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Make Space Mentor Applications Due August 31

August 08, 2017 News

The Visual Arts Center of Richmond is recruiting mentors for its yearlong mentorship program, Make Space. The program offers early- and mid-career women the chance to develop leadership skills, make art and build friendships with sixth-grade girls in Richmond’s East End.

Make Space, formerly called A Space of Her Own, was launched in the fall of 2008 and in the years since has positively affected the lives of almost 200 women and girls.

Make Space pairs 12 sixth-grade girls at the Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School with 12 women for a one-year mentorship program. The girls and women come together on Thursday evenings for an entire school year, creating art and decorative items in VisArts’ studios. At the end of the year, they work together to makeover the girls’ rooms, incorporating the projects they’ve made together.

The girls get an inspiring space where they can dream, but the biggest transformation happens inside each girl and woman. Make Space’s curriculum emphasizes trust, confidence, communication and self-efficacy, and helps both the girls and women tap into their own leadership capabilities.

Mentors need to have the capacity to commit to weekly classes on Thursday evenings from September through May as well as monthly mentor training sessions on Friday afternoons. In addition, they should be able to dedicate two weekends—the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May—to working on the girls’ bedroom makeovers.

Applications are due August 31 at 5 p.m. Please direct questions about the application process to our community partnerships manager.

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