Title: Gallery Attendant
Pronouns: she/her

Name Pronunciation: Head-dy

Biography

Hedy Wood, Gallery Attendant, has been working with/in artist run galleries since the 1980s; first at the Unit/Pitt Gallery and also at grunt. She’s been the Saturday gallery attendant here at grunt for the last 12 years or so.

Contact Information

Best way to contact Hedy :Call the gallery 604-875-9516

Visual Description

I am 5’6”, usually wearing jeans and boots. I have glasses and shoulder length light brown hair. I often wear a scarf or a sweater that I crocheted, and that usually has some cat hair on it.

Title: Archives Manager
Pronouns: he/him
Email: Email dan@grunt.ca
Ask him about: grunt history, community archives, research, images/video/documents in the archive, technology, where things are, how things were, skateboarding, cats, bikes, gardening

Name Pronunciation: Dan (rhymes with can, pan, ban, man), Pon (rhymes with dawn, lawn, gone)

Biography

Dan Pon 盤大明, Archives Manager, is a librarian and archivist of mixed Cantonese and European settler ancestry, living on unceded Coast Salish territories. He is the Archives Manager at grunt gallery, where he works to preserve and share material and non-material culture, support research and creative interventions, and platform imaginative models at the intersection of visual arts and information science. His recent work includes facilitating the collaborative public programming series Recollective, creating a digital collection documenting the early years of LIVE Biennial of Performance Art, and managing the migration of grunt’s collection into a new database platform. His work has been published here and there, but he is most interested in supporting artists and art workers labour toward a more equitable and caring arts sector. Dan holds an MLIS from UBC and also works as a librarian at Langara College.

Contact Information

Email: dan@grunt.ca
Best way to contact Dan: Call 604-875-9516, or visit the gallery Tuesday-Friday 10am-5pm

Visual Description

Dan is a 5’11” or 180cm tall middle-aged mixed-race Asian man with short dark hair, brown eyes, and thick eyebrows. He typically wears jeans or slacks, a plain hoodie, a baseball cap or toque, and black sneakers. 

Image Description: Dan stands against a white gallery wall, smiling at the camera. He wears a grey hooded sweatshirt and a bright yellow 2″ button with the Palestine flag.

Title: Administrative Assistant
Pronouns: he/him/his
Email: leslie@grunt.ca

Name Pronunciation: First name: LES-lee, Middle name: Ken (rhymes with den, pen), Last name: Chu (like to “chew” food).

Biography

Leslie Ken Chu, Administrative Assistant, is a writer and arts organizer of Chinese descent living, working, and playing on the unceded territories of the Skwxwú7mesh, Xwməθkwəyə̓m, and Səlilwətaɬ Nations. He has worked in live event marketing and publicity at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival and Rickshaw Theatre. He currently serves as a juror for the Polaris Music Prize and Prism Prize. He also co-curates an annual sound art residency program through the Media Arts Committee and is an active co-founding member of Canadian music journalism co-op New Feeling.

Contact Information

Email: leslie@grunt.ca

Visual Description

I am a 5’9” Chinese man in his mid-30s, usually wearing mostly black, including graphic t-shirts of bands and Vancouver-based visual artists. I have black-rimmed glasses, short black hair, and usually no facial hair. I often wear a black, worn-down leather jacket.

Title: Program Director
Pronouns: they/them/theirs
Email: katrina@grunt.ca
Ask them about: any general information about grunt, our programming, including exhibitions, the Mount Pleasant Community Art Screen, and the Blue Cabin Floating Artist Residency, calls for submissions, special projects, and partnership opportunities.

Name Pronunciation: First name: kah-TREE-nah. Last name: or-LOV-ski

Biography

Katrina Orlowski, Program Director, is a cultural worker, curator and artist who has spent over a decade in the artist-run communities of Vancouver and Toronto. They are a white, queer, disabled settler of Eastern European and Irish descent who has lived most of their life on the lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Their background includes a decade in academia and a couple of decades working and dreaming in DIY community arts spaces, with particular focus on film, video and media arts. They are excited by collaborative processes, intersectional knowledge exchange, and experiments with language and storytelling. As Program Director, Katrina oversees all aspects of grunt’s programming and planning.

