PROGRAMS

Foundation Mentorship Program: gives women artists in the early developmental stages of their practice the opportunity to work with established artists in a year-long mentorship relationship.

Mentor in Residence Program: an intensive mentorship, pairing an established Canadian
artist with artists for a six-week period.

AWAM: programs to support Aboriginal women artists in the development of their professional visual art practices.

First Fridays: an informal lunch-hour workshop/lecture series on a wide variety of topics from how to apply for exhibitions to the role of the artist in contemporary society.

Workshops: provide training to artists at all levels, from beginning to senior, in studio skills on topics ranging from computer training to welding.

Critical Reading Group: A facilitator organizes regular meetings to discuss texts of interest to MAWA's membership and issues relevant to contemporary art practices.

Volunteer: Members are encouraged to become active in MAWA by joining a committee or helping with an event or special project.

---

New Program!

Stitch 'n Bitch

Join us for on the first Saturday of every month from noon - 4 pm for Stitch ’n Bitch. MAWA's SnB group in not limited to knitting. It is open to men and women of all ages and stages to come and sew, mend, bead, knit, crochet, and connect with members of our community.

---

Curatorial Mentorship with Sigrid Dahle
Jan. 1, 2010 – July 1, 2011, followed by exhibition

MAWA is celebrating our 25th anniversary with a unique, 18-month mentorship program for women dedicated to curatorial practice. With the Manitoba Arts Council’s support, two emerging or mid-career curators will work under the mentorship of senior, independent curator, Sigrid Dahle.

Mentor and mentees will meet regularly to explore the theory, practice and ethics of curating, art work commissioning, catalogue production, audience engagement and project fundraising. They will research and discuss how artists and other contemporary cultural producers interpret, symbolize, theorize, perform and negotiate the conundrums of 21st century life. They will consider MAWA's unique role, history and contribution in this regard. Then, under the guidance of Dahle, the two selected curators will conceptualize, entitle, develop and present a curatorial project which includes the commissioning and public presentation of new art work in honor MAWA’s 25th anniversary.

As well, in collaboration with MAWA, the mentees will fundraise for the curatorial project and will negotiate exhibition venues. Though some of the project may be situated at MAWA, other venues such as public spaces, magazine pages, virtual sites, performance theatres, broadcast networks, etc. will be considered. MAWA anticipates that the project will be presented in 2011, and will be accompanied by a catalogue featuring essays by the curators, curatorial mentor and possibly others. Rather than simply reviewing MAWA’s past, this curatorial anniversary project will interpret the complex social, political, economic and cultural conditions in which today’s women artists live, work, dream, struggle and play.

In recognition of the scale of this project, each mentee will be paid $1500.

MAWA has chosen Sigrid Dahle to mentor this project because of her vast experience as an independent curator and art writer. Over the past 20 years, Dahle has developed provocative exhibitions that have been mounted in venues ranging from The Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Dunlop Art Gallery (Regina), the Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon), Gallery 1C03 (University of Winnipeg), Gallery 1.1.1. (University of Manitoba), Ace Art Inc., Video Pool Media Arts Centre, and Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art. Her art reviews and theoretical writing appears regularly in magazines and periodicals locally, nationally and internationally.

Application deadline: Fri. Nov. 6, 2009, 4 pm. To apply, please submit:

-a cover letter explaining why you are interested in the program
-a c.v.
-samples of your critical writing and/or documentation of your curatorial work
-any other support material you feel is relevant to your application

Please do not staple. All applicants must be members of MAWA.