MAWA’s mentorship program celebrates 40 years Reverberations exhibition showcases women’s talent over the decades By: Thandi Vera Posted: 6:07 PM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 4, 2024 Last Modified: 11:49 AM CDT Thursday, Sep. 5, 2024 Updates

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Forty years ago, a small group of women artists in Manitoba came together with a simple yet powerful idea: to support and mentor each other in their creative journeys.

This vision grew into the Foundation Mentorship Program (FMP) at Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art (MAWA), a program that has since nurtured the careers of more than 400 artists.

“Arts and culture are such an essential part of the fabric of our city,” says Shawna Dempsey, MAWA’s co-executive director and the winner, with artistic partner Lorri Millan, of the 2023 award for Career Achievement in the Arts from the Winnipeg Arts Council.

“The Foundation Mentorship Program has been a cornerstone in supporting artists, particularly women and gender-diverse individuals, who often face unique challenges in the art world.”

The FMP was born out of a need for community and support at a time when female artists were often marginalized in the mainstream art world, says Dempsey. It provided a space where emerging artists could receive guidance from established professionals — a place where they could grow their skills, confidence and networks.

“The program is quite in-depth, involving technical advice, conceptual advice, professional practices advice and modelling by a more senior artist in the community,” says Dempsey, who has been part of MAWA since 2008.

The program also offers mentees access to mentors’ networks and insights, which can be crucial in advancing their careers.

“We just had a meeting of the current group and people said things like, ‘My practice has grown by leaps and bounds,’ ‘I wouldn’t be where I am now without this program’ and ‘MAWA has changed my life,’” says Dempsey, whose most recent project is Thunderhead, a collaborative national monument in Ottawa that’s a testament to systemic injustices against LGBTTQ+ peoples by the Canadian state.

This year, MAWA is celebrating the FMP with a special exhibition titled Reverberations: 40 Years of MAWA’s Foundation Mentorship Program, co-curated by Abigail Auld and Jenny Western, both of whom have personal ties to the program.

The exhibition features the work of 11 artists who have been participants in the mentorship program.

“They chose to select representative artists from the 40-year history,” Dempsey says. “They chose people who have been mentors, people who have been mentees and people who’ve been both mentors and mentees within the program from its inception in 1985 until 2023.”

The artworks on display not only represent the history of the program but also highlight the ongoing dialogue between generations of artists, she says.

“That mentorship really helped me bridge the gap between being a student and figuring out how to maintain my art practice on my own”–Lisa Wood

One of the featured artists, Lisa Wood, began her journey with MAWA when she was still in high school.

“MAWA and the Foundation Mentorship Program have been so foundational in me moving forward as an artist,” Wood says.

Her experience as a mentee opened her eyes to the realities of making art for a living.

“That was a huge moment for me, to be able to see what a working artist did and to even just have my eyes open to the art community,” she says.

For Wood, the mentorship she received from artist Aurora Landin was instrumental in making her a professional artist.

“That mentorship really helped me bridge the gap between being a student and figuring out how to maintain my art practice on my own,” she explains.

The guidance she received extended beyond artistic techniques to include navigating the challenges of sustaining a practice outside the structured environment of an educational institution.

Wood’s relationship with MAWA didn’t end with her time as a mentee.

She later returned to the program as a mentor, finding the experience equally rewarding.

“It was a very, very great experience for me to be a mentor, to see their practices and the kinds of things they needed guidance with,” she says.

“I learned so much from my mentees. Their fresh perspectives and the challenges they faced reminded me of my own journey, but also opened my eyes to new ways of thinking and creating. It was a reciprocal relationship in the truest sense.”

Wood says the relationships built through the FMP are lasting.

“I’m still in touch with my mentor and some of the people I’ve mentored. We support each other’s work, attend each other’s exhibitions and sometimes even collaborate on projects.

“MAWA has fostered a real community, one that’s intergenerational and deeply interconnected.”

Wood’s artwork, which has evolved significantly since her early days in the program, is deeply informed by the mentorship she received. Her practice explores themes of identity, memory, and the human body.

“The support I received from MAWA helped me to explore and embrace these themes more fully,” she says. “I was encouraged to take risks, to push my work further and to trust my instincts as an artist.”

Wood’s table series, featured in the Reverberations exhibit, explores themes of community, mentorship and artistic inspiration. The series emerged from intimate dinners Wood hosted with artists she admired, creating a space to discuss the challenges and triumphs of an artistic life.

“I wanted to create a safe, intimate space where I could ask them how they situate their practice in the art world or derive meaning from their artwork,” Wood says.

These dinners, held in Winnipeg and Toronto, led to deep conversations on topics such as persistence in the art world and measuring success.

Inspired by the idea of “getting a seat at the table,” Wood referenced Tian Ning Cheng’s essay, Towards a Radical Rethinking of Tables, which discusses how marginalized artists often need to build their own tables through hard work and collaboration.

From these recorded conversations, Wood says she selected stills capturing her guests in reflective moments, inspired by historical paintings of saints in moments of divine inspiration. She titled each painting after direct quotes.

Reflecting on the exhibition, Wood says she’s excited to be part of such a significant milestone in MAWA’s history. “It’s an honour to be included in this exhibition,” she says. “It’s a celebration of everything MAWA has achieved over the past 40 years, but it’s also a moment to look forward, to think about how we can continue to support and uplift future generations of artists.”

Reverberations opens with a party on Friday, giving visitors an opportunity to meet the artists. The exhibition continues on Wednesdays through Fridays until Oct. 18.

thandi.vera@freepress.mb.ca