Introduction and Format
This CV is written using HTML where headings and semantic tags are used to prioritize screen readers and magnification users to engage with the content without barriers. However, if a PDF or plain text version of this document is more accessible, please contact me at kay at k-d-o-t dot c-a.
This CV also uses italic styles to follow publishing conventions and recognized published content, but I acknowedge that italics create access barriers to many readers. I have created a toggle link option here so you can choose to turn them on and off as you need.
Highlights of current and upcoming projects
-
2025 Mentorship with veto Monteiro.
A half-year-long project focused on accessible practices and skill building. This mentorship includes hands-on training in exhibition preparation and installation, funding and grant writing, and implementing creative access models for inclusive art spaces. The mentorship supports Monteiro's development of sustainable artistic practices and the completion of their project A Strange Kind of Urn, while fostering broader advocacy for accessibility in the arts community.
-
Picky Eater (short), 2020/2024.
In a creative fusion of play and live-making, artist Kay Slater crafts a poignant narrative through an award-winning short film using game tiles and everyday objects without a predefined script. The film opens in a makeshift kitchenette, where childhood play merges with deeper themes of eating disorders and personal anxieties, articulated through the manipulation of Scrabble tiles in a frying pan. As the story unfolds, the tiles spell out a series of messages that oscillate between whimsy and weighty issues, mirroring the artist's struggles with synesthesia, hearing loss, and mental illness. The accompanying soundtrack, consisting of abrasive frying sounds and diner chatter, intensifies the experience, underscored by harsh colour filters representing the overwhelming sensory input at public eateries. This experimental piece challenges viewers to confront the cacophony of public spaces and the internal dialogues shaped by societal expectations and personal limitations.
-
Ladder, (short), 2021.
Performance and collaboration with Louise Chow.
Return to Top, Quick launch menu
In the experimental short film "Ladder," a cardboard ladder becomes the protagonist within a minimalist gallery diorama, animated by a pair of white hands to pivot, rotate, and explore the space with assisted yet sentient fluidity. The ladder's movements—spreading, lifting, falling, and shuddering—are meticulously choreographed to a dynamic soundtrack composed by Louise Chow, which combines robust ladder-percussion beats with the ethereal tones of an erhu, creating a rhythmic yet contemplative atmosphere. Sculptor and choreographer Kay Slater transforms the ordinary object into a narrative entity, reflecting on themes of ascension, instability, and the interplay between space and form. Created during a self-directed residency in 2021, "Ladder" is a poignant exploration of collaborative art-making, responding to a range of community-generated prompts and merging sculpture with motion to challenge and engage the viewer.
Multidisciplinary Artist and Presenter
Note: My art practice spans my career as an arts worker, commercial illustrator, graphic designer, and exhibiting artist and filmmaker. I do not see my work as an arts worker separate from my practice. As such, this experience category highlights my work as a workshop facilitator, public speaker, performer, writer, and more, as well as my exhibition history. It does not include the 100+ exhibitions I have worked on as a preparator or show designer over the past decade, nor commissioned logo or commercial illustration work.
-
(Zodiac-Crossroads), Tactile Illustration Project with Johnny Tai, 2024
Production assistant, exhibition designer, and access support. Supporting tactile artist Johnny Tai on exhibition development and material exploration for a Canada Council/BC Arts Council-funded project.
This work will be exhibited by the City of Richmond, in the Annex Gallery, in spring 2025. -
A Rest...in Development.
Kickstart Disability Arts & Culture, Vancouver 2025.
Exhibiting artist.
Event listing -
Accessible Community Forum: Event Accessibility.
The Disability Foundation/ConncTra Society, 2025.
Speaker.
ConnecTra Event Listing, April 7th. -
FLEET mobile studios residency.
other sights, Vancouver 2024/Burnaby 2025.
Residency artist and facilitator.
Edmonds Program - Visiting Artist 2025.
Granville Island Program - Visiting Artist 2024. Artists on Access
Video Media Arts, 2024.
Contributing author.
Book listing.-
Lungs of the Earth.
UBC/LOBE studios, Vancouver, 2024
Exhibition designer, access consultant, illustrator and preparator. Supporting curator and project/conceptual artist, Alyssa Martens
Lungs of the Earth Project Listing (UBC website). -
Exhibiting Accessibility.
BC Museums Association, Online/BC, 2024.
Speaker.
BCMA Webinar. -
Accessible Engagement (Co-Learning) Program.
grunt gallery, Vancouver, 2022-2027.
Residency creator, moderator, and facilitator.
Voice-off co-learning program. -
Creative Access Audio Tour.
Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver, 2023.
Author and creative access artist response to Carol Itter solo exhibition, Only when I'm hauling water do I wonder if I'm getting any stronger.
Audio program. Saturday Session, artist response.
Contemporary Art Gallery Vancouver, 2023.
Kay Slater and Laurie M. Landry on Christine Sun Kim, a performance and public talk in response to exhibition, Oh Me Oh My.
Event listing.Temporary Tactile.
City of Vancouver, Placemaking Program, 2023.
Workshop creator & facilitator co-presented with Keimi Nakashima-Ochoa and Johnny Tai .
Event and program website.Community Co-Learning Workshops: Building (more) Accessible Arts Presentations.
Emily Carr Univerity Writing Centre, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, 2023.
Presenter and Content Creator.
Event series.Low-Sensory and Voice-Off Hosting Program and Training Workshop.
Co-presented with grunt gallery, Vancouver, 2022-present.
