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Mentorship

Bev Pike, The Deluge, gouache on paper, 2.4 m x 6.1 m, 2005

“Because of mentorship I have immersed myself much more fully in the art scene. I do not feel like I am on the outside anymore. And now I can really articulate myself and answer questions about who I am as an artist and WHY I make art.”

– Barb Bottle

Mentorship is a peer-based relationship in which an experienced practitioner offers counsel, support, feedback and resources to a more emerging one.

What mentoring can do:

  • develop a mentee’s skills, knowledge, confidence, self-reliance
  • pass on professional knowledge
  • develop community
  • help solve problems and realize professional dreams

The mentor has specific experience which is relevant to the mentee. They have “been there, done that” and can offer guidance through first-hand experience.

Mentorship makes our lives, each other’s lives, our organizations and our communities healthier and more effective.

The word “mentor” originates in Homer’s Odyssey, and contains aspects of gender fluidity, the human and the divine. In Homer’s 8thc BC epic poem, Ulysses leaves his son Telemachus under the care and guidance of an ineffectual old man named Mentor. The goddess Athena sees this, recognizes that problems will arise, and embodies Mentor to better guide the young man. The word and concept have endured for almost 3,000 years.

Watch our video, Impacts of Mentorship