Now that I hold a director-level position within Creative Generation and own a small business, I find myself serving as a mentor and mentee in equal turns. Ultimately, I find I learn the most from people who are, themselves, willing to learn through an on-going, mutual dialogue. Taking a meta look at this, I’ve narrowed my criteria for rewarding mentorships to three traits.
Read moreWhat’s Your Story?
What are your defining moments? Who has tried to define you? How do you preserve worth? These were the ideas being communicated at the fifth and final installment of the Teaching Artists Guild’s (TAG) program Youth Right Now = Truth Right Now, a series of BIPOC Youth Led Professional Development Workshops that give insight into what helps build creative, nurturing and thriving environments for young artists.
Read moreCall for Blog Posts: What's Mentorship Like These Days?
Our team is sharing their experience with mentorship on the blog and we want to hear from you, too! Take a look at our Modern Membership series and tell us about how you have mentored or been mentored! We want to hear from arts learners, their adult co-conspirators, and everyone in between.
Read moreMODERN MENTORSHIP: From Mentee to Mentor as a Young Creative
As a young creative, I’ve naturally found myself as the mentee in most experiences, both educational and professional. I continue to eagerly look for those willing to share their experiences and wisdom so I can grow as an arts worker and human being. This summer, I suddenly found myself in the position of the mentor rather than the mentee.
Read moreMODERN MENTORSHIP: Personal Reflections: Systems of support through mentorship
As a first-generation college student and daughter of immigrants, I had unconsciously learned to rely on only myself and my immediate family. Anything outside of this close personal network I felt would impose too much of a burden on others. In fact—for a while— doing as much as I could by myself started to become deceptively rewarding. Within academic and professional contexts, I successfully hid any feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, and self-doubt. As you can imagine, this strategy was only sustainable for so long; life inevitably became more complex to navigate on my own. The work was getting done, which provided temporary relief; I had managed to keep my academic scholarship and secure my space at my job, only to be caught in cycles that led to burnout and resentment.
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