Interdisciplinary Arts Research
Artist Residency and Retreat
May through October, 2023
Slough Studios, eastern slope Columbia River.
Beaver House installation on the site of Slough Studios.
— SLOUGH(slu/ n-a back water: water pausing: a place to pause and rest.
sluff/ v-to shed or unlearn what is no longer needed.)
SLOUGH STUDIOS is an interdisciplinary arts residency and retreat set on 73 acres of farm and mountain land, forming part of the Columbia River basin in British Columbia, Canada. Slough Studios is dedicated to arts based research. The residency is comprised of two cabins for living spaces, a main cabin for shared activities, along with the newly constructed studio. A maximum of four guests will be present at any given time offering a private yet engaging opportunity to develop ideas, problem solve and entangle with other artists. In this manner, Slough Studios is symbiotic in its creative process. Artist Kathryn Cooke along with support from professional musician and sound engineer, Nathan Turner and artist and arts programmer, Logan Thackray, offer a unique experience for those who settle into this beautiful space along the Columbia River wetlands of Canada. This unique landscape of river, wetlands and mountains offers a place to pause, and through an arts based research methodology, investigate important issues of our time.
The studio is located near the hamlet of Parson, British Columbia, approximately 3 hour drive, west of Calgary, Alberta.
MISSION STATEMENT
Slough Studios is a land based artist residency located on the traditional territory of the Columbia Basin First Nations: Okanagan, Secwepemc, Ktunaxa. (O-kan-a-gan, She-whep-m, Tun-ah-hah).
Slough Studios is a settler-run organization dedicated to a creative practice that centres itself on renewal, reciprocity, and sustainability. As a settler organization, we hope to understand how to be better humans to other beings and the land alike, which means taking responsibility for the wrongdoings of our ancestors and acting in good faith moving forward.
Our mission then is to provide artists with a safe place to explore and create. Safety means not having to compromise who you are as an individual to feel like you belong. It means having the tools and space necessary to create. It means finally understanding that personal safety includes the safety of the land and living beings.
Slough Studios is dedicated to Renewal: Renewal of ideas, ways of being, artistic practices, and more. Sough Studios offer a space to begin (again), learn and unlearn and feel into the unknown creating original and daring works.
Slough Studios is dedicated to Reciprocity: At the end of your residency, you will be invited to host a community workshop and show. Our staff will help you create a workshop that will include the Columbia Valley community. This form of reciprocity not only guides you as an artist to create something to share but holds the studio accountable as an organization that doesn't live in isolation and is energized by the resources it can provide for the community.
Slough Studios is dedicated to promoting the development of arts research methodologies that can be used to forward new epistemologies. This could be used within humanities, collaborations and more broadly in other fields of research.
Slough Studios’ mission is to strive towards Sustainability: Slough Studios is dedicated to reusing material, ethically disposing of hazardous chemicals, and creating discourse around caring for each other, caring for our more than human companions, and most importantly, caring for the land that we are so lucky to call home. How we can better our world and our relations with all living beings is underscored in all inquiries at Slough Studios.