University of Windsor president Alan Wildeman received the Windsor Endowment for the Arts first-ever Record of Achievement Award.

During an awards and grants ceremony on May 24, WEA president Carolyne Rourke said that Dr. Wildeman was being recognized for the positive and lasting impact he has had on the arts at the University and in the community.

“During his 10-year appointment, the University campus, including facilities in downtown Windsor, has been transformed into a welcoming and inclusive place for students and the community,” she said. “He has helped to position the city for urban renewal, positively benefiting the arts community.”

Rourke added that the new School of Creative Arts facilities in the Armouries and on Freedom Way are a visible testament to the importance of the arts to the University and region.

“It is significant and fitting that the Board of Governors of the University has announced that the Freedom Way building will be renamed the Alan Wildeman Centre for Creative Arts,” she said.

Other winners with UWindsor connections include choir director Bruce Kotowich, recipient of a Mayor’s Arts Award, and alumnae:

• Sierra Parr (BA 2015), a writer and director who received an emerging artist grant in community arts;
• poet, author, and book designer Kate Hargreaves (BA 2010, MA 2012), who received an emerging artist grant in literary arts;
• filmmaker and cinematographer Lana Oppen (B.Sc 2012, BA 2014), a current MFA candidate in film studies who received the Lois Smedick Emerging Artist Grant in Visual Arts;
• music performer and teacher Erin Armstrong Dickau (BMus 2007), who received the Elizabeth Havelock Grant and whose children’s choir Music Moves Kids received an arts infrastructure grant.

A list and brief biographical sketches of all award recipients is available on the endowment’s website.