The Art of Letters Mentoring Initiative

Written By Dorothy Lim-Chew

Usually, the word 'mentoring' conjures up different ideas in the minds of different people.

Mentoring is an idea that encompasses a spectrum of approaches. One end of the spectrum focuses on the knowledge, power or expertise of the mentor. At the opposite end, the focus is more on the mentee, with an emphasis on the personal growth/development to be gained through interactions with a mentor. This latter end is sometimes called "developmental mentoring".

DEVELOPMENTAL MENTORING

In developmental mentoring, the mentee leads the relationship, inviting the mentor into his/her inner dialogue, to work through blocks, or to aid towards specific developmental goals. The learner sets creative goals and invites the experienced trusted advisor into her inner-dialogue in the creative process. The learner will need to know how this advisor can be of assistance, and how much guidance is needed. The mentor is available to guide and facilitate the mentee’s movement towards creative goals, to help push past creative roadblocks. The mentor will guide but will not dictate individual choices. A mentor may also benefit the mentee by sharing experiences, opening doors, or making connections.

The developmental mentor can be thought of as a "midwife". The "midwife" will be there to encourage and provide a safe environment, but the artist is the one who houses, nurtures and develops the treasures within, and eventually has to do the hard work of pushing out the babies!

These relationships are often short-term and are not hierarchical in nature. So mentoring can be peer-mentoring (where both mentor and mentee are of the same "rank") or it can even be upward-mentoring (where the mentor is lower in the hierarchy of an organisation).

The boundaries of the relationship -- what is to be learned, the way the learning takes place, the length of engagement and the desired outcomes (developmental goals) -- are matters to be worked out and agreed upon by both mentor and mentee together. If they do not find congruence in their expectations, then it's not a match, and the mentoring will not be successful.

What does a mentor get out of the relationship? The mentor gets to impart, inspire and influence. The mentor gets to preserve and share knowledge, and in so doing, also hone the skill of mentoring. There is also the attending prestige that comes from being the mentor of a skilled artist.

THE ART OF LETTERS MENTORING INITIATIVE

In 2021, The Art of Letters launched the mentoring initiative with four mentor-mentee groups formed. This developmental mentoring is focused on catalysing the growth of the artists in particular aspects, and where "hierarchy" is not significant as the collaborative learning potential that the relationship offers. The goal is to facilitate growth, elevate skills, knowledge or understanding in specific areas.

Mentees invited to join the initiative have a strong foundation in Western calligraphy, a design-related background, a track record of contributions to the calligraphy community and a passion to grow as an artist and to share their art with an international audience.

The participants of this mentoring initiative have reached a certain level of skill through years of diligence and hard work. Now in a fresh learning environment, they can push boundaries to see creative breakthroughs and create works of art.

To provide the mentorship a meaningful context for the mentorship, mentors and mentees work towards producing finished pieces to be exhibited on The Art of Letters platform online. To encapsulate the nature of the mutually edifying relationship between mentor and mentee, the exhibitions are named “Symbiosis”.

SYMBIOSIS EXHIBITIONS

The body of works exhibited can feature, not just finished works, but also the explorations, creative processes, development from ideation to finished works, and the learning acquired from successes as well as failures.

In conjunction with the exhibition, we host workshops, demos, write-togethers and meet-the-mentors and meet-the-artists sessions. The reception to the exhibition and sharing sessions have thus far been overwhelmingly positive, confirming to us the benefit of this mentoring initiative.

MENTORING GROUPS / SYMBIOSIS EXHIBITIONS

We are very grateful for the generous mentors, and the enthusiastic and skilled calligraphers who have been part of this initiative. To date, we have had three cycles of mentorships (two in 2021-2022 and one in 2023). The mentoring groups (in reverse chronological order):

Symbiosis III exhibiting in 2023 November-December

  • Led by Carol Du Bosch: Arlene Cussock, Cosmas Adrian, and Eleanor Curtin are seeking personal breakthroughs in melding their love for traditional calligraphy with personal expression and themes.

  • With An Vanhentenrjik: Alexandra Stelmashonok is delving deep into personal experiences and her love for nature to bring art that expresses hope in the midst of dark challenges.

Symbiosis II, exhibited in 2022 September-October

Symbiosis I, exhibited in 2022 February-March

  • Led by Toni Watts (@toniwattsart): Arathi Ayyangar and Susan Lui pushed the envelope of the endangered craft of traditional gilding, finding new ways to adapt them to local culture and materials.

  • Led by Marina Soria (@marinasoria.art): Judith Lee and Lissette Landauro are explored experimental calligraphy with the theme of the inner garden.

  • Led by Eleanor Winters: Nichole Tin and Dorothy Lim interpreted traditional calligraphy into expressive and personal forms.

It is my hope that the sharing of the mentoring and learning journeys will enrich our community and hopefully inspire other collaborative learning relationships.

Watch:
Dorothy shares her initial idea for The Art of Letters Mentoring Initiative: https://youtu.be/3TFbMAWprGI

Dorothy Lim-Chew
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A Brief Look at Some Traditional Western Calligraphy Scripts