In May 2016 Visual Arts Nova Scotia presented The Lunenburg Symposium: Mentorship in the Arts, in partnership with the Lunenburg School of the Arts. This two day symposium explored more in-depth ideas and issues around mentorship, including the rise of alternate education models and community-driven peer learning. It included participatory workshops by Zachary Gough, Shawna Dempsey, and Eva Verity and Kathy Vuu of Mammalian Diving Reflex, as well as artist-to-artist interviews with past participants in Mentorship Programs from VANS, Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art (MAWA) and CARFAC Saskatchewan.

The artist-to-artist interviews, moderated by Shawna Dempsey, were professionally recorded by David Dahms and edited into this compelling podcast.  Listen as panelists Iris Hauser, Cate Francis, Peter Dykhuis, Anne Macmillan and Sarah Crawley, discuss their experiences as mentors and mentees in these Mentorship Programs, the challenges they faced and the rewards they enjoyed. The discussion wraps with the panel and audience role playing mentorship scenarios and questions from symposium attendees. Click on the Soundcloud link below to listen.