ARTIST IN COMMUNITIES MENTORSHIP

Throughout 2021 and 2022, Common Weal joined a remarkable partnership with the City of Prince Albert helping develop a comprehensive Artist in Communities Mentorship Program. The program arose from a need for more community engaged art programming, as reflected in the results of research conducted by local curator Jesse Campbell, assessing the cultural assets and needs within the city. The feedback showed enthusiastic responses to having creative programming in community facilities. Regional artists also expressed a desire to engage with community groups, but felt they lacked the experience and training to begin. In response a mentorship program was initiated, in which experienced relational artists act as mentors to artists new to the practice, as they entered their first community engagements. 

In the first phase, five local artists developed workshops to be held in several facilities serving a variety of people, including at-risk youth, young mothers in transition housing, mental health programs, and seniors. The local artists going into the facilities were visual artists Alan Ruder and Danielle Castle, beader Marcy Friesen, musician Kevin Joseph, writer Beth Gobeil, and actress Adreanna Bouche. They were mentored closely by Lynda Monahan, a writer and veteran relational artist who for several years created exemplary programs with Common Weal’s support, including a highly effective residency on the hospital wards, and later a writer in residence program in the local library. Northern Artistic Director Judy McNaughton was an advisor during the development of the Artist in Communities Mentorship Program and acted as a mentor to the artists and curator, sharing the concepts, theory, and application of socially engaged art practices. It’s gratifying to see engaged practices taking root in Prince Albert, and inspiring to observe them flourish with a variety of distinct and proficient methodologies that new practitioners are bringing to the artform. 

The benefits of community engaged arts are beginning to be properly recognized and supported by the City of Prince Albert and their partnering organizations. The program has proven to be effective at nurturing a diverse arts ecosystem in the city, and could be an important consideration for the municipal support of healthy communities.