FLEET: Edmonds

Edmonds Park, Intersection of Humphries Rd and Rosewood Ave

January 27 - February 23, 2025

We are excited to welcome Kay Slater, who will visit FLEET during January and February 2025. During Slater’s residency at FLEET: Edmonds in February 2025, they will explore the intersection of accessibility and digital innovation within public spaces using VR and AR technologies. Their work will focus on testing these technologies on public Wi-Fi, particularly how they can enhance wayfinding and interaction for d/Deaf/HoH and d/Disabled individuals. Additionally, they will engage the public to gather insights and feedback, refining the practical applications of these tools to create more inclusive cultural spaces. Concurrently, they will conduct their annual voice-off project, practicing non-verbal communication in public and community spaces. This initiative encourages hearing and verbal communities to explore non-aural engagement methods, promoting the visibility and validity of non-verbal, gestural, and signing interactions in public spaces. By doing so, they aim to demonstrate that verbal communication is not the only way to participate fully in community life.

Kay Slater is a multidisciplinary artist, accessibility consultant and arts worker.  As a consultant, they work directly with artists and organizations to build accessibility in at the planning stage and to incorporate sustainable, grassroots strategies that support evolution in artistic presentation. Their work is rooted in anti-oppression practices, and they employ open-source and community-engaged approaches to support ongoing knowledge transfer with makers and creators at all stages of their careers. They have been the Exhibitions manager and co-founder of the Accessible Exhibitions and Public Events (AEPE) project at grunt gallery for the past five years. They are a proud volunteer and social coordinator at Queer ASL, and have completed the Rick Hansen Foundation’s Accessibility Certification program. They are a co-founder and active member of The Papercut Arcade artist collective. Kay is passionate about sharing knowledge with the wider arts community.  Kay is queer and hard of hearing. They use They/Their/Theirs pronouns as they fumble and learn as an uninvited “guest” across Coast Salish territory.

Visual Description:

Kay is a white, middle-aged person with back-length hair the colour of wet West Coast sand. Their hair is shaved at the sides and back, and they often wear it up and away from their face. They have cow-brown eyes, a triple-pierced nose, double-pierced lip, and large, rosy cheeks. They have a yellowed, tea-stained, teeth-exposing smile that crinkles the corner of their eyes. They are of average to large build and stand 5'6 or 168 cm. Their figure reads as femme, and their clothing is neutral and casual in colour, fabric and style. Kay's typically fingerspells their name in a quick cursive K-A-Y.

Image (above): Kay, a white person with greying hair shaved on the side and pulled back into a ponytail, stares directly into the camera through large glasses. Half of their face is covered in a mask with red flowers and the words "I am hard of hearing" in a busy pattern. They wear a grey shirt on which hand-shapes for "peace, love, and d-d (deafinitely dope)" can be seen, the caption cut off. They stand in front of the grunt gallery windows in which the reflection of their photographer can be seen.

Photo by Vanessa Kwan, at grunt gallery.

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