McMichael, Arts Council team up for mentor program

Yorkregion.com
March 13, 2014
By Chris Traber

If you are an emerging York Region artist, you have until Saturday at 5 p.m. to make your submission to the Art Mentorship Project, a partnership between the York Region Arts Council and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

The project is designed to offer professional development to emerging artists who have been practising or exhibiting their work for less than three years, allowing them to fine-tune their skills through technical assistance, theoretical discussions, critiques and exhibition preparation over a four-month period.

The mentor and apprentice meet at the McMichael over three two-day sessions and collaborate on a piece or body of work that will be displayed at the gallery from January to March 2015.

This year’s mentor is Bonnie Devine, a member of the Serpent River First Nation of Northern Ontario, Ojibwa/Anishinaabe. She is an accomplished installation artist, curator, writer and educator. Her work is rooted in sculpture and site-specific installation, but also includes video, drawing and painting.

Ms Devine’s art is about stories, especially the narratives, history, or legends of the land and has been exhibited in Canada, the United States, and Europe. She is an associate professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto.

The mentor and apprentice will be granted the opportunity to exhibit in the community gallery upon completion of the project. The exhibition will predominantly include work made as a result of this collaboration as well as additional works, as space permits, that would provide context to the project thesis.

The mandate of the Art Mentorship Project is to foster professional development, production and exhibition of local emerging artists under the guidance of established artists in a distinctly Canadian context.

Artists working in all mediums are encouraged to apply. In addition to the submission requirements acceptance will be based on openness, willingness and enthusiasm to explore budding ideas and new techniques under the direction of their mentor.

For more information and online submission forms, visit yorkregionartscouncil.com.