What mentoring was like for me
by Rising’s Jess Bunyan
Finding Rising’s mentoring programme couldn’t have come at a better time for me. Last year I quit my retail job to think about what to do with my life—easy! This turned into travelling around for a year, wandering around and doing a bunch of volunteering to keep busy in between. I kept finding myself drawn to art, both in where I visited, where I volunteered and ultimately what I realised I cared about most. It had always been sort of there, but I just hadn’t had the time or guts to pursue it seriously.
So when I heard about Rising I emailed not really expecting to hear back, but thinking it was at least worth a go before I aged out of the ’16-25 bracket’. It was important to me to be able to offer something back to Rising as well so I mentioned my eight years in retail, management and commercial stuff—which turned out to be something they were just looking into! Since it’s a free mentoring programme and Rising is a small team, it seemed only fair to offer my help. This is by no means expected, but they do so much amazing stuff you’d be hard pushed to know about Rising’s work and not want get involved somehow.
My first meeting with Kamina was great. We talked through where I was coming from and what I needed help with. I’d already talked to a few friends and contacts about transitioning to an art career and they’d suggested producing, since it utilises many of my skills. I highlighted how I felt in this weird in-between space with both a ton of real-life work experience managing a massive shop, team, budget, space etc., but also no ‘art sector’ experience. I felt like that lack therefore worked against me, which left me unsure how to Break Into The Arts.
Next, we went through the mentors available and decided on Sarah James, former Director of the Architecture Centre, now of the Arts Development Company (as well as a couple of back-ups). Kamina facilitated our initial contact and set up a first meeting between the three of us. There was no pressure to continue if we turned out not to get along, but I just felt very lucky that people were giving up their time to do this!
As it turned out, Sarah and I got on really well. She understood where I was coming from, thought she could definitely help, and we set out a vague plan for what to concentrate on. For me, this was mainly rebranding my skills and experience, before filling in the gaps with new projects.
The basic time commitment is a 2-hour session a month for 6 months, but this is adaptable depending on the mentor, location etc. I found having this longer-term communication so helpful so that it wasn’t just project-focused and was really about development. Especially since it all started off so broad!
First, Sarah helped me re-do my CV, focusing on skills I already have and putting them into ‘art jargon’. I then got the opportunity to produce an exhibition for International Women’s Day, where it was reassuring to have someone say “actually this is pretty good!”. I think that’s really been the main advantage of my mentorship: having someone who’s done this before alongside me, who can make sure I’ve thought of all the things I didn’t know you had to think about!
I’m just about to have my last session with Sarah after six months of support. Since November I’ve produced an exhibition that had 400 visitors in one day, written 3 funding applications and met many other producers. Most importantly, I’ve gained the confidence that I do have the skills to work in this industry and that I shouldn’t give up!
The fact that this programme is free and that the mentors involved are leaders in their field and want to work with young people is amazing. (Getting involved with Rising too is just an added bonus—because who wouldn’t want to!)
So, here are my tips for starting a mentorship with Rising:
Get in touch – Just do it! Do it now, you won’t regret it
Prepare – Now, you don’t have to, but I think having some idea of how you want your mentor to help you from the start gives you both something to work towards
Commit – Make the most of it and really commit the time; prepare for your meetings and do the things you’ll say you’ll do!
I hope that’s been helpful, it’s been so great working with Sarah and Rising!
Jess Bunyan