Artquest

Mentoring is:
"a one-to-one, non-judgemental relationship in which an individual voluntarily gives time to support and encourage another. This is typically developed at a time of transition in the mentee's life, and lasts for a significant and sustained period of time." (Active Community Unit, Home Office);

"support, assistance, advocacy or guidance given by one person to another in order to achieve an objective or several objectives over a period of time" (SOVA);

"an adult who can provide a pupil with the benefit of their life, school or work experience with a view to encouraging them to move confidently through a range of new experiences" (Salford Business Education Partnership);

"the support of one individual by another within a personal relationship developed through regular contact over a period of time" (Pan London Standard);

"a process by which an older and more experienced person takes a younger person under his/her wing, freely offering advice, support and encouragement. The older person (the mentor) becomes among other things, a role model who inspires the younger person (the mentee)" (North London College).

Mentors are:
"someone who helps another person on a one to one basis, usually younger, through an important transition" (The DIVERT Trust);

"many things - a positive role model, an adviser, an experienced friend. Somebody from outside a person's immediate circle taking a special interest can make an enormous difference."(Excellence in Schools, 1997).

Many creative mentoring opportunities emerge out of commissioning programmes whereby an established artist is asked (as part of his or her major commission) to mentor younger artists in order to provide practical experience in the public art process.

Watch out for mentoring opportunities associated to major public art projects, the majority of which are advertised in AN Magazine and Art Monthly. Public art agencies could also be contacted individually.

For a listing of various commissioning agencies, go to www.publicartonline.org.uk or try University of the Arts London's public art web guide on www.arts.ac.uk/library/4790.htm

For detailed documentation on the mentoring process try the career/professional development section of www.a-n.co.uk which gives personal accounts of artists' mentoring experiences and explains the mentoring process.

Tower Hamlets Creative Industries Development Agency (CIDA) is one of a number of development agencies supporting practitioners in London. CIDA provides: listings of events; features on local initiatives and cultural businesses; directories of businesses; a notice board; online forum; events calendar and artists' profile for those wishing to source all manner of creative partnerships in Tower Hamlets. For more detailed information on Tower Hamlets CIDA, go to www.cida.co.uk.

To learn more about other regions creative industries mentoring programmes, try the Forum on Creative Industries website on www.foci.org.uk. Some of Artquest's fellow members of the APD Network also provide mentoring programmes. For a full list of members, see the APD Network website.