Similkameen Artist Residency and Emily Geen at the Alternator

Julia Wong and Yasmine Whaley-Kalaora, Preserve (production still), 2022, Image courtesy of the artists.

The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art is pleased to present two exciting new exhibitions: The Guest Book by the Similkameen Artist Residency, and Generation by Emily Geen, on view from March 28 through May 10, 2025.

In the Main Gallery the Similkameen Artist Residency is presenting a dynamic, rotating group exhibition that reflects on creative gestures made in the Okanagan-Similkameen. The Guest Book includes 26 alumni of the Similkameen Artist Residency (SAR), featuring artworks made during or in response to their residency at SAR between 2021 and 2023, as well as work by two syilx-Okanagan artists. Every week, the exhibition space is rearranged with a variety of work that spans different mediums and subject matter. Each iteration of the exhibition creates new meanings and perspectives to explore. This exhibition reflects SAR’s gratitude for the artists who have shaped their identity as an organization, and for the communities and territories that surround and inspire them.

Emily Geen, 2024. Image courtesy of the artist

Emily Geen’s exhibition explores possible understandings of the word “generation.” With the Alternator Project Gallery transformed to loosely reference a living room, the exhibition space invites viewers to take a seat on an inflatable plastic couch of Millennial childhood dreams and flip through the pages of an album, interact with a paper mâché boombox, and admire cross stitch works created with pattern-generating software. All of Geen’s pieces highlight the intersections of digital and craft, as well as gestures of the hand. These acts of looking and making connect across generations: crafts taught by mothers to daughters, the family experience as seen by both parents and children, and music from one generation playing on another’s technology.

Both The Guest Book and Generation will be on at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art from March 28 to May 10, 2025.

About the Artists

Founded in 2021, the Similkameen Artist Residency (SAR) offers a tranquil, affordable, and supportive environment for artistic exploration in Keremeos, BC. As an artist-run residency program, they recognize that working artists face challenges when seeking dedicated time for their creative pursuits. Their inclusive program understands that all artists—including those at various career stages and across diverse artistic trajectories—should be given opportunities to rest and refocus their practices. Enhanced by an ethos of community, curiosity, and creative exchange, SAR’s self-directed residency structure fosters productive solo studio time and collegial, collaborative cohorts.

Emily Geen received her BFA at the University of British Columbia Okanagan (2012), followed by her MFA at the University of Victoria (2015). She has had recent solo projects/exhibitions in Victoria at the Victoria Arts Council’s Satellite Window Gallery, the Ministry of Casual Living Window Gallery and at Empty Gallery. Her work has been included in group shows at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Support (London, ON), Gallery 44 (Toronto), and Gallery 295 (Vancouver). She has participated in residencies at the Banff Centre (2016) and at MOMENTUM Worldwide in Berlin (2017). Currently, Emily teaches photography, video art, and sculpture at the University of Victoria.

About the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art

The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art is a non-profit artist-run centre founded in 1989. We leverage knowledge, expertise, empathy and resources to support creative projects that nurture our community.

The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art respectfully acknowledges its presence on the unceded territory of the syilx (Okanagan) people.

Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art
421 Cawston Avenue, Unit 103
Kelowna, BC V1Y 6Z1
www.alternatorcentre.com
info@alternatorcentre.com
(250) 868-2298

Facebook @AlternatorArt
Instagram @the_alternator

Accessibility:
The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art is situated within the Rotary Centre for the Arts, which is fully accessible.