The Foundation Mentorship Program is a year-long program in which senior artists share their experience with developing artists. It is designed to help women in the visual arts develop skills and define their decision-making philosophies, and to provide access to the information, resources and support they need to realize their goals. In addition to a one-on-one relationship with a mentor, the program provides a peer group for the mentees through group meetings.
This program has been MAWA’s core activity since 1985. It is offered each year because it is so effective in helping participants in their journey towards being professional artists. Many women who have gone through the program describe it as having been “pivotal” and “transformative”.
Mentors meet individually with their mentees for 4 hours per month, and the entire group meets for 3 hours monthly for critiques, discussion, gallery visits and other activities.
Applicants are selected based on the quality and potential of the work submitted, the emerging artist’s willingness to dedicate time to the program, and the mentor’s ability to work with the emerging artist because of mutuality of practice or conceptual framework. Potential mentees of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
Successful applicants will be charged a $300 fee for the program. There is no fee to apply, although you must be a MAWA member. Students are not eligible.
One bursary of $250 is available to a successful applicant (by application) to help offset the cost of registration.
If you have any questions, please contact Lindsey Bond, Interim Program and Administrative Coordinator, at 949-9490 or [email protected].
To apply for the Foundation Mentorship Program:
Please email, mail or drop off:
– a letter outlining why you want to participate in this program and what you hope to achieve through mentorship (make sure the letter also includes information regarding how we can contact you by phone, email and post); please also describe your artistic practice
– an artist resumé (maximum 3 pages)
– up to 20 jpg images of your artwork or up to 10 minutes of video
– an image list that includes the titles of the work, the media, date completed and dimensions
Please format your online application so that the text documents are in one pdf, doc or docx file. Please send or drop off your images as jpgs, un-embedded, no larger than 72 dpi at 1024 x 768 pixels. Please number images to correspond with your image list, beginning with 01, 02, 03, etc. Either provide web links to online videos or mail or drop off a playable DVD. If you are not already a member, please also submit a MAWA membership form and payment. MAWA membership costs $15 for underwaged persons and $30 for others. Applications are due at MAWA by Friday, April 25 at 4:00 pm. Email applications to [email protected] and put “FMP” in the subject heading.
Remember, the number of applicants far exceeds available spaces for each program. Selection of mentees is based on several factors including compatibility with the mentors (a shared choice of media, set of artistic concerns or content) and the mentor’s sense of whether they can be helpful to you at this point in your process. If you are not successful, please consider applying again. And in the meantime, check out other programs and opportunities at MAWA.
The 2014/2015 Mentors
MAWA mentors are connected to the art world locally, nationally and internationally. They have achieved a high level of respect for their artistic production locally, nationally and internationally. They are capable. They want to share information and skills. They have experience with sharing their knowledge. They communicate effectively. They are committed to building community. We are pleased to announce that the following artists will each select two mentees to work with in the upcoming year.
Divya Mehra
Divya Mehra is a graduate of the MFA program at Columbia University, New York. Her practice draws from experiences of displacement, cultural conventions and hybridization, infusing a biting wit in the execution of her projects. Divya’s work has been included in a number of exhibitions and screenings, most notably at Creative Time, MoMA PS1, MTV, The Queens Museum of Art, MASS MoCA, Art Asia (Miami), Platform Centre for Photographic + Digital Arts, Plug In ICA, Artspeak, Images Festival, The Beijing 798 Biennale, Bielefelder Kunstverein (Germany) and Latitude 28 (India). Recent publications featuring her work have appeared in print and online through The New York Times, Art in America, Whitewall Magazine, and Vogue India. Divya Mehra was longlisted for the Sobey Art Award in 2013. She is currently represented by Georgia Scherman Projects (gallery) in Toronto. Caption: Divya Mehra, The Pleasure in Hating, digital c-print, 22.5\” x 30\”, 2010. Caption: Photo by Krisjanis Kaktins-Gorsline
Mélanie Rocan
Mélanie Rocan is a Franco-Manitoban artist whose paintings sensitively explore fragile subconscious states. She has an MFA from the University of Concordia in Montreal, with participation in an exchange program at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. She is a three-time semifinalist for the RBC Painting Competition, and has exhibited at the Power Plant in Toronto, the Contemporary Museum in Montreal, the Contemporary Art Gallery of Vancouver, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto and venues in Scotland, France and the United States. In 2012-2013 she had a survey show at the Doris McCarthy Gallery, Scarborough U of T campus, the Kenderdine in Saskatoon and Plug In ICA in Winnipeg. Her work is represented by Paul Petro Contemporary Art in Toronto and Galerie KEZA in Paris. The mentorship with Mélanie Rocan is being offered through a partnership with Centre culturel franco-manitobain. Caption: Mélanie Rocan, Back lane projections, acrylic and oil on canvas, 12 x 12 inches, 2013
Reva Stone
Reva Stone’s work is concerned with how biotechnological and robotic practices are impacting upon the very nature of what it means to be human. Her work has included pieces such as Imaginal Expression, an endlessly mutating responsive 3D environment, Carnevale 3.0, an autonomous robot that reflects on the nature of human consciousness, and Portal, a recent work that combines custom software, media, robotics and mobile phone technology to create a work that appears to be sentient. Recently, she has been altering and re-purposing obsolete devices that refer to the history of technology. Reva has received many awards, including an honorable mention from Life 5.0, Art & Artificial Life International Competition, Fundación Telefónica, Madrid, Spain. She has exhibited widely in Canada, the US and Europe, has presented at symposia and has been published in journals such as Second Nature: the International Journal of Creative Media. Caption: Reva Stone, Microforge, embedded computer, electronics, sensors, video, joystick, 2013
Daina Warren
Daina Warren is of the Montana Cree Nation in Hobbema, Alberta. In 2000, she was awarded Canada Council\’s Assistance to Aboriginal Curators for Residencies in the Visual Arts program to work with grunt gallery in Vancouver. This opportunity led to a permanent position with the artist-run centre as an associate curator and administrator until 2009. Warren completed the Canada Council\’s Aboriginal Curatorial Residency at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, where she curated the group exhibition Don\’t Stop Me Now, which was on display until November 2011. She received her Bachelor’s degree in 2003, graduating from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. In the summer of 2012, Warren graduated from the Masters in Art History program, completing the Critical and Curatorial Studies from the University of British Columbia. She is currently Director of Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Caption: Daina Warren, curatorial project, 2011
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