University Canada West presented Honorary Doctorates to Terry Hunter and Savannah Walling at its Spring 2024 Convocation on May 28.

Dr. Hunter and Dr. Walling have dedicated their lives to breaking down the traditional silos of music, dance and theatre, using them as a vehicle to raise awareness about pressing issues in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, such as homelessness, poverty and justice for Indigenous and other marginalized people.

Dr. Hunter has been active in the performing arts for over four decades as a theatre and festival producer, director, performer, teacher and creator.

During his convocation address, Dr. Hunter recalled his days as a student at Simon Fraser University when he was on his way to get a part-time job, he passed a theatre that was holding auditions. He auditioned and got a part, but during the second rehearsal he asked a fellow actor “So when do we get paid?” The actor laughed and said this wasn’t a job. “This is volunteer, man,” the actor said.

Dr. Hunter was surprised but replied that he was enjoying himself and wanted to stick with it.

“At that moment, I had unknowingly changed the trajectory of my life. Instead of finishing my degree, I began a life’s journey in the arts and I met the love of my life, Savannah Walling, and we’ve had an amazing and meaningful life, creating art, touring all around the world and working in community,” he said.

Dr. Walling trained in dance, mime and music, and collaborates with artists of many genres, traditions and ancestries to create productions that interweave localized content, accessible storytelling, spectacle, live music and living cultural practice.

Residents of Downtown Eastside since 1975, they co-founded Terminal City Dance that same year and Vancouver Moving Theatre in 1983. They also co-founded the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival, which started in 2004 to promote, present and facilitate the development of artists, art forms, cultural traditions, history, activism and stories about Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

“We uncovered a rich vein of artists and great stories in this community of the Downtown Eastside… The more we learned and participated, the more involved, interconnected and committed we became. And these experiences led to co-producing a big community play and a long-running festival for, with and about this Downtown Eastside,” Dr. Walling said.

As Executive Director of Vancouver Moving Theatre, Dr. Hunter has toured to more than 40 national and international festivals throughout the world. As Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Vancouver Moving Theatre, Dr. Walling has written, directed or co-directed more than 40 productions since 1983, including Samarambi: Pounding of the Heart, The Good Person of Setzuan and Tales from the Ramayana.

They have been the recipients of nine individual Canada Council Awards, and co-recipients of several awards including the Jessie Richardson Award for Significant Artistic Achievement in Spectacle Design (1998), BC Community Achievement Award (2008), Vancouver Mayor’s Award – Community Arts (2009) and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2013).

“We learned from our mistakes and there were many,” Dr. Hunter said. “We learned how to build alliances, raise money, promote the work, plan productions and stay on budget. To survive as artists and thrive as artists, we needed to learn how to be entrepreneurial.”

In 2021, in recognition of their ongoing engagement with Indigenous artists and communities, they were adopted into the St’langng Laanaas clan of the Haida Nation. Savannah was honoured with the name hl Gat’saa (Supporter of All Things), while Terry was named Nang Gulgaa (Industrious One).

In 2023, they were inducted into the Order of Canada for their visionary, community-engaged arts practise with, for and about Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, most notably for their work with Vancouver Moving Theatre.

They were presented with the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.

“We are thrilled to bestow Honorary Doctorates on Terry Hunter and Savannah Walling, recognizing their dedication to using the arts to advocate for Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside community,” said UCW President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Bashir Makhoul.

“Throughout their lives and careers, they have helped to lift up the city’s most disadvantaged neighbourhood and its residents.”