We would like to inform the Fine Arts community about recent faculty retirements.
Professor Bruce Taylor and Professor Lois Andison have retired as of January 2025. Bruce joined the Department in 1993 and Lois in 2007.
Bruce's arrival enhanced the Department's ceramics program and coincided with the opening of the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in 1993. It is rare to find a fully operational ceramics studio in a fine arts program since the prioritization of technology, and we consider ceramics a gem in our course offerings. Always fully enrolled and lively with conversation, you could find students working in the ceramics room late into the night.
Bruce and Lois made significant contributions to the area of sculpture, which included instruction in mold-making, welding, woodworking, assemblage, and installation art (to name a few). One of the departmental “asks” when Lois was hired was to resurrect the Art and Technology course, co-taught with a faculty member from Engineering, and originally designed by Bruce and Rob Gorbet. This course, a highlight due to its collaborative and interdisciplinarity nature, saw Fine Arts and Engineering (and at times Knowledge Integration) students working in teams to produce innovative interactive artworks.
Early in her hire Lois also developed the digital imaging program which included designing our first online course.
We wish Bruce and Lois much happiness and success as they continue their own artistic pursuits. We know they will be dearly missed by students, staff, and faculty alike.
View of the ceramics studio ca.1999, with Bruce and the students using a rabbit for their model. -- Lois and the students in the Tech Art course in 2008.