Contact Information

Email: katrina@grunt.ca
Best way to contact Katrina: Please email or call grunt gallery at 604-875-9516 to leave a message for them. They work both from home and at the grunt office.

Visual Description

Katrina is 5’9”, white, with very short auburn hair, large glasses, a silver nose ring, and many black ink tattoos mainly on their arms and one on their left hand. They dress in a casual style that suits their comfort and fun, almost always have bright coloured nail polish, and generally wear highly cushioned and supportive sneakers.

Image Description: A close-up photo of Katrina with a slight smile on their face and one hand casually curled in front of their chest. They have big, dark green plastic-framed glasses, a nose ring, a silver chain necklace and orange-painted nails. Behind them is a big sunny window with plants hanging.

Title: Operations Director
Pronouns: she/her
Email: meagan@grunt.ca
Ask Meagan about: grunt operations, administration, human resources, board of directors, budgets, contracts, strategic planning and facilities

Name Pronunciation: Mee-ghan Koos, First name: Meee-gan (heavy on the E). Last name: K (like the English letter K), rhymes with goose.

Biography

Meagan Kus, Operations Director, is well-versed in the world of non-profits and has been working in the arts sector since 1997. With a focus on arts administration, she has worked as grunt’s Operations Director since 2009 and formerly worked at the Museum of Anthropology, Delta Museum & Archives and as the Executive Director of the White Rock Museum & Archives. Meagan is also a consultant in the area of arts administration to other non-profit organizations. Meagan is passionate about visual arts and is fortunate to be part of such a progressive organization that is creating and supporting work worthy of conversation.

Contact Information

Email: meagan@grunt.ca
The best way to contact Meagan is by email. You can also call or text me at 604. 732. 0543. I mostly work from home, but come into the grunt office on Friday afternoons when we have an exhibition on or for meetings/gatherings from time to time.

Visual Description

I am a white, female-identifying person in my early fifties. I have long, straight blonde hair, usually parted in the middle or pulled back into a ponytail. I am 5’2” and dress very casually in jeans and sweatshirts. I am often spotted with a to-go mug of tea in hand.

• Artist Statement, Transcript
• Artist biography, Transcript
• Tactile Object List, Transcript
• Creative Access Tour, Transcript
• Curatorial Essay, by Whess Harman, Text
• Exhibition Response, by guest author Asia Jong, text

By Kay Slater

It took me a year to process my thoughts fully on the non-verbal engagement last year. As we move into the program’s second year, I wanted to share how meaningful it had been, how important it is to the programming we do and continue to do at grunt gallery, and my excitement to begin again next month (February 2025).

In February 2024, I fully committed to a month-long non-verbal engagement within a professional arts space. It was an experience of permission, challenge, and deep reflection. Alongside hosting the first-ever non-verbal artist-in-residence at grunt gallery, I took a personal “vow” or commitment to silence—turning off my voice in all professional and private settings for the duration of the project. This was not just an experiment in access but a lived practice, one that illuminated the ways in which speech is assumed, expected, and often demanded.

Building the Space for Silence

The non-verbal engagement at grunt was designed as part of the Accessible Exhibitions and Public Engagement (AEPE) initiative. This programming prioritized non-verbal communication as a valid, rich, and supported artistic and professional mode. For four weeks, I navigated my preparatory, administrative, and interpersonal work entirely through text, ASL, gestures, and other visual or written communication methods. This was not about absence nor about deprivation—rather, it was about making space for something different.

The experience was shared with artist-in-residence Kelsie Grazier, a Deaf artist whose own relationship to speech and silence carried its own complexities. Late-deafened and not confidently fluent in ASL, Kelsey and I had numerous conversations about feeling like outsiders—even within communities that are themselves marginalized. We both understood, in different ways, the layered dynamics of permission: who gets to speak, who is understood, and who is given the space to be silent without consequence.

Permission and Power

What struck me most during this month was how much of my anxiety leading up to it was tied to external permission. I had the full support of my colleagues at grunt, who were already familiar with my radical access projects, but I still wondered—would they adapt? Would they resent the additional effort required to shift communication styles? Would I?

