The City of Windsor is known as the southernmost city in Canada, and a border city twined with Detroit Michigan. Windsor is an international gateway that supports over 400 million dollars of commercial goods crossing the border daily. Windsor’s relationship with Detroit is marked by an annual Windsor-Detroit Festival, with events on both sides of the river, including an annual fireworks display (which will coincide with the 2024 FEMeeting conference).
Downtown Windsor hosts INCUBATOR Art Lab and the School of Creative Arts within steps of the century-old Capitol Theatre (home to the Windsor Symphony Orchestra (WSO), Art Windsor Essex (AWE), Museum Windsor and the St. Clair Centre for the Arts. The region boasts outstanding cultural and historic attractions, including the John Freeman Walls Historic Site & Underground Railroad Museum, Via Italia, and Sandwitch First Baptist Church. Situated at the same latitude as northern California, Sofia, Bulgaria and Rome, Italy, the Windsor-Essex region is one of the most agriculturally productive regions in Canada. There is an abundant selection of local farm produce and specialty foods, microbreweries and close to 20 wineries in the region make award winning and internationally acclaimed red, white and ice wines. Windsor is known as the Automotive Capital of Canada, Windsor’s industrial and manufacturing sector is rooted in the automotive industry. Currently under construction is the LG / Stellantis electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing plant, the first large scale facility of its kind in Canada.
The University of Windsor (UWindsor) is a comprehensive, highly diverse university that offers a broad range of academic and professional programs that support the economic and cultural vibrancy of Windsor-Essex, Ontario. The University of Windsor and surrounding area sits on the traditional territories of the Three Fires Confederacy – the Ojibway (Chippewa), Odawa, and Potawawtami Nations, as well as Huron/Wyandottes. Centred within the Great Lakes and across the border from Detroit, Michigan, the region has enormous economic importance in areas such as manufacturing, agriculture, the arts, immigration, tourism, health care, and international trade and security. At this nexus, UWindsor is dedicated to interrogating issues of geographic significance: safeguarding the Great Lakes, managing international borders, building healthy, safe and viable communities, and contributing knowledge and innovation to what is still the manufacturing heartland of North America. UWindsor enables more than 16,000 undergraduate and graduate students to achieve their personal and professional goals.
The School of Creative Arts (SoCA) was formed in 2011, amalgamating the School of Music, the School of Visual Arts, Visual Arts in the Built Environment (VABE), and Film Production within the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (FAHSS). SoCA offers undergraduate degrees in Music, Visual Arts, VABE, Film Production; several combined degrees; 2 graduate programs, Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Arts, and an MFA in Film and Media Arts. SoCA is a fertile environment for interdisciplinary collaboration and research/creation. In 2018 UWindsor opened a new downtown arts complex with 2 buildings dedicated to delivery of SoCA’s education, creation and research activities. The first of these buildings is Alan Wildeman Center for Creative Arts is a 20,000-square-foot building featuring a multi disciplinary maker studio, electronics lab, a black box studio, and filmmaking facilities. Its neighbour, the Armouries Building is a historically significant 66,000-square-foot hub for creativity in music and visual arts which includes a performance hall, public gallery, and digital print lab.
The Armouries is located at 37 University Ave. E. between Freedom Way and Ouellette Ave. The Armouries houses the School of Creative Arts and the Visual Arts and the Built Environment (VABE) program.
Main Entrance:
The main entrance facing University Ave. E. is accessible to wheelchairs, equipped with a
ramp and actuators on the front doors. This is a secured building and will require card access
and only be open to FEMeeting participants during conference and event hours
NOTE: Main entrance for day one Welcome session +exhibition opening +meeting points.
Alternative Entrance:
The entrance on the east side of the building facing Freedom Way is also accessible to wheelchairs with ground-level access and actuators. This is a secured building and will requirecard access and only be open to FEMeeting participants during conference and event hours.
NOTE: This entrance to be used for Session A presentations.
The Alan Wildeman Centre for Creative Arts (AWCCA) is located at 360 Freedom Way, directly to the east of the Armouries. AWCCA and the Armouries house the School of Creative Arts (SOCA). This is a secured building and will require card access and only open to FEMeeting participants during presentation and event hours.
Main Entrance: The main entrance is located on the west side of the building, facing Freedom Way. These doors are accessible to wheelchairs, equipped with actuators and at ground level.
NOTE: This building entrance is to be used for Sessions B presentation & MultiMedia Screening Event
FEMeeting 