Kay Slater, Artist CV

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 professional and ongoing projects

• Untitled project, 2024 with tactile artist Johnny Tai.

  
  

  In 2024/2025, Kay will be working with tactile artist and musician Johnny Tai to explore materials and exhibition production as it relates to his tactile practice as a Blind illustrator. The project is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts as well as the BC Arts Council and will involve chemical experiments to anodize aluminum and to explore how the tactile art practice can incorporate aesthetics to appeal to a visual audience - a challenge and barrier that the artist is constantly confronted with within a occular-centric, visual arts conversation. The project is supported by artist Keimi Nakashima-Ochoa, an on-going collaborator to Kay and Johnny in other projects. Update: This project will be featured at the city of Richmond's Annex Gallery in spring 2025. Kay will assist in developing the show design and installation.

• 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 a 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.

  Film and festival listing on filmfreeway website.

• Ladder, (short), 2021.

  Performance and collaboration with Louise Chow.
  
  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.
  

  • Film with audio description (instagram)
  • Film with ASL/audio translation (instagram)
  • Artist response

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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.

• FLEET mobile studios residency.

  other sights, Vancouver 2024/Burnaby 2025.
  Speaker.
  Edmonds Program - Visiting Artist 2025.
  Granville Island Program - Visiting Artist 2024.

• Lungs of the Earthy.

  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.

• 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.