These worries faded quickly. I found a sense of relief in silence, in the ability to process without the pressure to perform speech. I found that my thoughts became more intentional, my interactions more deliberate. I was not filling space for the sake of it, nor was I scrambling to ensure I could hear and respond in ways that met the expectations of an oral-centric environment. The radical act was not in the silence itself but in the refusal to make it smaller, to accommodate for the comfort of others.

What also became apparent was that while silence was freeing for me, it was uncomfortable for others. Visitors, colleagues, and artists accustomed to spoken exchanges had to adjust. Some did so fluidly, others struggled. It revealed how embedded verbal speech is as the primary mode of engagement—even in an artist-run centre known for its commitment to access and experimentation.

Low-Sensory and Voice-Off Hosting as a Precursor

This project was not a sudden shift in grunt’s practices but rather an evolution of work that had already been happening. For two years leading up to this engagement, grunt and I have hosted low-sensory and voice-off Thursdays, a dedicated day where visitors are invited to engage with exhibitions in a quiet, scent-free, and low-stimulation environment. It is a space where people can experience art without the expectation of verbal or even interpersonal interaction. The gallery staff were already accustomed to supporting silence as an access practice, making the transition into this more structured non-verbal engagement a natural extension rather than an entirely new challenge.

During voice-off Thursdays, visitors are encouraged to communicate via text, gestures, or ASL if they are able. Masks are required, and gallery staff—including myself—would not initiate spoken conversations. This experience has solidified my understanding that silence is not inherently exclusionary; rather, it can be an intentional space of care and consideration. It also highlighted the tension between silence as an access need and silence as something viewed with suspicion or discomfort by dominant cultural norms.

Expanding the Conversation

One of the most striking moments of the engagement was the non-verbal roundtable. It brought together artists with varied relationships to speech, signing, and text-based communication. We had Deaf artists whose primary language was Persian Sign Language, a hard-of-hearing artist who had no signing ability, and multiple layers of interpretation and transcription bridging the conversations. And yet, the same power dynamics that exist in dominant culture played out in microcosm—those with the fastest communication methods (fluent signers) dominated, while those relying on slower methods (text-based) were often sidelined. It was a lesson in how power shifts but does not disappear in new environments. Access is not a checklist—it is an ongoing negotiation.

Personal Reflections: Silence, Safety, and Cultural Assumptions

As a hard-of-hearing individual who has primarily relied on spoken language, I have spent the past decade exploring silence as a means of navigating hearing society with more safety and self-respect. Learning ASL as an adult has given me another tool for communication, but silence itself has become an equally valuable resource. The choice to be non-verbal during this residency was not difficult—it was an act of respect. If the artists I was hosting were not speaking, why would I? It was not about making a point, but about aligning my communication choices with the space we were creating together.

This mirrors practices within Deaf culture, where choosing not to speak in signing spaces is an act of respect, not deprivation. In contrast, hearing-dominant cultures often interpret silence as secrecy, defiance, or even rudeness. The assumption that communication must be verbal to be valid is deeply ingrained. By embodying non-verbal engagement, I was not just supporting the artists—I was challenging these assumptions in real time.

What I Took Away

The biggest revelation of this month was not just about silence but about the right to exist non-verbally without justification. I had spent years finding ways to explain, excuse, or make space for my own hard-of-hearing identity and my increasing desire to opt out of speech. In February 2024, I simply existed in it. And in that existence, I learned that radical silence is not passive. It is an active, intentional presence.

I left that month with a clearer vision for what has become the Radical Silence Project within my own artistic practice. It’s an exploration not just of access but of agency, of the power in choosing when and how to communicate. It was a turning point, both for me and for the project, setting the foundation for what was to come next.

I am delighted that the non-verbal engagement project has found additional funding and I look forward to continuing to practice radical silence within grunt and alongside other excellent non-verbal artists in years to come.

Expectations:

Question: Do I need to submit complete artwork for this Call, how many pieces am I expected to submit? How much participation is expected of me in the 6-week program (in-person or online)?

Answer: You can submit up to 10 pieces – they do not need to be complete. You could share (a maximum of) 10 images, OR a 5-minute video/audio, or up to 7 pages of written content with easy to read font size of 14 pt or bigger. We do ask that you consider our team and if you are sharing any work that has triggering content that you label it for our jury/selection team!

