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 2: Reclaiming the Creative Void

In this edition of the Visiting Artist Mentorship Series, Vancouver-based Portuguese-Canadian artist Kevin Jesuino invites us to dismantle the pervasive "hustle culture" of the arts industry. Together, we will work to reclaim rest, boredom, and self-care as vital somatic practices rather than luxury commodities.

For the professional artist, the pressure to be perpetually inspired often leads to a dysregulated nervous system. This session investigates the political act of doing nothing and its role in long-term creative sustainability. Our discussion and practice will center on the "Anatomy of the Pause," exploring:

• Physiological Awareness: Identifying the urge to produce and learning how to consciously soften that impulse.

• The Rehabilitation of Boredom: Viewing stillness not as a void, but as a fertile, liminal space for the imagination to reset.

• The Radical Ritual: Transitioning from "fight or flight" (sympathetic) into a state of "rest and digest" (parasympathetic).

Participants will leave with a somatic toolkit to navigate the creative void, transforming self-care from a consumerist checkbox into a radical, embodied ritual of resistance and renewal.

Note to Participants: Please bring comfortable layers of clothing that allow you to move freely. We also recommend bringing socks if you are not comfortable being barefoot.

Attendance & Contributions

Register here to let us know you will be attending. 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.

From Conversation to Paper: Writing Your Artist Statement with Katherine Pickering

The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art is pleased to present the 2026 Artist Development Series. This curated program is designed to help emerging and mid-career artists build sustainable careers by providing access to experienced local professionals who understand our regional creative landscape.

Through these sessions, we aim to move beyond simple skill-building to help you build collaborative networks and gain the actionable tools needed to navigate your creative career with confidence.

Workshop: Writing Compelling Artist Statements & Exhibition Proposals

In this hands-on workshop, visual artist and educator Katherine Pickering approaches the artist statement not as a daunting chore, but as a conversation. Writing about your own work can be a challenge, but Katherine will guide you through a process to articulate your ideas, methods, and intentions using clear and direct language.

The session begins with a short presentation on the anatomy of an effective artist statement and how it differs from an artist bio. Participants will then pair up to interview one another about their work. By recording these conversations and using audio-to-text tools, you will generate a natural first draft that captures your true voice. Through guided individual and peer editing, you’ll refine this text into a focused, professional statement suitable for exhibitions and applications.

What to Bring:

• A laptop or mobile device (for recording and editing).

• An original artwork or a high-quality image of your work to discuss.

This workshop 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.

Katherine Pickering is a visual artist and Lecturer at UBC Okanagan. Based on Syilx territory in Kelowna, her practice explores material experimentation and abstraction. Her work has been exhibited internationally and supported by residencies across Canada, the US, and Europe. Katherine holds an MFA from Concordia University and a BFA from UBC Okanagan.

Earlier this year she presented Weather, Window, Echo, Hum in our Main Gallery.

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

Register Here

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!