Mentoring Artists for Women's Art

Mentoring Artists for Women's Art (MAWA) is a feminist visual arts education center. Created in 1983, this non-profit organization encourages and supports the intellectual and creative development of women in the visual arts by providing an ongoing forum for education and critical dialogue.[1]

Monthly MAWA programming includes lectures, artist talks, skills based workshops, professional practices workshops, critical reading groups, studio visits, an artist-mothers group, screenings and field trips. Visiting artists and curators have included Lucy Lippard (Albuquerque, New Mexico), Deborah Kelly (Sydney, Australia), Sara Riel (Reykjavik, Iceland), Rosalie Favell (Ottawa), Allyson Mitchell (Toronto), Yolanda Paulsen (Mexico City) and Huma Mulji (Lahore, Pakistan). MAWA provides a platform for critical writing as well, by commissioning text that appears in their newsletter and on their website.

Although MAWA's mentorship programs are for women-identifying artists, recognizing historical and present-day inequalities, the majority of their programs are open to people of all genders, and are offered at low or no cost. MAWA has over 300 paid members, of whom approximately 80% reside in Winnipeg. An additional 10% are located throughout Manitoba and an additional 10% throughout the rest of Canada. Well over 350 volunteers contribute to MAWA each year.

History

MAWA was founded by Diane Whitehouse, Sheila Butler and others, to redress gender in the visual arts by giving opportunities to women.[2] Created as a committee of Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art in 1983 and renamed Manitoba Artists for Women’s Art after branching off in 1984, a "new organization committed to the support, encouragement and exposure of women artists. The objectives of the organization are to encourage greater communication among women artists in the community and to create a new forum for the exchange of ideas and expression of concerns.”[3]

Mentorship

MAWA works to sustain art in the community through mentorship programs. Senior artists share their experience and expertise with developing artists in a peer-support learning environment that empowers women to build their practices. Through mentorship, MAWA has created a vibrant, skilled community, serving women artists in all phases of their careers.

Foundation Mentorship Program

The Foundation Mentorship Program has been MAWA’s core activity since 1985. It is a year-long program in which established 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.[4]

The program provides: essential critical feedback on work at key times; professional skills development necessary for survival as artists; entitlement and empowerment within the larger art world; and inclusion in the local visual art community. Since its inception MAWA has provided mentorships for hundreds of women artists in the year-long Foundation Mentorship Program. They partner with different arts organizations each year to add an additional Mentor, to open this program to expanded communities. These include La maison des artistes (Francophone artists), Urban Shaman Gallery (Aboriginal curators) and Manitoba Crafts Council (craft-based artists).

Mentors and Mentees

Mentors have included Sheila Butler, Aganetha Dyck, Diana Thorneycroft, Eleanor Bond, Bev Pike, Grace Nickel, Sigrid Dahle, Shawna Dempsey, KC Adams, and many more. Former mentees have included Reva Stone, Laura Letinsky, Roewan Crowe, and Dominique Rey, among others.[5]

Exhibitions

Grrls, Chicks, Sisters & Squaws: Les Citoyennes de la Web (2006)

Curated by Skawennati Tricia Fragnito

References

  1. ↑ "Mentoring Artists for Women's Art - Building Community Through Mentorship". www.virtualmuseum.ca. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  2. ↑ "The New Gallery : Database". collective.thenewgallery.org. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  3. ↑ "Art Agencies to the Rescue | Herizons Magazine". www.herizons.ca. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  4. ↑ "Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art". The Manitoban. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  5. ↑ "Foundation Mentorship Program". mawa.ca. Retrieved 2016-03-05.

External links

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