Building Our Ecosystem: A Mentorship Session with Woojae Kim
The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art is proud to introduce the 2026 Visiting Artist Mentorship Series, a new pilot program made possible through the generous support of the Central Okanagan Foundation. Over the coming year, we will facilitate four of these specialized sessions, each designed to foster meaningful connections, knowledge sharing, and networking between the Okanagan arts community and our national peers.
While the Central Okanagan is home to a vibrant community of creators, geography can sometimes limit access to the professional networks and "behind-the-scenes" knowledge found in larger urban hubs. This series brings national perspectives directly to Kelowna, offering a space for honest exchange about the realities of maintaining a professional practice today.
Moving away from traditional artist talks, these sessions focus on the "how" of a career: the lived experiences, the hurdles, and the practical strategies that keep a studio running. It is an invitation to move past formal presentations and engage in a real dialogue about building a sustainable, resilient, and connected creative community.
Session 1: Navigating Systems with Woojae Kim
In our first session, Vancouver-based artist and writer Woojae Kim will share personal reflections on the practice of being an artist. The conversation will move away from ideas of scarcity and competition, focusing instead on how artists might build their own ecosystems through mutual support, such as peer-to-peer curating and writing.
Woojae will also dive into the practical reality of balancing a studio practice with administrative labor. He will offer a look at the "hidden" side of the profession, sharing a personal framework for separating the "creative" self from the "administrative" self when approaching applications. Attendees will explore ways to interpret institutional requirements while staying rooted in a supportive, artist-led community.
Attendance & Contributions
This session is free to attend. However, for those with the capacity to do so, we invite you to participate in our Pay It Forward program.
Pay It Forward
We believe in building a creative community where everyone belongs. This event is open to all. For those in a position to give, we invite you to pay it forward. Your generosity keeps our doors open to everyone, creates access for all, and sustains the programs that enrich our collective cultural life. We gratefully accept contributions by cash or online here. Unable to contribute? You are always welcome here.
When: Saturday, March 21 at 11:00 am
Where: The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art
Woojae Kim is a Korean artist and writer living on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples (Vancouver, Canada). His works explore rituals of interdependency and listening to inaudible frequencies of relationships with non-humans and the land.
His work has been exhibited in Vancouver (Artspeak, Dreams Comma Delta, Afternoon Projects), Toronto (The Plumb) and New York (Psychic Readings*). His texts were published in the Canadian Art and the Capilano Review. Kim received an MFA from Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College.
See more of his work on Instagram!