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Foundation Mentorship Program 2019/2020

2018-2019 Foundation Mentorship Program group, September 2018

  • Application Deadline
    Thursday, May 2, 2019 at 4:00pm
  • September 2019 – August 2020

Call for submissions

Year-long Mentorship Program, Sept 2019 – Sept 2020
Extended application deadline: Thursday, May 2, 2019 at 4pm
For all women and non-binary visual artists

The Foundation Mentorship Program (FMP) has been the core of MAWA’s programming activities since 1985. Artists who have gone through the FMP describe it as having been “pivotal,” “transformative” and “life changing.” It is designed to help women and non-binary people 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. It is a year-long program in which established artists (mentors) meet individually with their mentees for 4 hours per month to share their experience, expertise and advice. The entire FMP group meets for 3 hours each month for critiques, discussion, gallery visits and other activities.

Applicants are selected based on the quality and potential of the artwork submitted, the emerging artist’s willingness to dedicate time to the program and the mentor’s ability to work with the emerging artist through a shared medium or conceptual interest. Mentors choose their mentees.

Potential mentees of all adult 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.

If you have applied before and were unsuccessful, consider revisiting your application and the quality of your images and apply again. Note that demand for this program far outstrips available spaces. Sometimes the mentors agree that an artist’s work is excellent, but they do not feel that they have the specific skills or experience to help that artist. Another year, another mentor might select you.

To apply for the Foundation Mentorship Program:

Please email a single pdf document labelled with your name, containing:

  • 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 (if English is not your first language and you would like to apply verbally, please call the office and we can make accommodations)
  • an artist résumé (maximum 3 pages)
  • up to 20 embedded jpg images of your artwork captioned with the title of the work, the media, date completed and dimensions, or links to up to 3 minutes of video

If you are not already a member, please also submit a MAWA membership form and payment. MAWA memberships cost $15 for underwaged persons and $30 for others. Email applications to [email protected] and put “FMP Application 2019” in the subject line.

The 2019-2020 Mentors

MAWA mentors are respected for their artistic production locally, nationally and internationally. They are connected to the art world. They know how to share information and skills. 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:

  • Yvette Cenerini is a Franco-Métis artist who has participated in group shows in Manitoba, Québec and Ontario and has had a solo exhibition at La Maison des artistes, Winnipeg. Her work in paint and photocollage is characterized by the use of animal-as-subject. It examines the intricacies of emotion through a simple aesthetic, laden with sarcastic undertones. Cenerini is currently interested in the amalgamation of collage and new media to depict the notion of dependency. She is a graduate of MAWA’s Foundation Mentorship Program.

  • Sarah Crawley works with ideas generated from lived experience using different photographic technologies and materials. Her recent investigations examine the impact vulnerability and personal loss have on identity. Crawley has received many arts grants over the years. She has exhibited across Canada as well as internationally, and her work is
    held in public collections. She is the Community Programming Coordinator at Martha Street Studio.

  • Leslie Supnet is a media artist who has served as a peer assessor for the Manitoba Arts Council, Winnipeg Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council, and for awards granted through organizations including the Winnipeg Film Group, Video Pool, Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT), PIX Film, Gimli Film Festival and the Toronto Animated Images Society (TAIS) Animation Showcase.

  • Jenny Western is an independent curator, writer and educator. She holds a master's degree in Art History and Curatorial Practice from York University in Toronto. Jenny’s research interests include matrilineality, regionalism, bicycle culture, the small and the quiet. She has curated projects across Western Canada and is a member of the Ephemerals, an all-female Indigenous art collective with output ranging from fashion to films.

  • Lisa Wood is a figurative-based artist whose practice encompasses painting, drawing, collage, installation and photography. In the last 5 years, she has been creating paintings and drawings based on time-lapse photography of people at social occasions involving food and drink. She is interested in surveillance technology, the body and eating in relation to social psychology. Wood is an Assistant Professor at Brandon University in the Department of Visual and Aboriginal Art. She is a graduate of the Foundation Mentorship Program.