Artist Talk: Andy Slater

In partnership with , an art-based, alternative education platform featuring prominent national and international visiting artists, we invite you to join us at the Chapel for a series of stimulating and thought-provoking conversations on public art and the environment at Dix Park.

Artist Andy Slater has spent his career expanding what art can feel like when access isn’t an afterthought but part of the creative spark. His work challenges familiar assumptions about perception and invites audiences to consider how artists build meaning through the ways their work is shared and experienced.

In this talk, Andy will introduce his “Access Denied” approach and the ideas that shape it. He’ll share how disabled artists weave access into their practice from the very beginning, turning it into something poetic, personal, and playful. Through stories from his own studio and from fellow artists he’s worked alongside, he’ll open up a conversation about access not as a set of requirements but as an artistic force.

Join us for an evening that looks closely at the relationship between creativity, culture, and the many ways people engage with art.

Andy Slater is a blind Chicago-based media artist, writer, performer, and Disability advocate whose practice reaches across sound installation, immersive audio, XR environments, music, and text. His work regularly crosses the boundaries between technology and creative expression.

He is a United States Artists fellow whose projects and perspectives have been featured by outlets such as BBC Outlook and the New York Times. His writing appears in publications including McSweeney’s, where he introduced his research on Crypto Acoustic Auditory Non-Hallucination. Carnegie Hall commissioned his sound description for Molly Joyce’s Side By Side, a project that deepened his national profile.

Teaching is another throughline in his work. Andy mentors emerging artists through programs with the Atlantic Center for the Arts’ Young SoundSeekers, Creative Users’ Sensory Shift, and the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology. He holds an MA from Northwestern University and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

His current practice ranges from spatial audio to alt-text experiments for sound and image, alongside sound design work for film, dance, and even early explorations into digital scent. When he’s not in the studio, he performs with the acid-soul band Velcro Lewis Group and records solo as Calculator Font.

While free to attend, space is limited. Registration is required.

This program is free to the public thanks to Dix Park Conservancy donors.

Via Western Boulevard: Enter at Hunt Drive or S. Boylan Avenue

Via Lake Wheeler Road: Enter at Umstead Drive

Follow Signs towards The Chapel

Parking is located in the lots next to and in front of the Chapel.

Contact Dix Park Staff at 919-996-3255 or [email protected]

Dix Park continues to strive to be accessible and welcoming for visitors, including those with disabilities. Currently, portions of Dix Park, including some areas where programs and events occur, have uneven surfaces and are not fully accessible. Accessibility is a primary focus for early park improvements and all future planning and development.

Parking: ADA parking spaces for the Chapel are to the left and out front of the building. ADA parking spaces are available in all lots.

Chapel Entrance: Ramp and ADA push button activated door is located to the left of the front of the building.

Restrooms: Indoor accessible restrooms are available in the Chapel.

Programs and events: Raleigh Parks Inclusion Services works with community members to support participation. To request a program modification based on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), please complete and submit the Accommodation Request Form or contact Inclusion Services staff at 919-996-2147 or [email protected].

City of Raleigh - Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department

Release, Covenant Not To Sue, and Indemnity Agreement

I understand that participating in Dix Park Programs and Events (hereinafter “Program”) involves risk of injury. These risks include, but are not limited to, inclement weather, accidents while traveling, equipment problems or failures, contacts with and actions of other participants, spectators, or volunteers, slips/trips/falls, and musculoskeletal injuries, among others. I choose for myself, for my child, or for another participant who I am enrolling, to participate in the Program despite these and other risks.

By registering for this Program, I acknowledge all risks of injury, illness, and death, and property damage, and affirm that I have assumed all responsibility of injury, illness, death, and property damage relating in any way to the Program. I also agree for myself and for any child or other participant who I am registering herein to follow all rules and procedures that may apply to the Program and to follow the reasonable instructions of City employees and other supervisors of the Program. In return for the opportunity to participate in this Program, I agree for myself and for the child or other participant I am registering, and for our heirs, assigns, executors, and administrators to release, waive, and discharge any legal rights that any one of us may have to seek payment or relief of any kind from the City of Raleigh, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, and the State of North Carolina, their employees or their agents for injury, illness, or death relating in any way to this Program.

If I am registering a minor for the Program, I agree that I am a parent, legal guardian, or am otherwise responsible for the minor whose application I am submitting and that I release, waive, and discharge any legal rights on behalf of that minor. If I am registering an adult, I agree that I am authorized to do so and do hereby release, waive, and discharge any legal rights on behalf of that adult participant. I, along with any participant I register herein, also agree not to sue the City of Raleigh, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, or the State of North Carolina, their employees, or their agents and agree to indemnify the same for any and all claims, damages, losses or expenses, including but not limited to medical expenses and attorney’s fees, if a suit is filed concerning an injury (to person or property), illness, or death to me or to any participant I am enrolling that relates to, or results from, participation in the Program.

I have read this waiver thoroughly and understand that by registering for this program I am waiving legal rights.

Pictures or video may be taken of participants at this Program for use in Dix Park publicity. By registering for the Program, I hereby grant the City of Raleigh, Dix Park Conservancy, and program partners permission to use my likeness in a photograph, video, or other digital media (“photo”) in any and all of their publications, including web-based publications and digital platforms, without payment or other consideration. I hereby irrevocably authorize the City of Raleigh, the Dix Park Conservancy, and program partners to edit, alter, copy, exhibit, publish, or distribute these photos for any lawful purpose.

I have read this release thoroughly and understand that by registering for this program I am waiving legal rights. If I am registering a minor for the Program, I agree that I am a parent, legal guardian, or am otherwise responsible for the minor whose application I am submitting and that I affirm consent on behalf of that minor.

By Registering for this Program, I consent to receive emails from Dix Park and Dix Park Conservancy about park news, community engagement, opportunities to support the park, as well as upcoming programs and events. Participants can unsubscribe at any time.

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