UPCOMING DEADLINE: TAC Newcomer and Refugee Artists Mentorship Grant
The Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship program is a unique opportunity for professional artists.
Deadline is May 4, 2020
“There are so many aspects of our society that are reflected in the arts—gender inequality, institutional racism, the ongoing effects of colonialism. Newcomers come with different perspectives, and through their art, they ask extremely intelligent and insightful questions about society. If we continue to make it difficult for newcomers to join the arts sector in Toronto, I think we will continue to miss out on their potential and their contributions”
- Rupal Shah, Strategic Programs Manager, Toronto Arts Council
Ahmed and Jeremy photography: Dahlia Katz (Provided by TAC)
We could all benefit from engaging each others potential and contributions in more intersectional ways. Communities continue to build coalition with newcomers joining the arts sector in Toronto via resource sharing in myriad ways.
How do we create enduring spaces that are genuinely recentering of margins? How do we lift each other up in support?
The Toronto Arts Council’s Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship Program was created as one way to respond to some of these questions, after community consultation. Below we break it down so you can consider getting involved!
The Deadline is May 4, 2020.
The value of the grant is a total of $10,000, with $5,000 paid directly to the newcomer or refugee artist, and the remaining $5,000 paid directly to the mentor.
To find out more about the Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship program, we sat down with artist Lamis Haggag, an alum of the program, as well as Toronto Arts Council Strategic Programs Manager, Rupal Shah.
Lamis Haggag, based in Toronto since 2016, is a visual artist and one of the Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship program recipients of 2017. Her mentor was interdisciplinary artist Rah Eleh, who in 2019 was part of the Intergenerational LGBT Artist Residency cohort.
“Unlike most local grants that are directed towards a specific purpose,” Haggag says, “the mentorship can take any form or shape that you as a newcomer see helps (sic) introduce you to the art scene in Toronto and open up opportunities for your artistic practice in the city. The mentorship can assist with professional development, production or cultural involvement in any way”.
So who is eligible and who is TAC imagining as a grant recipient? In the context of this fund, TAC defines a newcomer as:
An immigrant or refugee who has lived in Canada for less than 7 years
A refugee as a person who was forced to leave their home country and is now located in Canada.
You must be a Canadian Citizen, Permanent Resident, Approved Refugee Claimant (i.e. Protected Person) or have applications for permanent residency or citizenship pending
A mentor and mentee can approach the TAC together, or, a newcomer artist can contact the program, and be matched with a potential mentor by TAC, from their own pool of local professional artists who have expressed interest in TAC. Then the two will meet and decide if they are a good fit. The mentorship application is submitted by the newcomer artist with the mentor as the co-applicant. Both the applicant and the mentor must fit the Toronto Arts Council definition of a professional artist (someone who has developed their artistic skills through training and/or practice; is recognized as a professional by other artists working in the same artistic tradition; actively practices their art; seeks payment for their work; and has a history of public presentation). If a mentor and mentee create a successful match, the mentor artist will work with the newcomer artist to collaboratively design a mentorship process that works for both of them, led by their mutual interests and needs.
Rupal Shah is the Strategic Programs Manager, “which means I manage a slate of multidisciplinary granting programs including our newcomer initiatives. I do outreach in the community, making sure people have access to information, I help people understand our programs and processes, as well as managing the adjudication, or design-making around our grants, which are peer-assessed”.
ILGBTAR: How long has this mentorship program been active?
RS: The program was created in 2016, with the first granting deadline in 2017. The program was created after a community consultation with newcomer artists, folks who work with newcomers and members of the arts community. Since 2017, 71 newcomer artists have been funded to work with a mentor.
ILGBTAR: Rupal, can you tell us in your own words why this opportunity is exciting?
RS: There are so many aspects of our society that are reflected in the arts—gender inequality, institutional racism, the ongoing effects of colonialism. Newcomers come with different perspectives, and through their art, they ask extremely intelligent and insightful questions about society. If we continue to make it difficult for newcomers to join the arts sector in Toronto, I think we will continue to miss out on their potential and their contributions.
ILGBTAR: How does this opportunity roll out for the mentor and mentee?
RS: If you do end up with a successful match, you will work with the newcomer artist to design a mentorship process that works for them, led by their interests and needs. The mentorship can take many different shapes, and there is no obligation to create work together.
ILGBTAR: Lamis, what do you feel are the elements of a productive mentorship within the Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship program?
LH: Newcomers that are hoping to introduce new techniques to their practice and need direction as to where to look.
The mentors should make the mental space and time to accommodate their mentees, and prepare resources that might help the mentee in advance. Mentees are to fully state their expectations to their mentors and to focus on making the most out of their mentorship.
ILGBTAR: What is the benefit of applying to a program like this?
LH: It can help with the shift of working in another context by providing a reassuring environment and ideas that match your direction of work.
RS: Being a newcomer artist can be very isolating. So much of art-making is collaborative. You need to have people in your life who understand what you do, who you can bounce your ideas off of and who you can work with. That’s why the mentorship program is important. It gives the newcomer that one person, that one lifeline who they can text or go to coffee with who can help them acclimatize to Toronto.
ILGBTAR: so it’s not about an end product, but the quality of engagement?
RS: The mentorship can take many different shapes, and there is no obligation to create work together.
If you are a newcomer or refugee artist interested in the Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship program and you need help finding a mentor or accessing translation services, please contact Rupal Shah (She/her)
To access the Application PDF click here
To access their website click here
#TACgrants #poweredbyTAC (for projects that TAC has funded) #TOArts