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There is no replacement for in-person mentoring, however, we recognize that most artists and/or potential artists travel for a living and have schedules which vary daily. Responding to this reality, ArtsLEAF has designed an online mentoring program to help overcome such obstacles. Additionally, online mentoring programs in organizations such as IMentor and its more than 30 partners, show that successful mentoring relationships can be built via new technology. By utilizing online communication, ArtsLEAF can accomodate the demanding schedules of professionals while simultaneously developing relationships between mentors and mentees regardless of geographical limitations.
In the past year, ArtsLEAF has successfully partnered with IMentor Interactive (www.imentor.org) to develop the online mentoring platform. Access to the online platform is offered to the mentees and mentors after they register through our website and then submit an online application through our platform which is reviewed and approved by the ArtsLEAF team. Once participants have been accepted they receive training by ArtsLEAF staff via Skype conference call, which includes instruction on platform functionality and guidelines for privacy, etiquette and protocols. After the training, the participants sign the mentoring agreement, mentor and mentee are matched and their work begins.
The mentoring program is structured through a curriculum of weekly writing prompts and questions sent to the participants through the online platform. The curriculum supports the development of the relationship between the mentor and mentee by providing icebreakers, questions that pertain to their participation in the arts, and assignments that encourage the mentee to research arts-related subjects. Each week, the mentor and mentee are required to fulfill the weekly curriculum objectives, creating a professional relationship.
The curriculum is facilitated and communicated entirely through the online platform, which is monitored by ArtsLEAF staff. The mentoring program is divided into three levels: Professional Development, College, and Under 18, which will be added in 2013. We can further break down these levels to suit the needs of partnering organizations and groups of participants respective to geographic and demographic needs. ArtsLEAF will continue to refine and structure the curriculum to support the development of the mentee so that the participants may work for as long as they agree their relationship is productive, typically 2 to 3 years.
In addition to the weekly correspondence between mentor and mentee on the platform, the participants are required to have bi-monthly meetings via ArtsLEAF’s Skype platform.These meetings, which are recorded for the security of the participants, allow for the mentor and mentee to have an open dialogue concerning the mentee’s interest in becoming an artist or arts administrator. For the first Skype meeting, the participants are guided by an ArtsLEAF staff member who outlines the policies they are both required to follow and helps facilitate a comfortable and professional introduction.