We expect the accepted artists to attend at least:

• 1 staff meeting
• 1 Accessibility Committee meeting 
• 6 weekly sessions with Kay and Shanna, 1-hour each
• 2-hour participation in a closed Roundtable online
• Participation in a video, interview, and/or other format production for grunt archives

Most of these sessions are virtual; however, we are flexible to host the 6 weekly sessions in-person. The way the video, interview, or product is made will determine where and how it will be filmed or created.

Question: I cannot meet all the deliverables. Is it mandatory for me to attend all sessions/meetings/roundtables?

Answer: No, you don’t have to attend all the sessions at grunt. We’re flexible about how you participate. However, we encourage accepted applicants to join our meetings to learn more about how grunt operates and to share feedback that helps us improve our support for non-verbal engagement. We also want to help artists grow and develop professionally by connecting them with our team. We will work around your schedule. Our greatest priority is that we pay you, and that we find a way to save something about your experience so that there are more examples of non-verbal artists and arts workers in our archives.

Question: What critical deadlines are there?

Answer: In 2026 the critical deadlines are as follows:

• The deadline for AEP application is this Friday January 9th, 2026 end of day before 12am.
• The program begins on Tuesday, February 3th and ends on Friday, March 13th, 2025 for a duration of 6 weeks.
• The deadline for video/interview/etc. Production for grunt archives is Friday, March 6th, 2025.

2027 deadlines will be the same general times.

Question: If it is not mandatory to create and submit complete works, how am I evaluated at the end of the program?

Answer: You won’t be formally evaluated, but being active in this engagement can help you prepare for your next opportunity and the more you ask questions or critically engage with the program, the better prepared you will be for future engagements. grunt gallery is seeking to support non-verbal artists and while we hope that artists will want to exchange knowledge, there is no minimum requirement for the selected artists beyond leaving something behind for the grunt archives to acknowledge the engagement (ex: video interview).

Question: Not including the works I have produced, how much work am I expected to produce during this residency?

Answer: The process is up to you as the artist. The directive is focused more on the learning engagement versus a completed piece or series of work. This is an opportunity to potentially make a simple work to be entered in grunt’s permanent archives, but this can be a video interview, or something you donate to the archives from your collections if you like. The fee is to be spent however you like so if you do not produce work during the residency and use the fee in another way, that is valid.

Question: Can I use this opportunity to develop a theme and/or idea that I am already working on?

Answer: Absolutely. This is an opportunity to develop new or old projects during the 6 weeks of the program. In fact, you can simply use the funds however you choose and spend the time chatting and learning from and with grunt – this is also part of a larger theme at grunt – co-learning.

Question: What is the end result expected of me at the end of the residency?

Answer: We ask you to showcase your work process in either film or other formats for grunt’s archives. We do not expect a completed piece at the end of the Accessible Engagement Project, nor are you expected to produce anything on your own.

Question: Am I expected to collaborate with other artists in this program?

Answer: During the closed Roundtable session, we expect our non-verbal and tactile artists to collaborate in discussion with our invited artists in the Roundtable. We will also host a weekly cohort meeting/check-in, but if the schedules don’t work for both artists in a year, we will host separate meetings.

You will be invited to join in grunt’s staff meeting and accessibility committee meeting, but you can simply observe or give feedback in the following week’s check-in. There is no pressure to produce or participate.

We don’t expect any production collaboration, and any project work you do will be self-directed and independent study for your learning engagement. We will hire a videographer for the archive video and work with you on what to film unless you want to do this yourself or you want to engage with the second artist in your cohort.

Question: What key points are you looking for in the proposal?

Answer: We are looking for opportunities and growth: 

• to break down systemic barriers in oral-centric spaces
• to prioritize non-verbal communications in visual and non-visual practices
• to explore innovative practices
• to experiment with art mediums and bring those ideas into the wider conversation
• to challenge colonial ways of thinking and being

*Guiding question: How can I practice non-verbal communication within my art practice?

How long is the Selections Process:

Question: How long is the jury process?

Answer: The jury process will take 2 weeks after submissions close.

