In 2026, ReDefine Arts piloted KIMI: Knowledge Incubator and Mentorship Initiative, connecting equity-deserving artists with experienced artist-mentors through individualized, accessible and compensated mentorship.
Following 2 design focus groups and 3 Q&A / info sessions, we received applications from 36 mentee candidates and brought together 14 mentors and 19 mentees in 17 mentorship pairings.
Mentees reported increased confidence, clearer artistic direction, constructive feedback and stronger professional connections. Mentors valued the opportunity to share their expertise and grow in their leadership.
KIMI also inspired Words for Your Work, a two-part professional development workshop series offered in partnership with Creative Connector, supporting artists to articulate and communicate their practices through the development of artist statements.
The KIMI pilot affirmed the value of recognizing and compensating artistic knowledge and experience. It also revealed that accessible, individualized mentorship requires more staff time and resources for coordination, program delivery and communications than anticipated.
These learnings will help ReDefine Arts better resource the relationships and support that make mentorship meaningful.
We thank the participating mentees and mentors, and the Canada Council for the Arts for supporting this initiative.