Groups & Events

Community Co-learning: Building (more) Accessible Arts Presentations

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A workshop series presented by the Libby Leshgold Gallery and the ECU Writing Centre, in collaboration with grunt gallery.

• FREE
• Open to ECU and the public
• ASL Interpretation provided
• Hybrid presentation: online and in-person in the Writing Centre on campus (2nd floor, Library)

This series of workshops will provide an introduction to tangible first steps towards more accessible in-person, online and asynchronous arts presentation. Our intention is to invest in co-learning around basic practices so that we are more able to commit to and work together towards accessible baseline standards. More workshops will follow as we find out what folks want to learn (send us your suggestions at libby@ecuad.ca!) and as we develop more connections to Disability communities, knowledge and practices. The series is geared towards ECU staff, faculty and students, and open to the general public.

The sessions will be recorded and, with permission from our workshop leads and participants, shared for future reference.

All workshops will be offered in hybrid formats, and will include ASL interpretation, auto-generated captions (online). We will also share the recorded workshops and transcripts for educational purposes.

SCHEDULE

Captioning and Transcription/ Non-auditory Access
Facilitated by Kay Slater (grunt gallery)
Thursday, June 15th, 1:30 – 4:30pm
Register HERE

This workshop is designed to help arts organizations, artists and community creators take a tangible first step towards building accessibility into their practices. By outlining best practices (and identifying the pros and cons of available auto-generated captioning services), and inviting participants to learn the basics of captioning and transcription for live and pre-recorded material, we invest in a baseline standard for access as well as a shared and shareable knowledge base.

Some of the questions workshop participants can expect to review:

• Why should I be aware of, or care about, non-auditory access?
• Why should I caption if my audience has no access needs?
• How do I get ready to transcribe and caption an online or exhibition video?
• Can I accurately caption or transcribe a live session? If I can’t, why should I bother?
• How are captions different from transcripts?
• Should I hire an ASL interpreter if I’m captioning my work?

The captions and transcriptions workshop has a scripted online video that participants are welcome to view prior to the event. It is a condensed version of the workshop and has a transcript with visual descriptions available. This is available now for participants to access asynchronously at their leisure.

Create Accessibility: A Guide to Writing Image Descriptions
Facilitated by Tenaya Fogelman
Thursday, June 22nd, 1:30 – 4:30pm
Register HERE

Join us for an interactive workshop that approaches image descriptions and accessibility through collaboration. This workshop entails an informative guide to writing image descriptions, and various exercises to begin writing in the form. We’ll go over the fundamentals and review a range of examples. This workshop brings the formality around accessibility into question, by inviting participants to be creative, and opening up how and what we describe for discussion.

Find your image description style and approach accessibility with creativity, in a friendly, low-stakes environment. Expect to learn collaboratively, build confidence in your writing, and add accessibility skills to your toolkit!

Intro to Low-Sensory presentation
Facilitated by Kay Slater (grunt gallery)
Thursday, June 29th, 1:30 – 4:30pm
Register HERE

Join us for an introduction to low-sensory presentation and hosting. This workshop shares learning from the grunt gallery team, who have been engaged in low-sensory and voice-off hosting since 2022. They consider this practice to be on-going and to be ever evolving. Access needs vary widely and are hard to predict. Budgets are normally designed to serve a majority, with terms such as universal access used to celebrate inclusion while ignoring “minority” audiences with specific and often conflicting access needs as too expensive or insignificant to be prioritized. grunt’s exhibition team has instead looked at those who are pushed to the margins and asked how they can be centered in our gatherings, exhibitions, and events, and have challenged themselves to respond creatively with each new exhibition.

This workshop explores the many sensory barriers we may take for granted in art spaces, and invites participants to consider these more fully when designing spaces for gathering, exhibition and presentation.

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About the facilitators:

Kay works in art spaces across occupied Coast Salish territory to examine value, inclusion, and expectations within gallery and fine art environments. They are queer, hard of hearing, and mad, they are not seeking medical validation or diagnosis, and they work with an attitude that welcomes conflict, change, and fire, specifically challenging the professional world to explore discomfort and radical change. They want institutions to be both interested and scared to work with them. They are especially ready to be wrong and to be in discussion about how they can do better. Visit them at grunt on Thursdays for voice-off and low sensory visiting hours, see them moving public art and designing art spaces for youth at ArtStarts in Schools, join them as they host weekly inclusive practice spaces at Queer ASL, and see them fumbling into art shows with an awkward hope that we can support each other in multimodal ways based in care.

