Seeing Beyond the Object

Submitted by: Carmen Milenkovic, SCC Executive Director

I’ve only started here. July 2nd was my first day.
What I’ve come to know, seated at my desk on the second floor, is that I fashion any possible reason to wander down the staircase to the gallery below. Opening the door to that magical space immediately changes my mood, relaxes my sometimes frenetic mind and draws a gasp.

The exhibit on now – Art of the Book – is simply beautiful. If you haven’t made it to the Gallery you have until Saturday the 12th of July at 5PM to wander through its profound display of book binding and creation.

Susan Carr, Mexico, 2012. Photo by Mike Sullen

I take in one or two of the pieces with each descent down the staircase. I wonder at the inspiration and marvel at the execution. I’m not a creator but I’m a passionate book lover. And it’s not only the content that makes me a fan. I love the feel of the book, the softness of the front cover, the way the pages flip open, and the paper on which the printed word is lovingly held. I run my finger down the spine, and read the notes – the raves, the bios, the synopses – and I assess its possible place on one of my shelves (or more likely the piles that I’ve come to accumulate). I must say that I have to hold my hands behind my back as I wander through this exhibit – everything about the art pieces cries out to be touched, and yet I know I shouldn’t.

Patricia Owen, Collected Proverbs of Erasmus, 2013. Photo by Mike Sullen

On Monday, I was in the gallery at the same time as Martha Cole, a major Saskatchewan artist, one of our patrons, and a member of the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild – the organization that curated and is touring Art of the Book 2013. She was with a friend, a fellow artist, visiting the exhibit. Les Potter introduced us; following a brief exchange, we stopped to look at Collected Proverbs of Erasmus by Patricia Owen. Martha told us that this was a masterpiece as it was carved from wood and wrapped with a fine skin of goat leather that was then painted. I've looked at that piece many times, but it wasn’t until Martha told me about its intricacies did I realize how truly wonderful it was. I hadn’t picked up the catalogue, available to all gallery visitors, to read about the process. And so, even though my eyes recognized something special, I didn’t understand why - until I spoke with Martha.
Thanks Martha. I’ll pick up the catalogue from now on.

CARFAC Mentorship Program

Submitted by: Amanda Bosiak, Member Services

The CARFAC Saskatchewan Mentorship Program is the only program of its kind in Saskatchewan. Quite simply, the program partners experienced artists with new, emerging or mid-career artists. The goal of the program is to help build the skills and knowledge required for an artist to make art their full-time career. Post-secondary arts programs and art workshops, residencies and other educational opportunities for opportunities for artists tend to focus on the making of art, but not on the making of an artist.

The CARFAC Saskatchewan Mentorship Program at a glance

I won't go into a detailed description of the program, because CARFAC already does a very good job of explaining what it's all about. It is an excellent program, for both the mentors and mentees. Instead, I'd like to go over some things about the program that you may not know.

You can apply as an individual - either as a mentor or mentee - and CARFAC will do the matching for you. You CAN apply together as mentor/mentee and CARFAC will honour that match. Being "partnerless" is not an obstacle to applying.

• There is no application form - You submit a Letter of Application and the deadline for 2013 is JUNE 17 (a little over a week and a half from now!)
• You are matched based on the skills you can offer/want to learn rather than by medium. For example; you are a fibre artist and want to work on the conceptual approach to your work, and your art focuses on environmental sustainability, the best match for you may not be another fibre artist. Rather, you could be partnered with a photographer with a history of environmentally conscious body of work.
• You and your match meet before the program goes into full swing. If you feel for whatever reason that it isn't the right match, CARFAC will re-match you.
• The program is Mentee driven - meaning that the program is meant to meet the needs of the student. This also means that successful Mentee applicants are those that have a very clear idea of what they want to learn, and are demonstrably committed to a career in art.
• Travel money is available to both the Mentor and the Mentee for group and regional meetings, as well as meeting with each other if the matched pair live in different communities. This is available above and beyond the core funding to both the Mentor and Mentee.
• The program lasts for 10 months and requires a minimum of 7 hours a month for both the Mentor and Mentee to meet (primarily face to face, but also includes Skype or video conference, phone and email). In addition, there are 3 province wide group meetings with all Mentor/Mentee pairs. These include workshops and other professional building activities. Another 2 regional meetings (North Sask and South Sask) take place for things such as group critiques and studio visits.
• CARFAC follows up with the Mentees three years after their participation in the program to help keep track of both the program's success and the participants success!

Professional art practices and knowledge of how to become self-sustaining as an artist are not the kind of things taught in a classroom. The CARFAC Mentorship Program is one of the most comprehensive mentorship programs of its kind. (CARFAC Saskatchewan actually mentored with other mentorship programs across Canada during its development!) An incredible number of SCC members have participated in the program over the past 10 years, including June Jacobs, Ken Wilkinson, Cindy Obuck, Rowan Pantel, Anita Rocamora, Paul La Pointe and many others.

Have you participated in the CARFAC Saskatchewan Mentorship Program (or any mentorship program)? How did it help you?