Rossland Emerging Artist Residency

Make art in the mountains.

The Rossland Emerging Artist Residency is a bi-annual two-week residency in Rossland, BC, developed and facilitated by Lofty Goal Project. The residency hosts a cohort of three early emerging dance and/or theatre artists (early emerging is defined as 5 years or less out of post-secondary or equivalent training) to create new work. Stay tuned for details on the 2027 residency.

The aim of this residency is to provide early emerging artists with the uninterrupted time and space to dive into research for a new work in a new environment that is free of day-to-day distractions and full of fresh inspiration. Each artist will come to the residency to focus on their own work and research, but will move through the program as a cohort with the support of fellow artists in residence, residency facilitators, and the wider community.

Lofty Goal Project centers a collaborative and community oriented approach to the creative process. As artists we are always bouncing ideas off of each other, learning from one another, and challenging each other. We value the incredible mentors who have encouraged and inspired us, creating within a close network of support. We’ve structured this residency with these values in mind. It’s wildly intimidating to dive into a new process, especially one where you are working independently and at such an early career stage, but it’s an important step. The goal of this residency is to empower young artists to take that leap.

Dates: August 1 - 12, 2025

Location: Rossland, BC

Residency Details

What’s Included:

  • Accommodation for the duration of the program at The Wild Turkey Inn. Each artist has their own room with ensuite bathroom. A communal self-serve kitchen and dining room are fully open to artists. Food is not provided.

  • A minimum of 2 hours of studio space per day for 10 days at Kootenay Danceworks, plus additional time at the Charles Bailey Theatre. Common areas and outdoor spaces at the Inn are available for leisure and other aspects of your work and research outside of the studio.

  • Artist Fee - total amount dependent on funding.

  • Artists will receive archival footage and photos of their work.

Where you’ll be:

Rossland is a small town of about 4,000 people in the Kootenay region, about 1hr from Nelson. Most places in Rossland are walkable, but it’s very hilly! You can walk from The Wild Turkey Inn to Kootenay Danceworks, in downtown Rossland, in about 10 minutes. Most food options are located on the main strip in downtown Rossland.

The Charles Bailey Theatre is about a 15 minute drive from The Wild Turkey Inn.

Transportation to and from Rossland, and within the Kootenays, can be tricky. Support in organizing travel, as well as transportation while artists are with us, can be arranged.

2024 Rossland Emerging Artist Residency Cohort.

Expectations of the Artists:

  • Each artist will teach one workshop for the community during the residency. Residency facilitators will support artists in the planning and implementation of the workshop, as needed. Please note that this is a requirement of our funding and a central part of Lofty Goal Project’s priorities of connecting with the communities we work in.

  • Each artist will participate in a work-in-progress presentation at the end of the residency, with an audience engagement component.

2025 Residency Cohort

August 1 - 12, 2025

Inès Chiha

Elizabeth Fehr

Samantha Walters

  • Inès Chiha is a self-taught Franco-Tunisian performer based in Tio’tia:ke/Montreal. With a background in martial arts (judo, karate, MMA), she discovered street theatre and later, dance as tools of expression rooted in resilience. In 2024, she began creating her first solo through the Big-Bang program, with support from Danse à la Carte, mentorship by Alexandra “Spicey” Landé, and residencies at Circuit-Est. Her artistic approach is rooted in the relationship we maintain with different forms of discourse and our constructions of identity. She specifically explores the dynamics between discourse and rumor, as well as our desire for free will. She co-founded the Molokhia Squad with Bashir Almahayni (aka Beasho) to explore collective practices through dance and movement. Since 2018, she has also worked in youth intervention and peer support. Her goal is to develop community-rooted art and education projects with and for marginalized youth.

  • Elizabeth Fehr (she/her) is a performer, director, and writer residing on the unceded territories of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations (also known as Victoria, BC). With a Performing Arts Diploma and Certificate from the Canadian College of Performing Arts, Elizabeth has spent the past few years immersed in the local theatre, film, and choral scene. Her first short play, Rose Petals, received the Fowler Family Award for Playwriting (Runner-Up) in 2021, and, under her direction, the award for Outstanding Production at the Victoria One Act Play Festival (2023). Her numerous written works for stage and screen highlight societal issues and accountability through passionate and vibrant language, and she hopes that her past, present, and future works open audience’s eyes to what is ignored or unnoticed.

  • Samantha Walters is an emerging interdisciplinary performer, writer, and arts administrator based in Vancouver. She mostly works between experimental theatre, installation, and directing. Their most recent works examine ecological relationships and post-human spiritualities, with a heavy favour towards the weird, the dark, and the camp. She grew up in England and Hong Kong and holds a BFA honours in Theatre Performance from Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts. Her work has been featured by companies such as Rumble Theatre, UNIT/PITT Society for Art and Critical Awareness, Vines Art Festival, the Evergreen Cultural Centre, What Lab, and IGNITE! Youth-Driven Arts Festival.

2024 Residency Cohort

August 29 - September 8, 2024

Mackenzie Grantham

Madeline Setzer

Molly Jamin

  • Mackenzie Grantham is a dancer born and raised in Castlegar, British Columbia. Her experience and love for dance grew through her local studio's competitive dance program. Upon graduation Mackenzie moved to Toronto to attend York University’s Dance Program. Here she trained mainly in Ballet, Modern techniques, floorwork and contact improvisation. Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Choreography and Performance, her recent endeavours include the Toronto remount of ‘Colossus’ by Australian choreographer Stephanie Lake, the remount of ‘DINO’ by Alyssa Martin of Rock Bottom Movement through the Guelph Dance Festival, and a summer of intensive training in Portland, Oregon with NW Dance Project.

  • Madeline is a multidisciplinary artist who has performed, directed, and written for a wide array of film and theatre projects across Canada and abroad. She has studied at Victoria School of the Arts; VAS; Selkirk's Music and Technology program; and currently is working towards a degree in psychology. Recent credits include: Margot (Legally Blonde), Wednesday (The Addams Family), Joan (Gold Fever Follies), Emily (Ghosts of Yesterday), Lou (Gold Fever Follies), Cinderella (Disney Cruise Lines).

  • Molly Jamin (She/Her) is a queer, neurodivergent writer living, learning and creating on Lək̓ʷəŋən territory (Victoria, BC.) She is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Ancient Languages and Creative Writing at The University of Victoria. Molly spent her childhood in Rossland volunteering with the Gold Fever Follies and spearheading projects with the RSS drama department. She is grateful for the opportunity to return to her hometown and dig into her latest work, while giving back to her community!

Our partners

The Rossland Emerging Artist Residency is run in partnership with Rossland Council for Arts and Culture, The Wild Turkey Inn, and Kootenay Danceworks.

KOOTENAY DANCEWORKS

Funders and Sponsors