Jang at the heart of SFU’s contemporary arts program
Accomplished arts executive boosts career prospects of budding artists
Howard Jang is passionate about the arts and he wants to help Simon Fraser University develop an even stronger program — not only for students but for the whole community.
Last August, Jang left his 14-year tenure as the Arts Club Theatre’s executive director, where he built up the largest subscription base of any theatre in the country, to take on his new position at SFU.
“In my career I’ve been able to really understand how the arts help enhance life, how it builds bridges, creates empathy, understanding, appreciation and joy — values that create a healthy community,” he said, adding that’s what he wants to do at SFU.
“It’s been a blast,” Jang said of the first nine months in his new role as a professor at SFU’s School for Contemporary Arts and as the director of the university’s Woodward’s Cultural Unit.
In a way the position is a culmination of his storied 30-year career in the arts.
Jang, who plays the double bass, graduated with a music degree from the University of British Columbia before going on to study at the National Orchestral Institute in the U.S. and become a member of the National Orchestra of New York. That’s when he was asked to help the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble organize a summer festival and the course of his career changed.
“I was a decent enough musician, but I could tell I’d never be as good as Jack Kulowitch,” he said. “After hearing him play I knew that I was never going to reach his amazing and inspirational level of artistry and musicianship.”
Jang turned his hand from the bow to making sure the musicians had the best opportunity to perform. And that was the beginning of his arts management career.
Jang went on to have senior management roles at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Ballet BC, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. He’s been involved with a number of creative organizations over the years and is on the board of the Canada Council for Arts and the Telus Vancouver Community Board.
“I make sure I do whatever I can to make sure the arts happen,” he said.
And that’s exactly what he’s doing at SFU.
On the academic front he’s helped start a pilot program in creative entrepreneurship. Geared toward third- and fourthyear students, the idea is to help prepare them to build careers around what they love doing.
“I’m not trying to turn artists into managers, I’m trying to make them better artists,” he said. “Right now it’s a tool-box builder. It’s how to take what they do and continue advancing their creative vision and keep fuelling their passion.”
Martin Gotfrit, associate dean of undergraduate studies in the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology, has also been working on the program.
“Creative expression is a crucial part of who we are,” Gotfrit said. “It’s really important and the university has a really critical role to play in that.”
And Jang’s just the person to help with the mandate.
“He really understands the world of arts in Canada and the creative process and how to make things happen,” Gotfrit said.
Jang is also helping to shape the university’s cultural unit at the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, which is housed in the old Woodward’s department-store building in Vancouver’s Gastown.
Jang’s mother, Eva-Rita Jang, used to work there when it was a shopping destination. Now Jang’s helping to make it a cultural hub. The centre has a 350seat theatre, the Audain Gallery, studios, event spaces, and also operates the Vancity Office of Community Engagement, which offers cultural partnerships and initiatives.
The centre has grown from offering 36 programs a year when it opened in 2010 to more than 250 a year. It’s a golden opportunity to bring together students, the community and creative professionals to create a multi-disciplinary hub, Jang said.
Local productions have featured work with the nearby St. James Church and the Aboriginal arts community through events such as the Talking Stick Festival. Productions, such as the PuSH International Performing Arts Festival, and the Vancouver International Film Festival are some of the offerings at the centre.
As part of SFU’s upcoming 50th-anniversary celebrations there will be a new play from Quebec-based Robert Lepage, the internationally renowned stage director, playwright, actor and filmmaker. Lepage will also do some teaching and workshops with students.
As well, the centre will host an exhibition featuring Hong Kong artist Jeffrey Shaw that is aimed at spurring discussion around visual arts and 3-D technology.
“SFU and the cultural unit is an immense opportunity to be a kind of hub for innovation in the arts, and for how the arts can build connections in the community,” Jang said.
“It’s the chance to be an incubator, a testing ground, a place in which artists can really adapt and learn and experiment, without risk, to push their vision forward — a place of research and development.