Tenaya is an interdisciplinary designer and writer, currently studying at Emily Carr University. She works at the Emily Carr Writing Centre as a Peer Tutor, co-facilliatator of the Design Writing Group, and as the event assistant of the On Edge Reading Series. As a part of her work for On Edge, she writes creative image description for every post on the social media account, and creates accessibility directories for in-person events. Her poetry was published in the 2019 emily carr foundation anthology, and she was the image description writer for Henry Tsang’s ebook ‘White Riot: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver’.

Creative Writing Open Mic (Reading Room)

Listen to our graduates as they read their creative work

Listen to our graduates as they read their creative work. Supported by Wordsmiths Creative Writing Club in the Writing Centre. All are welcome.

Writing + Podcasting Panel (Reading Room)

Discussion on how podcasts amplify a practice

The Degree Show Planning Workshops

Lunch hour workshops to you prepare for the Show

Presented by the Writing Centre in collaboration with the Libby Leshgold Gallery.

Click on workshop for time and registration info (in-person and online):

Demystifying the gallery exhibition: what’s actually going on back there?
Monday, April 17, noon – 1:15 p.m.

How to Install + Title Your Work
Tuesday, April 18, noon – 1:15 p.m.

Design Writing Group Drop In Session (No registration required)
Wednesday, April 19, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Labels/ didactics/ statements/ ephemera — how is text used in a gallery context?
Thursday April 20, noon – 1:15 p.m.

Spatial Considerations: How to Install Your Work + Play Well With Others
Friday, April 21, noon – 1:15 p.m.

How to Talk About Your Work: Prepping for Crit night
Friday, May 12, noon – 1:15 p.m.

 

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Demystifying the gallery exhibition: what’s actually going on back there?
Monday, April 17, noon – 1:15 p.m.
in person in the Boardroom (*NEW* location) + online

Join us for a conversation between curators that reveals behind-the-scenes perspectives on how various kinds of gallery presentations come together. We’ll cover:

• timelines,
• going from studio visit to exhibition,
• how we design exhibitions (there’s no one way!),
• budgets, how gallery teams work together, and
• how involved artists are in decision-making.

Plus further secrets designed to demystify gallery exhibitions – all to get you ready for the Show and beyond.

REGISTER to attend:

In-person attendance OR online attendance

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How to Install + Title Your Work
Tuesday, April 18, noon – 1:15 p.m.
in person in the Boardroom (*NEW* location) + online

In phase one of this workshop you’ll learn the basics of gallery practice and standards for installation including how to prepare, what questions to pose, and who to ask. We’ll go over:

• how to work with restrictions,
• ways to set up lighting, and
• discuss safety considerations.

In phase two we’ll consider generative writing practices for titling your work. Using extension, list making, and concept generation strategies we’ll come up with a plethora of ideas. Then we’ll use composition by excision to narrow them down to concise titles. In the end, we’ll discover the best title for your work and move beyond “untitled.”

REGISTER to attend:

In-person attendance OR online attendance

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Design Writing Group Drop In Session
Wednesday April 19, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.
in person in the Boardroom (*NEW* location)

Join us for a collaborative peer workshop of your portfolio writing including: resources and handouts, brainstorming activities, writing exercises, and discussions with peers in a casual, low stakes environment!

(No Registration Needed)

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Labels/ didactics/ statements/ ephemera — how is text used in a gallery context?
Thursday April 20, noon – 1:15 p.m.
in person in the Boardroom (*NEW* location) + online

We’ll work together to create compelling artist statements and artist bios for the gallery context and consider why you need to write these, how they’ll be used, and discuss what makes a good statement or set of promotional materials. We’ll help you fit your voice into a gallery context including options, precedents, and ideas. Focusing on the materiality of language, we’ll experiment with ways to generate language that reflects your work in exciting ways.

