Farewell Jen and Andy!
It is a HappySad day for us at VP as we announce the departure of two of our longest standing staff members, both of whom are leaving to pursue their passions that they were able to develop during their time at VP and with the Winnipeg arts community. They are both finished at the end of April but will remain doing small bits of work for VP because, well, they’re invaluable!
Jennifer Smith will be leaving to pursue her independent curatorial practice and will be the new Executive Director of the National Indigenous Media Arts Coalition (NIMAC)! We are absolutely thrilled for Jen and we look forward to broadening our relationship with her through her new role, but we will miss her wisdom and sincerity after nine years dedicated to VP’s Distribution department.
Jen dedicated the majority of her time at VP into seeking out paid screenings for artists, advocating for equitable representation, and fighting for fair artist fees and opportunities. She spearheaded making public announcements about the opportunities she secured for VP members. These accolades gained international attention for both the artists and VP. Her care and focus on the VP Archives has been instrumental in digitizing and organizing the collection, ensuring the work is accessible for future generations.
Jen was instrumental as President of the board for the Coalition of Canadian Independent Media Art Distributors that runs VUCAVU.com. During her time at VP Jen worked tirelessly in the planning and implementation of VUCAVU. VUCAVU currently has about 4500 titles available to curators, educators and the general public. Jen brought so much more to VP than can be described, and her enthusiasm and devotion to artists remains an inspiration to those she works with. She instilled a reputation for engaging in conversations and making sound decisions even during challenging times.
Having worked with Jen, and with all of us lucky enough to call her a friend, we know she will go on to do more incredible things and we want to wish her the best on her curatorial and administrative journeys.
After seven tireless years working in VP’s education department, and eventually becoming VP’s Technical Director, Andy Rudolph’s many (MANY!) talents have finally pulled him away from VP. Demand for his audio work has required more of his time than there is in a day and, although the decision was a difficult one, he has decided to pursue independent audio and technical support full time.
During Andy’s time at VP, he was instrumental in developing VP’s focus on electronic arts. He worked tirelessly and selflessly to support countless creative projects through a wide range of supports: audio production, post-production, equipment repair, computing, networking, coding, creative electronics, research… it’s a bit of an endless list, and anything he didn’t know, he would spend hours finding a solution for our members. Along with others, Andy spearheaded VP’s Open Lab, our electronics and rapid prototyping lab, and rewired, repaired and upgraded VP’s multi-channel audio suite multiple times. He was also famous for hand delivering equipment when an artist found themselves in a pinch.
Of course, we’re all going to miss Andy’s humour, his expertise in, well, pretty much everything, and his desire to make tech accessible to everyone. We will, of course, ensure Andy remains a part of the community and you can expect to see him around still, just in a more independent capacity… Anyone who knows Andy knows he’ll be a success… maybe now he’ll get some sleep!
Working with Andy has been fantastic and we’re trying to convince him to send us little tech tidbits and insider notes monthly… for the rest of his life.