BC Business
Slow Studies founder Joshua Conrad is helping multi-disciplinary artists develop their skills with augmented reality technology
Growing up on a reservation in Hope, Joshua Conrad knew that he wanted to be an artist. He spent a lot of time doing arts and crafts with his mom, who was a disabled beadwork artist and residential school survivor. “It was the only time that we could share together,” he says, “because she couldn’t do anything physical like go for walks or ride bikes.”
When she passed away, the grief had a profound impact on Conrad—it left him searching for sense of belonging. “I was trying to find a way of reconnecting with my people and my culture,” he says, noting that he always felt a deep connection to his Stó:lō and Nlaka’pamux roots through his mother’s side of the family. Later, when his maternal aunts began to open up about their own traumas as residential school survivors, it helped him come to a better understanding about both their circumstances and himself.
At 17 years old, Conrad moved to Vancouver. He earned a fine arts diploma from Langara College and a graphic design certificate from Vancouver Community College. And when his dad passed away, his focus on creating impactful 3D art sharpened. “Instead of feeling really depressed, I sunk myself into a new hobby,” he says. “A lot of my drive comes from grief and healing through art.”
When Conrad first created Slow Studies in 2016, it was just an Instagram handle he was using to showcase his 3D artwork. But when he started landing contracts to make Spotify album covers and social media GIFs for organizations, his brand grew. Today, Slow Studies partners with different businesses and multi-disciplinary artists to elevate Indigenous culture, with programs that help self-taught artists develop their skills using art-tech software.
“When [augmented reality] started coming out of the woodwork and all these programs became accessible and free to download, I jumped on the bandwagon,” Conrad says. “Then I realized that nobody was talking about the free software… there are very low awareness drivers around that, unless you’re already working in the 3D or tech space. AR can be used in so many different cases, whether you know how to do 3D graphics or not. I felt like there was a gap there.”
That realization prompted Conrad to launch the Slow Studies Spark Indigenous program, which trains artists on how to use Meta Spark Studio (a free AR tool). His goal is to be able to offer training and workshops for a variety of AR tools, and to create an inclusive environment for self-taught BIPOC artists who are interested in art-tech but don’t know where to start.
“Having Indigenous folks working in technology, I think that’s really empowering for us as a group,” he maintains. Slow Studies has held AR activations in various locations, including the Calgary Stampede, the Art Gallery of Ontario and Vancouver’s Pacific Centre Plaza. “The versatility of augmented reality is really interesting because we’re bringing a place to life with art and story,” says Conrad, adding that it’s the kind of experience his mom would’ve been able to participate in, too.
Over the past year, the number of artists Slow Studies works with has grown from 10 to more than 40. Most recently, through the Spark Indigenous program, Slow Studies partnered with the Vancouver Mural Festival and Gastown BIA to transform Gastown’s Le Magasin Alley with AR installations. The activations gave people a unique way to engage with creations by Indigenous artists like Diamond Point and Olivia George.
“That alley would just sit stagnant otherwise,” says Conrad. “We’re really focused on placemaking, Indigenizing spaces and creating experiences—indoors or outdoors—that people can learn from using our technology.”