Helen Goodwin

Helen Goodwin (July 14, 1927 – December 18, 1985) was an English-born,

Goodwin was born on July 14, 1927, in England, where she was trained in Laban movement analysis.^[1][2] She moved to Vancouver in 1955.^[3] That year, she became a faculty member at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in the Physical Education Department, and taught stage movement with the Theatre Department.^[1] She taught at The University of British Columbia for almost 20 years.^[4]

In 1970, Goodwin moved to New York City where she was asked to chair the Dance Department of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.^[5][4]

Projects

Goodwin was involved in the organization of the Festival of Contemporary Arts at UBC, in February 1965.^[6] The festival was nicknamed The Medium is the Message (after Marshall McLuhan's work).^[6]

In 1965, Goodwin along with Al Neil and Sam Perry founded the Sound Gallery and Goodwin founded her dance troupe, TheCo.^[5][1] Perry committed suicide at the end of 1966 and Sound Gallery dissolved.^[7]

In 1967, Intermedia was incorporated as a non-profit society under the BC Societies Act, which was the first artist-run centre in Canada to receive funding from the Canada Council for the Arts. Goodwin was a founder and member of the Board of Directors.^[1][8]

Goodwin was known for collaborating with other artists to create “environments” with which her dance troupe, TheCo, would interact.^[9][10] In 1968, the Vancouver Art Gallery hosted Intermedia Nights, where TheCo (including Evelyn Roth) performed Plus Minus 216 and A Space.^{[11][12][9][10]}

The Intermedia Spring Show - Dome Show was exhibited between May 19-31, 1970, and included Goodwin's work, City Feast, which involved participants from around the city to engage in communal dining, conceptualized as "an experiment in large-group choreography".^[13][14]

In 1971, Goodwin created and directed Environmental Opera, a performance by TheCo and other artists at Spanish Banks on June 21.^[15]

Death and legacy

On December 18, 1985, Goodwin drowned herself near Spanish Banks in Vancouver.^[2][4] On December 21, 1987, at 3:45pm, Winter Solstice was performed in her memory at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC.^[16] She was described in The Province as "one of the prime forces in new and experimental art in Vancouver in the 1960s and 1970s."^[17]

In 2018, Goodwin was a subject for the exhibition, Beginning with the Seventies: Radial Change, curated by Lorna Brown at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at UBC. The exhibition featured a work by artist Evann Siebens, titled Plus TheCo, Minus Helen Goodwin.^[18][19]

Notable works

• Plus Minus 216 (1968) at the Vancouver Art Gallery^[11]
• Pas de Deux (1968)^[20]
• A Space (1968) at the Douglas Gallery and Vancouver Art Gallery^[12][9][10]
• City Feast (1970)^[13]
• Environmental Opera (1971) at Spanish Banks^[15]

References