The ART:DIS Industry Mentorship Programme (AIMP) is a one year professional development programme for emerging artists with disabilities. Made possible through the Chng Seok Tin Education Fund* and further supported by the SGenable Enabling Lives Grant, the AIMP identifies talented emerging artists and matches them with industry mentors to deepen their artistic skills, prepare them professionally and open up pathways in the arts sector for them.

The programme is merit-based, and aims to support artists across different disability types – sensory, intellectual and physical. Access support (where necessary) will be provided to ensure the selected artist is able to maximize their participation and growth outcomes during the course of the programme.

Selected artists will be provided with a dedicated mentor to hone their artistic skills and conceptual thinking, studio space support and access to a panel of industry professionals to provide periodic development support in curatorial and ancillary support e.g. self-branding, digital marketing. The mentorship will culminate in a public exhibition held in January 2024, during the Singapore Art Week. 

*The late Chng Seok Tin (Cultural Medallion Recipient 2005) was visually-impaired for a large part of her four-decade-long artistic career. As a strong advocate of artists with disabilities, she recognized that they faced additional challenges in professionalizing. This systemic problem stems from barriers of entry into artists’ networks, preconceived biases towards disabled artists and a lack of opportunities to formal education that included sufficient access support. The AIMP was thus set up to meet this gap and provide an alternative professional development pathway to support artists with disabilities.

Through this mentorship programme we aim to:

• Work with the artist to refine a focused artistic style and practice
• Expose artists to contemporary art practice and concepts 
• Develop the artist’s personal brand and value e.g. social media, website development
• Support the artist to produce and present new work at a final public exhibition showcase 

How the mentorship programme works:

• Artists will be selected by a panel, following which suitable mentors will be matched to their area of interest and artistic style. 
• The artist and mentor will meet regularly monthly to conceptualize and produce a new body of work. Exhibition visits may also be scheduled. 
• The programme will commence from April 2023 to March 2024.
• The duration of AIMP is up to twelve months. 
• There are no fees as this is a fully sponsored by the Chng Seok Tin Education Fund and SG Enable Enabling Lives Grant. However selected artists must commit to completing the full duration of the programme and contribute $500 upfront, which would be fully reimbursed back to the artist as their material budget for the final exhibition showcase.

Who are the mentors?

Our mentors are practicing established industry artists and curators who have held many exhibitions in Singapore and internationally. The AIMP takes an strength-based and interest-led approach to identify the suitable mentors only after the artists have been selected. 

Assessment Criteria:

AIMP aims to help artists with disabilities who have the potential of bringing their works into the contemporary platform. Applicants must be aged 18 years and above, and must demonstrate:

• A strong art portfolio (40%)
• A good track record for commitment to professionalism (30%)
• Financial neediness and are required to provide supporting documentation (30%)

Application

Alongside the form, please also prepare to submit 5 to 8 artworks (Jpeg images or compressed as a ZIP. file), your website or social media page, and a write-up or voice recording about your interest in the programme (no more than 300 words). The deadline for application is 28 February 2023 23:59 hours. Only complete submissions received in the platform before the deadline can be considered. There will be a Zoom briefing and Q&A session on 13 January 2023. Please reach out to suzanna@artdis.org.sg for queries about this programme.