Question: How many spots are available? How many are you accepting?

Answer: There are 2 open spots available for local, non-verbal guest artists.

Question: When will I find out the results of the selections?

Answer: Kay and Shanna will reach out to you through aep@grunt.ca or access@grunt.ca with the results of your application by the end of day on Friday January 23.

Question: What are your criteria for evaluation?

Answer: We are specifically looking for artists who are interested in knowledge sharing with the gallery towards creating spaces for other non-verbal artists. We want to see artists who are proud of their work and practice, and are looking to find spaces that will respect and support their practice.

Rather than a minimum education or experience level, we are excited to welcome outsider (or untrained) artists, as well as self-trained artists. However, we are seeking artists that have been engaged in their practice seriously for at least one year and can challenge the art world with self-confidence. Artists do not need to be established (be recognized or have a lot of experience) but we are looking for artists who are excited to share, talk, or break down barriers!

There is no formal rubric or scoring that is planned for intake unless grunt gallery receives an overwhelming response. If so, we will use the grunt gallery curatorial scoring system that reviews artists based on their artistic merit, feasibility (how possible it is for grunt to support the work or care for the artist), and impact (how will this program affect the artist’s path at this point in their career). For more information, visit grunt gallery’s submissions page.

Question: I am not d/Deaf/HoH, but I am interested in applying. Am I suitable for the program?

Answer: This opportunity is for artists who identify with having a non-verbal artistic practice. This includes Neurodiverse, Autistic, Disabled, and medically non-verbal artists. Priority will be given to artists of diverse d/Deaf/Hard of Hearing and disabled communities and/or BIPOC artists. Non-verbal Queer artists who may be temporarily non-verbal during their transition are also encouraged to apply.

This engagement centres artists who navigate arts spaces without relying primarily on spoken communication, whether by choice, necessity, or circumstance. We’re seeking artists who can teach us about the creative and professional possibilities that emerge when verbal communication isn’t the default.

This includes artists who:

• Use signed languages as their primary communication mode
• Experience medical, cognitive, or neurological barriers to speech
• Are navigating voice changes through transition or other life circumstances
• Have audio processing differences that make verbal communication challenging
• Engage in artistic practices that intentionally explore silence, gesture, or alternative communication forms
• Find that verbal-centric professional environments limit their ability to fully participate or represent their work

This is not about:

• Preferring quiet while creating art
• Making art that doesn’t produce sound
• Working in visual mediums rather than performance or music

We’re looking for artists who can articulate:

• How working non-verbally would provide them with agency they haven’t previously experienced in professional arts contexts
• What knowledge about non-verbal engagement, or their own lived experience, they bring that could expand grunt gallery’s understanding
• How their practice challenges or reimagines communication within contemporary art discourse

The program prioritizes slowness and multiple communication modes, creating space for artists whose professional participation has been limited by assumptions about how artistic discourse should happen.

This engagement program focuses on non-verbal participation and communication – not non-auditory or hearing loss or deafness. However, a participant may be Deaf, deaf, or hard of hearing and have a non-verbal art process and practice.

All artists must live within the colonial borders of the Lower Mainland/Metro Vancouver area, including adjacent Coast Salish territory and lands.

If any of this resonates with you – apply!

Question: Does my work have to be focused on my disability identity?

Answer: We do not require you to disclose your disability identity. Your artistic practice also does not need to reflect it. However, this opportunity is focused on non-verbal engagement within your artistic practice, so we encourage your application to reflect the non-verbal forms of engagement and challenge the verbal-centric/oral-prioritized approach.

Question: Is this an in-person program or remote opportunity?

Answer: It is a hybrid opportunity. grunt gallery does not have a maker space and is a public gallery, but artists are welcome to use the space to host meetings, or to work during their 6-week engagement. Weekly meetings will be hosted online, and staff meetings are also hosted online. Please note that all meetings are conducted with a digital transcript tool recording voice to produce transcripts. In the case of digital meetings without voice, the chat transcript is saved.

If safe and accessible, artists are asked to visit the gallery at least once.

Question: Can folks outside of Metro Vancouver/Lower Mainland apply to this program?