REGISTER to attend:

In-person attendance OR online attendance

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Spatial Considerations: How to Install Your Work + Play Well With Others
Friday, April 21, noon – 1:15 p.m.
in person in the Boardroom (*NEW* location) + online

We’ll discuss the intricacies of group shows and the realities of sharing space by providing:

• practical strategies for working with the venue and
• consider how to create presence in a group show,
• how to bring multiple disciplines together in one space, and
• go over the basic principles of spatial, cultural and sensory accessibility all while keeping safety in check.

We’ll also experiment with ways to create the conditions for collaboration to flourish and take a fun approach to collaboration to create collective action. You’ll leave with an understanding of spatialization in gallery spaces and with a series of effective strategies for playing well with others.

REGISTER to attend:

In-person attendance OR online attendance

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How to Talk About Your Work: Prepping for Crit night
Friday, May 12, noon – 1:15 p.m.
in person and online

Who made this? In this workshop we’ll introduce auto-conceptual approaches to talking about your work with others. We’ll link specific approaches with larger ideas to prepare for and prime exciting crit night conversations about your art and design work. This workshop will help you generate playful and super serious ways of talking about your art and design practice with whoever asks, ‘what’s this about?’

REGISTER to attend:

In-person attendance OR online attendance

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Image photo: Pexels.com

Wordsmiths

Creative writers unite!

Creative writers! Join us every week for camaraderie, creative writing exercises, workshopping and relaxed conversation about creative writing, poetry and storytelling! Writers welcome at any stage of and with any kind of creative writing (graphic novels, poetry, scripts, etc.)

Wordsmiths in SUMMER 2023 will be held in person on campus and is facilitated by tutors Elijah and Aretha.

HOW TO JOIN:

• What: A club for creative writers–experienced or aspiring
• Who: All students, regardless of experience.
• When: Summer Wordsmiths runs on Tuesdays, 11:30-12:30PM (starting May 23!)
• Where: In-person in the ECU Library

No need to register. Just drop by!

Please e-mail writingcentre@ecuad.ca if you have any questions.

Wordsmiths art by Elijah B.

Faculty + Staff Writing Group

Get some writing done!

The Faculty + Staff Writing Group has been one of the Writing Centre’s most beloved programs. Every week, faculty colleagues gather to talk (a little) about their writing projects and goals; we then set timers and write, getting done in 90 minutes what can take hours without the accountability of a writing community.

• What: Weekly writing group
• Who: ECUAD faculty and staff
• When: Fridays, 10 – 11:30AM PT
  
• Where: Register for the Zoom link here

**OCT. 7 SESSION IS IN-PERSON IN ROOM D2315**

Please e-mail writingcentre@ecuad.ca if you have any questions.
Image: KaboomPics / pexels.com

Letter Writing Club

Bringing back snail mail

Bringing back snail mail

We may say letter writing but we’re up to so much more! Join us for chats with fellow letter writing enthusiasts, pen pal writing, mail-related art and design projects, and field trips, among other things!

HOW TO JOIN:

• What: A club for letter writers from all backgrounds
• Who: All students, regardless of experience.
• When: Summer I and II terms will vary (see below). You can join every session or individual ones.
• Where: Online in a Zoom room. Occasional in-person activities and field trips may be involved.

• Wednesday, May 17
• Wednesday, May 31
• Wednesday, June 14

• Tuesday, July 4
• Tuesday, July 18
• Tuesday, August 1
• Tuesday, Aug 15

Register here for the Zoom Room.

Please e-mail writingcentre@ecuad.ca if you have any questions.

Letterwriting illustration by LWC member Ryuvine

 

Design Writing Group

Yes, Designers Write Too.

Confused about how to start your case study? Unsure of how to approach your critical response? Wanna hang out with your fellow design enthusiasts? The Design Writing Group is the group for you!

A casual study hall where any students passionate about design can get together with their peers to discuss any and all aspects of design writing. Bring in any of your design assignments or projects to work on and get feedback from peers.

Bring a snack, writing utensils, and get excited to explore your design practice!

• Who: Any students passionate about design.
• What: Casual weekly gathering to share and discuss all forms of design writing
• When: Tuesdays from 3:30 – 4:30PM. Last Spring 2023 session is April 11.
• Where: In person in the Writing Centre

Stay connected: Join the DWG Discord server!

Please e-mail writingcentre@ecuad.ca if you have any questions.