Prototype designer and host of Low-Sensory hosting program at grunt gallery. Following a year's prototyping and research, a public workshop was offered to members of the local arts community.
grunt program listing.Taking Care Webinar.
Museum of Vancouver, Vancouver, 2022.
Panelist as part of a community-led discussion on cultural accessibility in the arts.
Event and recorded talk.Murals without Walls Workshop Series.
Kickstart Disability Arts, Vancouver, 2021-2022.
Workshop Creator & Facilitator. All evergreen workshop content was written and narrated by Kay and available online on youTube.
Event listing.Non-Auditory Access Community Workshop and Mentorship, Captions and Transcriptions.
Co-presented with grunt gallery, Vancouver, 2020-present.
Workshop Creator & Facilitator.
Link to evergreen workshop on vimeo
Program listing from 2022.ArtStarts Explores (live program) and Our Province at Play Digital Series.
Presented by ArtStarts in Schools, Vancouver 2017-2022.
Program creator, online content Producer and weekly host.
Program and catalogue history.The Papercut Arcade Collective.
Vancouver 2019 - Present.
Founder and Collective Member of the Papercut Arcade Collective Society, a collective of artists focused on interactivity and play.
Artist page within collective site.It's a Date, Salon
The Papercut Arcade, Vancouver, 2022.
Exhibiting artist.
Exhibition page within collective site.Haven’t Got a Clue, Salon
The Papercut Arcade, Vancouver, 2021.
Exhibiting artist.
Exhibition page within collective site.Posthuman Romantics, Salon
The Papercut Arcade, Vancouver, 2021.
Exhibiting artist.
Exhibition page within collective site.Jabblescam, Salon
The Papercut Arcade, Vancouver, 2021.
Exhibiting artist.
Exhibition page within collective site.Inedible Cakes, Salon
The Papercut Arcade, Vancouver 2020.
Curator, exhibiting artist.
Exhibition landing page within collective site.CYOW (Choose Your Own Way), Annual Salon
The Papercut Arcade, Vancouver, 2019, 2020, and 2021.
Curator, exhibiting artist.
Exhibition events page within collective site.rEvolution, Pride in Art Community Exhibition
Queer Arts Festival, Vancouver, 2019.
Artist.
Link to festival programme.Everyone Can Draw, Professional Development Series.
ArtStarts in Schools Professional Development Facilitator, Vancouver, 2019, 2021, and 2023.
Workshop Creator & Facilitator.
Professional development series.Intro to Letterpress - in ASL.
WePress, Vancouver, 2019.
Workshop facilitator.
Event listing.Eating Local in the Fraser Valley, Angie Quaale
Appetite by Random House, 2018.
Illustrator.
Book listing, Google Books.I chew chew chew you, a pizza art show.
Hot Art Wet City, Vancouver, 2016.
Aritst.
CBC Event listing with artists artwork included in article photo.The Elders Say We Don't Visit Anymore, Tea, Bannock and Conversation.
Gallery Gachet, Vancouver, 2016.
Community host through August on behalf of artist and gallery, contract exhibition liaise.
Event page (initial event lead by artist).
Interviews
-
Cag Timelines Project (Anniversary Project, 2023
Video interview of Kay Slater, with English captions.
-
BC Culture Days (Mentorship Program), 2023
Article interview of Kay Slater and Peisen Ding, English text.
-
Tilling: How grunt gallery Advocates for Disability Justice in the Arts (C-Magazine), 2022
Article, written by Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch. English text.
-
Fighting MAID, blackflash magazine, 2021
Interview between Kay Slater and Q Lawrence, English text.
Content warning - subjects include assisted dying, ableism, and the Canadian medical system -
Behind the Scenes: Kay Slater (Roundhouse Community Centre Interview))
Interview, English text.
Arts Worker - Administration & Preparation
-
Shumke Centre for Creative Entrepreneurship
Mentor with ECUAD Student Christina Kim, 2023
-
SFU Galleries
Access Consultant, Digital Needs Assessment Project, May 2023 - August 2023
-
grunt gallery and VIVO archives
Access Consultant, CollectiveAccess Project, May 2022 - August 2023
-
Open Access Mapping Foundation
Advisory Committee, August 2020 - August 2023
-
grunt gallery
Exhibitions Manager and Creator and Manager of the Accessible Exhibitions, Programs and Events project, Chair Accessibility Committee, Contract part-time, March 2019 - Present
-
ArtStarts in Schools
Preparator & Gallery Coordinator, February 2016 - August 2023
-
DTES Small Arts Grants
Preparator, 2018 - 2022
-
Richmond Art Gallery
Preparator, November 2016-2022
-
Roundhouse Community Centre
HTP (Head Technician Preparator), August 2018-February 2020
-
Queer ASL
Substitute and social coordinator, August 2017-Present
-
Gallery Gachet
Contract-Show Liaise and Preparator, August 2016-August 2020
-
Contemporary Art Gallery
Preparator + French Tour Guide, November 2011-August 2018
-
Freelance Consultant
Exhibition Design + Preparation Services, February 2014-Present
Relevant Education
- Fine Arts Certificate, 2010-2012. Emily Carr University of Design
- English and French Literature, Humanities Program - incomplete undergrad, 1999-2002. University of Victoria
Languages
- English, read/written/spoken/sung. Fluent.
- American Sign Language, conversant. More PSL (pigen than formal) than fluent.
- French, read/written/spoken/sung. Rusty.
- Silence. Fluent.
- Musical notation, piano: fluent; percussion: rusty.
- Illustration, visual design and graphic translation. Fluent.