Answer: No. Because of our grant funding, we are limited to the local area near grunt. However, we are working to try and find funds to expand this outside of the province. That you want to work with us is important – and if you know of a local gallery or service that could replicate this program in your local area, tell them to contact us! Also, we hope to add programs to this base engagement that will allow us to pay people out of province to join in other programs in future years. Please write us an email at aep@grunt.ca so we know you’re interested!

Fees, Compensation, and Accomodation

Question: What access accommodations will be provided through grunt?

Answer: Relaxed participation and voice-off/silence throughout the engagement.

Option to sign, chat, text, write, or otherwise non-verbally communicate with staff and program facilitators.

Auto transcripts are a minimum at all grunt meetings (using a voice-recording AI tool, Otter.ai). There is a budget for CART or ASL Interpretation at meetings with verbal/hearing staff, and the project facilitators are open to discussing other service solutions with the selected artists.

Question: I require additional services. Can grunt support?

Answer: Describers, CART, ASL interpreters, Interveners, or Support Care will be provided for any in-person or online meetings where there is speaking or visuals. Support will be discussed with the accepted participants but there is a budget to support access.

Travel to and from the gallery for a singular visit can be covered by the gallery.

Meetings or program subscriptions will be covered by grunt (Ex: Otter.ai, speechify, google meet, Zoom).

Question: Is my supplies budget included in the $2,000 artist fees?

Answer: Yes. Supplies and materials come out of the $2,000 artist fees at the artist’s discretion. This can include renting tools, buying tools, and purchasing materials. It is worth noting that this fee counts as income when you are doing your taxes—please be advised!

Question: Can my $2,000 artist fees be used towards caregiver support etc.?

Answer: Yes, your artist fees can be used at your discretion (meaning, there are no restrictions on how you use your funds). It is worth noting that this fee counts as income when you are doing your taxes—please be advised!

Question: Are there other funding sources that can support my project outside of the $2,000?

Answer: Not immediately. grunt staff facilitators will work with artists to create support letters or to co-author grants should the artist wish to seek additional funds. There are no additional funds available from grunt beyond the $2,000 per artist during the engagement, but grunt will work to support the artist in locating additional funds for ongoing projects if that is the support they want during the engagement.

Question: Can I get paid in increments/installments instead of a lump sum?

Answer: Yes. Artists can receive incremental payment and can dictate the sum. grunt gallery can pay out the sum over an extended period of time, but it must be fully paid out by June 30th, 2027.

Question: I don’t have a space to work out of. Can grunt support in providing space or rentals?

Answer: The $2,000 fee can be used towards renting a space, but grunt gallery does not have specific studio/making space available for our artists. grunt gallery does have an office space where the artist is welcome to work during their engagement as long as their production does not interfere with daily office operations. Access to the gallery will be limited to staff hours (Tu-F, Noon-5PM).

Question: Can I use the $2,000 towards studio rental in another location or studio membership?

Answer: Yes, you can use the $2,000 towards studio rental in another location or studio membership. There is no restriction on how you use the funds. It is worth noting that this fee counts as income when you are doing your taxes—please be advised!

Question: My medium requires [x amount of work and equipment]. Can grunt provide funding for those supplies? Example: ceramic kiln, clay wheel, woodworking tools.

Answer: You can use your fee ($2,000) to fund these supplies. grunt gallery does not have an extra materials budget but can assist the artist in writing a letter to seek sponsorship or donations if they want that support. We do not have a studio, we have limited production equipment, and we do not have an additional materials budget.

Beyond the Engagement Project

Question: Are there future opportunities with grunt?

Answer: Artists who complete the non-verbal engagement program can’t join it again, but they are encouraged to apply for grunt gallery’s annual curatorial submissions in July or take part in the Mount Pleasant Community Art Screen (MPCAS). While participation doesn’t guarantee future selection, it helps artists build a connection with grunt. This makes it easier for the team to understand and support their work in the future.

In 2027, grunt gallery is planning to host a symposium that will welcome back past non-verbal and non-visual participants in the Accessible Engagement Program. More information will be shared on this soon.

Question: What additional support does the grunt team provide for the Non-Verbal Program? What is the grunt capacity?

