Artists Helping Artists: Nocturne's Artist Support Network
In 2022, Nocturne’s co-curators, Stephanie Yee and Lux Gow-Habrich introduced a pilot project to provide consultations, mentorships, and support to emerging and early-career artists participating in Nocturne’s annual contemporary art festival. The one-on-one mentorship, titled the “Artist Support Network” connects emerging artists with Nocturne alumni and public art and production professionals.
Within this project, Nocturne aims to address a need that has been identified by previous Nocturne artists: emerging and early-career artists require more professional development opportunities in the context of contemporary art events. Nocturne aims to reduce the potential barriers to artist participation, one of which is career level and experience; artists who participate in Nocturne are not expected to be professionally trained. For this reason, it is crucial that Nocturne develops a care-based, artist-led infrastructure to support artists who may be creating large-scale temporary public art for the first time.
Artist Jessie Fraser (pictured above) received mentorship from David Dahms, an artist, Nocturne veteran, and the Gallery Technician at the Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery. Fraser joined the ASN hoping to find guidance installing textile work in an outdoor, public setting. Fraser said of the experience:
"The installation of the work outside and in the water went very smoothly thanks to all the guidance and hands on help from my mentor. I really appreciate that pairing and support from Nocturne for that. I learned so much from David!" - Jessie Fraser, 2023 Nocturne Artist, 'Till the Tide'
The goal of the Artist Support Network is to, first and foremost, support participating emerging artists through direct and tangible benefits. Some examples of areas where artists have identified needing support include:
- Budgeting and administrative management
- Engaging with media and promoting their work
- Documentation (video and photo)
- Technical assistance
- Exploring fabrication
- New approaches to public engagement
- Working with new materials
- Contextualizing their work.
The opportunity for hands-on support, skill-building, and/or professional guidance will help early career and emerging artists build their capacity and professionalism in undertaking creating public artwork or socially engaged art projects.
“I loved the Artist Support Network, things like that are so beneficial…All the other support was amazing for the festival, I received the most care at Nocturne than from any other festival I've worked with” - Roda Medhat, 2023 Nocturne Artist, 'KILLIM'
For their Nocturne 2023 project, 'Cadence: a cordel literature treasure hunt', Beacon artists Logan Robins and Lucas Hernandes Nascimento worked with mentor and Nocturne alum Christian McGinty to find ways to make their project more accessible in for digital users.
Working with Lucas and Logan was an absolute pleasure. It was exciting to learn about their practices, while aiding them in realizing their project for Nocturne. As much as I tried to help them learn and grow, I personally learned a lot through both discussions with them, as well as research into the various aspects of their project, such as methods of printing zines and prints. Overall, it was a hugely positive experience that I would recommend others to participate in, given the opportunity! - Christian McGinty, 2023 Artist Mentor
Successful participants of the Artist Support Network develop transferable skills and acquire sector-based knowledge that will serve them for the rest of their careers. In the short term, the participating artists will have a more supportive experience participating in Nocturne and their projects will have benefitted from the input and support of professionals. In the long term, the artists will benefit from cultivating a network of professionals within the arts community and they will be more prepared for submitting work to other art-after-dark and contemporary art festivals.
Mentees demonstrated growth and the development of new or honed skills within their finalized Nocturne project. These artists have expressed how the Artist Support Network impacted their process, final project, and overall growth.
Stay tuned for updates on future iterations of the Artists Support Network by subscribing to our monthly newsletter here!