Slinko, a Ukrainian-born artist living in the United States, spent the Winter 2024 term as MacEwan’s first Gene Zwozdesky Artist in Residence.

During her residency in the Department of Studio Arts, she worked on a project titled “Motherless Nation,” contributed to a MacEwan research project entitled “Mothering in Exile,” led workshops, hosted lectures and public events, and did several studio visits with fourth-year students.

As Slinko was creating her own new work, the university’s first class of Bachelor of Fine Art, Studio Arts students were inching toward their final exhibition in the Mitchell Art Gallery. “It was so exciting for me to see how their projects developed and came to full realization. I have to say I was really impressed with their work ethic, their consistency in developing ideas, and their vision of themselves as emerging artists.”

Maintaining the connections they’ve built as a community of learners, says Slinko, is incredibly important. 

“Working alongside so many fellow artists who teach as well as continue their own artistic practices has been a remarkable opportunity for appreciating how much goes into culture-making,” she says. “From studio visits to lectures to the daily challenges of making work, it really is a collective process. We often need each other to flesh out what can be just an inkling into a coherent idea or brainstorm different ways of making things. In conversations, ideas get articulated, and paths forward emerge.”