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Tactile Co-Learning Engagement

Overview

The Tactile Co-Learning Engagement is a 6-week program designed to explore non-visual communication approaches in contemporary art spaces. This program supports artists whose practices prioritize tactility as learning and creative tools. Participants work collaboratively with grunt gallery staff to deepen their understanding of access challenges and possibilities for non-visual and non-auditory contemporary art practices.

Eligibility:

This program is limited to artists residing in the Greater Vancouver Regional District or Metro Vancouver. Priority is given to artists who self-identify as Blind, DeafBlind, Partially Sighted, Low-Vision, or Non-Visual with a tactile art practice. Indigenous artists with low vision or who identify as non-visual from Host Nations (Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh) with a tactile art practice are prioritized.

Deliverables

Deliverables include:

  • Attendance at weekly co-learning check-in sessions (1 hour, online)
  • Participation in the production of a response with grunt gallery (e.g., interview, video, or other format) that will be archived and shared publicly.
  • Participation in 1 grunt staff meeting and 1 grunt accessibility committee meeting.
  • Participation in a closed roundtable conversation between other professional non-visual artists (2 hours, online).

Fees:

Artists receive $2,000 CAD for participation. Artists may work on projects in progress or new projects and use these funds at their discretion (no need to report to grunt). Artists do not have to produce any completed work nor provide materials or artwork to grunt gallery.

Artists are expected to commit to up to 8 hours of co-learning sessions with grunt staff where they will share and chat about barriers and challenges facing non-visual artists as well as possibilities in tactile expression, and brainstorm ways to better support their practices within formal gallery spaces. An opportunity to meet with grunt gallery’s program director, curator and/or exhibition manager will be made available where the artist can discuss their practice, and receive feedback on how they can present their work when applying for exhibitions and other programs within contemporary gallery spaces. Artists are asked to visit at least one exhibition at grunt gallery, and respond to the space either in conversation or in making. Any travel costs and access supports for this will be paid for by grunt gallery.

The program is designed to be spacious and allow participants to shape the program. 

Application information

Spring 2025 Engagement:

Call for Applications now open

Deadline: March 14, 2025
Free Info Session: March 5, 2025 – Register by email by February 25th* at aep@grunt.ca. *ASL Interpreters available

Winter 2025 Engagement Dates (6 weeks): April 8 – May 16, 2025

Application Options:

Caption: Questions in ASL with audio overlay.

Future Deadlines:

  • 2026 Engagement – Opens Winter 2025. Deadline: March 13, 2026 (Coming Soon)
  • 2027 Engagement – Opens Winter 2026. Deadline: March 12, 2027 (Coming Soon)

FAQ

Q: Why is this called an “Engagement” and not a “Residency”?

A: grunt gallery does not provide maker or production space. The co-learning model focuses on shared knowledge and learning rather than production.

Q: How much do you pay artists?

A: Participants are compensated $2,000 CAD for their time, contributions, and deliverables. Additional artists who participate in the closed roundtable will receive half-day CARFAC fees (relative to the year). This is considered income and is up to the artist to use.

Q: What do my fees support?

A: That is up to the artist. The engaged artists can use the funds however they want and do not need to report to grunt gallery how they use the funds. Any work done with the gallery that requires access professionals (such as interpreters or interveners) or travel will be covered by a grunt.

Q: Why do you call this a non-visual engagement?

A: The grunt gallery team started using the term non-visual after hosting an exhibition in 2021 with artist-curator Carmen Papalia in partnership with Pyrotechnic artist Collin Van Uchelen. In conversations with Carmen, who identifies as a non-visual artist, and Collin, who identifies as Blind, we began our journey to understand better the spectrums of identity associated with vision and the barriers created by ocular-centric or vision-dominant practices.

grunt gallery has a rich history of supporting multiple formats or kinds of exhibitions and art experiences, from performance and media works to gallery-specific installations and 2D presentations. However, in all of this, we are still prioritizing the visual arts – key word visual. What does it mean to make space for artists and arts workers who do not use their sight as their primary way to learn or understand? What does it mean to support tactility or touch practices in museum and gallery spaces where touch is usually discouraged or forbidden? This engagement is to acknowledge that we don’t have the answers and that our systems need to be disrupted and make space to better understand the barriers we encourage in our daily work.

The purpose of the tactile co-learning program is a dynamic opportunity that provides paid time for participants to explore their own tactile practice while also working with grunt gallery to deepen our understanding of non-visual and touch interactivity within contemporary arts.

We welcome a multitude of identities in this program; however, the engaged artist must have a tactile art practice to be considered eligible.

Q: Is there an exhibition?

A: No. This is not an exhibition opportunity but a knowledge-sharing and supporting program where artists will receive a fee to continue their own explorations and development within an ongoing tactile practice while being in conversation with grunt gallery about what it means to have a tactile practice and navigating non-visually in a primarily ocular-centric space.

Q: What are the gallery’s accessibility details?

A: General access information is available in our website’s footer on every page, but here is a video walkthrough of the space, which includes a visual description. The staff at grunt gallery are all sighted, mostly hearing and verbal individuals. Most of our staff and contractors are practicing artists, and our centre is artist-run. We have two hard of hearing staff members, one of whom uses ASL as an additional language and tends towards non-verbal communication in writing whenever possible.

Please note that grunt gallery uses recording / transcription technology in their meetings. This is so that auto-captions and note taking is available in every meeting, and meetings are generally held online so that meeting notes can be captured. All meetings are recorded with participant’s consent, and are not shared outside of the meeting, but they are included as an access practice at the gallery. If this is an access conflict, please let us know.

Please let us know if you require a translator, intervenor, or other access support. Service dogs with certification are welcome in the space. Please note that non-certified support animals cannot be supported in the space for staff and visitors and their access needs.

For full access details, to discuss needs and inclusion, or for help with your application, please email access@grunt.ca or aep@grunt.ca.

FAQ continues: More questions? We have collected the questions we have received throughout the year and added them to a post. As we receive more questions, we’ll add them here.

Previous Artists and Work

View our previous tactile engagement artists’ works in the grunt archive.

Return to the Accessible Engagement Project Page

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