OPEN CALL FOR ARTISTS, ARTS WORKERS, AND ORGANIZATIONS SEEKING MENTORSHIP!
KIMI (Knowledge Incubator & Mentorship Initiative) is a new program from ReDefine Arts (RDA) that provides opportunities for artists, arts workers, and community organizations to connect with experienced mentors, share knowledge, and develop projects that make a social impact. The program supports artists, arts workers, and community organizations to grow their creative practice through mentorship, skill sharing, and community learning. KIMI builds on RDA’s 20 year history of mentorship and collaboration in the arts.
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HOW KIMI WORKS
ReDefine Arts has assembled a roster of professional artist-mentors from equity-seeking communities including artists who are Deaf, disabled, trans/queer, racialized, and/or from rural communities. Artists, arts workers, and community organizations that engage equity-deserving communities are invited to apply to receive one-on-one mentorship from a mentor on the roster.
Mentorships will be flexible and responsive, addressing mentee goals such as developing artistic projects, building accessibility practices, strengthening collaboration, or sustaining long-term community arts work.
Each Artist-Mentor will provide focused mentorship supported by ReDefine Arts, with access resources available such as mileage, ASL interpreters, and creative enablers.
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WHO IT’S FOR?
KIMI is designed for:
- Artists and arts workers working in any medium, and with experience or interest in community-engagement or socially rooted creative practice who would benefit from mentorship in order to deepen their practice, and expand their toolkits.
- Community organizations that use the arts to engage, uplift and/or connect their communities and who would benefit from mentorship in order to expand their toolkits in using the arts in their work
- KIMI prioritizes artists, arts workers, and organizations from equity-seeking communities including those who are Deaf, disabled, trans/queer, racialized, and/or from rural communities.
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KEY DATES
- Application form closes January 14, 2026.
- Drop-in Q&A Session with KIMI program directors on December 17, 2025 & January 7, 2026 from 2–2:45 PM EST.
- All successful mentee applicants will be notified by February 13, 2026.
- Mentorships take place from February to May 2026.
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MORE INFORMATION
KIMI (Knowledge Incubator & Mentorship Initiative) was made possible by the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and the Government of Ontario, City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, and the Toronto Foundation.