Staying at the Similkameen Artist Residency was wonderful. The location of the home itself feels remote while being relatively nearby to numerous different sites and areas of interest. The rooms and studios were quiet and engaging. I felt fortunate for who I was creating beside, seeing their process and learning from their perspectives and experiences. I appreciated this residency; the opportunity for rest and self direction during my time there was super valuable and recharging. Beginning a documentary/research project towards land acknowledgment, I spent a lot of time exploring through varying public areas of the grasslands surrounding the Similkameen valley. Majority of my work outdoors was considering land pedagogy, specifically the inter-relationships surrounding these grasses (natural and man-made) while in recognition of the traditional territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation. In-studio, I worked on experimental collages and made a lot of works surrounding personal and experiential reflections.

Alyson Bucharest, Testimonial