Professor Noni Boyle

Department Fine Arts and Music

Overview

Professor Noni BoyleNoni Boyle is an artist whose work deals with themes of identity and belonging through responses to landscape and physical environment. She explores the tactile, sensory and spiritual qualities of particular spaces while considering the nature of our relationship to that environment. Her practice is rooted in drawing, and includes printmaking, mixed media and installation.

Boyle's work is represented in public collections such as the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, University of Alberta, Shell Canada, Energy Resources Conservation Board, Fairmont Hotels, EnCana, and the Toronto Dominion Bank, in addition to several private collections in Canada, the US and around the world. She has been the recipient of grants from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Prior to joining the faculty at Algoma University in 2006, she taught at the University of Alberta. She has also been a regular instructor at the University of Calgary, Mount Royal College, Red Deer College, and Grant MacEwan College.

Since moving to Sault Ste. Marie, Professor Boyle has guest-curated several exhibitions - at the Art Gallery of Algoma, and the Whitespace Gallery, in addition to in-house exhibitions of student work.

 

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that if you establish a collegial environment of mutual respect, shared learning, and active investigation in the studio, students will gain confidence and be willing to move beyond what is comfortable and familiar. It is this element of risk that allows students to really advance their skills and understanding beyond their expectations, and come to understand themselves to a greater extent. They will, in essence, 'find their voice' as artists. This requires a sincere respect for diversity, and an appreciation of the unique perspective that each individual brings to the class. My objective as a teacher is to provide the environment, stimulus and challenge necessary to help each student achieve their potential as artists.

My own work crosses disciplines and is influenced by other art forms (poetry, music, literature), and I encourage students to take a similar open-ended and inclusive approach to art-making. This open attitude towards media and expression is evident throughout our department, where students are encouraged to participate in collaboration and interdisciplinary projects, such as exhibitions and publications, and to get to know students in other disciplines through on-campus events, projects and class trips to Chicago or Montreal.

 

Works by Professor Noni Boyle