Answer: During the engagement, artists are encouraged to discuss their practice and share their portfolios, goals, and barriers they have experienced, as well as ideas to better serve non-verbal artists in Contemporary art. Artists will have access to our staff, including our curator, archivist, and exhibition managers.

The two program facilitators will have up to 4 hours of weekly help to the selected artists. This time needs to be split between the artists and has to allow time for setup, meetings, roundtables, and final filming or creation of the archive object, but schedules will be discussed and transparently shared when the engagement is accepted.

Engagement artists are considered team members during the 6-week engagement and are encouraged to attend events or participate in learning opportunities if they so desire. If an installation is happening during the engagement, artists are welcome to support and shadow staff and exhibiting artists.

Question: I want to show my works in an exhibition. Will I have an opportunity to showcase my work publicly at the end of my program if not at Grunt?

Answer: Selected artists will either be interviewed or create something, like a video, that shows their experience with grunt. This will be added to grunt’s public archives and shared online when possible.

Artists can apply for an exhibition at grunt gallery by submitting a proposal in July through the regular submission process. During the program, artists can share their ideas with grunt staff to get feedback. If the submission process isn’t accessible, artists can also reach out to staff after the program for help with their proposal.

For works showcased outside of grunt, we can support accepted artists in creating a support letter for their application to other galleries and granting opportunities.

The following are the questions to be submitted to be considered for the 2026 Tactile Co-Learning Engagement. The questions below include tips and expanded information to help you better understand what we are asking. The questions without annotation are available for download in Plain Text (email aep@grunt.ca), or on Google Forms.

• Name:
  
  • You can provide us with your birth name, your chosen name, or your artist name. Only selected engagement artists will need to provide us with a legal name for the sake of contracts.
  • This is a required question.
    
• Email or Phone:
  
  • Provide both or either. The program facilitators are both hard of hearing and don’t talk on the phone, but can send texts. If you’d prefer someone to call you, we will get another staff member to call or use a video call service!
  • This is a required question.

Identity Questions:

• This engagement program is limited to artists, makers, and knowledge keepers who are non-visual, and have a tactile practice. Non-visual includes Blind, low-vision, or Partially-sighted identities but is not exclusive. Tell us how you self-identify.
  
  • Self-identification means you tell us how you identify, and we do not require a doctor’s note. You know yourself and your access needs. We also acknowledge that Blindness, Non-Visual Identity or Visual Acuity is a wide spectrum. Tell us how you identify yourself and what you need to move through the world with confidence and respect.
  • This is a required question.
    
• Are you a member of MST (Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil Waututh) host nations and families?
  • This program, and all programs at grunt gallery whose building is on stolen Indigenous Territory, will always prioritize applications from the host nations who have stewarded and continue to protect the lands and water here.
  • If you are an Urban Indigenous settler, you are also given space to identify as such in the application.
  • This question does not require an answer.
    
• Are you a person of racialized experience?
  
  • Using “racialized” instead of BIPOC refers to people or groups who are socially defined as belonging to a racial category other than the dominant or privileged group in a specific society. In colonially-defined Canada, this typically means anyone who is not white. While we, as an arts community, aim to prioritize and uplift Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (settler and otherwise), using terms like BIPOC can unintentionally homogenize diverse identities and erase specific cultural and racial experiences.
    
    By using “racialized,” we focus on the processes and impacts of systemic racism without flattening the diversity of experiences across racial and ethnic groups. If you prefer to identify as BIPOC or with a specific racial or cultural group, we welcome you to let us know. Similarly, if you identify with the term “racialized,” please feel free to share that with us!
  • This question does not require an answer.
    
• Do you identify as Trans, Queer, Deaf/deaf/hard of hearing, neurodiverse, mad, or otherwise excellent? Tell us about your intersectional identity (if you want)!
  • This is not a required question.
    
• Which city or territory do you live in within the colonially defined province of BC?
  
  • You must live within the Greater Vancouver Regional District when you apply. Our funding is provided by the province of British Columbia and this engagement program is limited to be people living within Metro Vancouver.
  • This is a required question.

