel: www.sfu.ca/~hdaniel/