Continuing a legacy of artistic innovation

Jim Felter and the late Iris Garland were trailblazers in SFU’s vibrant artistic history, inspiring generations of students, artists, and the public alike through their creativity, dedication, and vision.

During his 16-year stint at SFU, Jim taught visual communication, established the SFU Art Gallery, and managed the growth and use of the university's art collection as the founding curator and director on Burnaby campus. Iris, a charter faculty member, co-created western Canada’s first for-credit university dance program, choreographed numerous productions, taught and mentored countless students, and was a determined advocate for contemporary dance throughout the country.

Today, their legacy is strong and continues to make a remarkable difference on learning and the arts through their philanthropic commitment to SFU.

“You’re only here for a short time,” reflects Jim. “If you can have an impact on other people in a positive way, then you should go for it.” With no children and a shared love of the arts, Jim notes he and Iris were mindful of what they would leave for future generations.

During lengthy discussions about their legacy before Iris passed away in 2002, they decided together to support SFU’s dance program at the School for the Contemporary Arts (SCA). In her memory, Jim established a fund supporting guest choreographers and providing travel stipends for SCA dance faculty to attend dance conferences and present papers.

“Both of us had experience with visiting artists during our own university days and it really had an impact on our development,” Jim recalls. Having guest artists was “a breath of fresh air,” he says, and it inspired new ideas for students as well as other faculty members.

Jim left SFU in 1985 and has continued to pursue activities in the visual arts ever since. He also gives generously to SFU Archives and has chosen to leave a bequest gift in his will to the university, a part of which will also support SFU Galleries, helping to steward an art collection that has grown to include more than 5,600 works of art.

As curator during the collection’s inception, Jim purposefully aimed for diversity.

“I brought into public galleries a collective, broad-spectrum view of what art is because I wanted to expose students to everything I could think of,” he says, adding that he felt a “duty” to introduce students to the gallery experience. He also launched the permanent public installation of pieces across Burnaby campus and a loan program bringing art into department and faculty offices.

Calling his tenure at SFU “a dream job,” Jim points out that Iris sometimes faced resistance to her ideas and aims, largely because her academic background began in physical education, not dance.

“She was tough,” he says of his wife, whom he met on his first day at SFU in January 1969. “When she’d get down, I’d say ‘look, look at your life, look at our lives, you started a dance program, I started an art gallery, how many people have that kind of opportunity to start something? Very, very few.’”

As SFU prepares to open the Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum—a new home for SFU Galleries and the SFU Art Collection on Burnaby campus—Jim is excited for the future of the university and encourages others to consider how they too can make a difference.