Artist Questions:

• Tell us about yourself. (250 word limit)
  
  • The next two questions ask about your art practice and what you plan to do during the engagement period – this question is more about who you are as a artist. Tell us what is important to you, what you’re proud of or what you aspired to do as an artist.
  • This is a required question.
    
• How does tactile communication or tactile production show up in your practice and work? Why do you explore tactility? (250 word limit)
  
  • Tell us about your art practice and why and how tactility plays a role! If it is important to how you work through your art practice, share a bit about that. If it is about how your audiences can interact with your work, tell us about that? If it is about overcoming barriers and producing artwork as a Blind, non-visual or partially sighted artist, tell us about how tactility plays a part in your art making. Tell us about your process and methods!
  • This is a required question.
    
• What would you like to explore during the 6-week engagement if you were to participate? (250 word limit)
  
  • While you do not have to produce anything for grunt gallery, except for the deliverables listed on the Tactile Co-Learning Engagement Page, we hope that you will get a chance to work on your on-going or on new projects while you’re engaged as an artist with grunt. If you do not have any specific plans to make or create during the engagement, what do you hope to share or learn with grunt during the 6-weeks?
  • This is a required question.

Support Materials

• Please attach your CV (1 page).
  
  • Your CV is documentation of your creative and professional achievements within the arts. Please focus on exhibitions, residencies and grants, publications, commissions and collaborations, collections and creative work. It can include academic history if you want, but we are more interested in your artistic career or artistic achievements.
  • Don’t worry if it’s short – just focus on relevant information that you are proud of. If it’s really long, consider focusing on achievements that are connected to your non-verbal practice.
  • Don’t worry if you don’t have a professional CV. We can help you build one during the engagement program, as it’s a pretty important document to have in your art career.
  • This is not a required document, but we do strongly recommend you send us something.
    
• Please attach support materials (maximum of 10 images, 5 minutes of video or audio, and seven pages of written materials at 14 pt or higher). If support materials are supplied in languages besides English, please indicate the language in the file name or your application comments.
  
  • Send us video, pictures or writing that shows you engaged in your non-verbal practice or works you have produced during your non-verbal practice. If any of the work is sensitive or explores challenging themes – please consider the people reading your application and provide content warnings.
  • If you’re struggling to send us files, you can send us a list of links to view your works online. Links to Dropbox, Google Drive, or other cloud services are fine as long as we have viewer access.

Application Options:

• Google Forms
• Download Plain Text Version
• Download the Microsoft Office Version
  • Email aep@grunt.ca

Return to the Tactile Co-Learning Engagement Information Page
Return to the Accessible Engagement Project Page

We are offering and experimenting with low-sensory and voice-off exhibition visiting hours.

On Thursdays from 12-7 pm, our exhibition Manager, Kay Slater, will offer a low-sensory and/or voice-off experience to visitors wishing to visit the space and our exhibitions.

What this will mean:

• We will ask visitors to come scent-free on Thursdays (no perfume or scented body products—paint your nails a few days before visiting!) Please try not to smoke before your visit.
• Masks are mandatory* (required) on Thursdays (masks are not required but always encouraged during other visiting hours).
• You will not be approached by staff unless you approach us (or if you are in need of assistance).
• We ask that you try to be “voice-off” or practice silence and not converse with our gallery staff or other visitors while you are on site. Kay is hard of hearing and will require mask-wearing (mandatory)* visitors to communicate by writing, ASL, English sign, or to step outside and remove masks so they can lip read (English or French). Staff will not engage you in conversation and will ask you to step outside if you need to use your voice.
• Any sound or media pieces will be sound off or low-volume for visitors. Transcripts and captions will be available for all works.
• Overhead, exhibition lights will be dimmed, still providing safe passage through the space.
• Any works with strong scents will be removed, or the show will have considerable signage to advise visitors before entering the space.

We acknowledge that masks are not accessible to everyone and if you are unable to wear a mask during your visit, please let the attendant know. We will be prioritizing mask-wearing visitors, but depending on the time of your visit, we will do our best to accommodate you! You are also welcome to book specific times for your visit and we will limit visitors during your scheduled visit.

If you have any suggestions, additional requests for a low-sensory day, or would like us to anticipate your visit with additional consideration, please email us at access@grunt.ca – we welcome your feedback!