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Arts
Who speaks for the artists?
by David Hoppe
Sep 4, 2002

Columns
To market, to market
by David Hoppe
Jul 2, 2003

Guides
30 under 30
by Editors
Sep 3, 2003

Columns
Empty suits and soulessness
by David Hoppe
Jan 28, 2004

Humor
Art and education
by Hank Fincken
Mar 1, 2006

In process
by Rita Kohn Sep 3, 2003

The art of mentoring

Making art is not about product; it’s about process, which is ongoing and circular, and it’s fueled by mentoring across a wide swath of connections. From gaining public support through funding and official manifestos, to hands-on teaching and cheerleading, mentoring is about building community.

Gregory Hancock

In accepting the Beckmann Leadership Award at the July 8 annual meeting of the Riley Area Development Corporation, Mark Ruschman cited the late Bob Beckmann as his mentor. “We met at the Chatterbox,” Ruschman recalled. “In bounced Bob. He laid out his vision for arts. He truly believed what he said. I opened my gallery and have had no regrets. We worked together. He was a good friend. It’s remarkable how far we’ve come.” Beckmann’s vision was simple: “I dream of a city where arts are central, not peripheral; essential, not optional. A city where the arts are not merely icing on the cake but truly the leavening in the cake.” Establishment of the Arts Council of Indianapolis was integral to that dream. Since 1987, ACI has been “building community through the arts by developing visibility, funding, audiences, information and partnerships.” Beckmann is also remembered for his pioneer WFYI-TV arts program. “He was committed to building bridges, relationships between the arts and audiences; bringing arts to the neighborhoods to include everyone,” commented Kent Hankins, a Riley Area Development Corporation supporter. Beckmann believed the arts have to be accessible to everyone, every day. A photographer, actor and arts patron, Beckmann joined forces with arts-centered entrepreneurs like Scott Keller to rejuvenate neighborhoods as cultural centers and destinations. Discovering new talent Anna White, recently retired executive director of Young Audiences of Indiana, has pioneered the concept of the arts in everyday life. At a point when school boards began cutting arts education, Young Audiences and Indianapolis Opera developed summer workshops to mentor classroom teachers in integrating arts across the curriculum. “The fun part is discovering new talent or being brave enough to try to do something you’ve never done,” cited Patty Harvey, director of IO’s nationally recognized MUSIC!WORDS!OPERA! program. When teachers experience success in the arts, they transfer that to the classroom, Harvey said. “It’s not about rules, it’s expanding horizons. It’s interactive and knowing when to let go and let creativity happen. Yet, if they get nervous or need resources, I’m there to help; mentoring is year-long.” That’s what led Heather Givans, an art teacher at Ben Davis High School, to use the Opera’s production of La Boheme to inspire her students to examine themes of friendship, peer-mentoring and breaking silence and to write and produce three plays about modern-day teens trying to make art and be taken seriously. WFYI-TV took them seriously, went to Ben Davis and filmed a performance of Edge Dreamers. The crew consisted of a master cameraman/producer and two interns being mentored in their craft of making documentaries and films. Bryan Cantwell, a student at the University of Indianapolis, is particularly interested in videography and editing. Jacob Corbin, from Miami University of Ohio, is broadening his focus on producing to also include directing. They got their first experience filming and monitoring sound for live theater, a challenge when actors are moving and things are happening in a variety of sections of the stage. The interviews following the performances took on another dimension as a result of the rapport between high school students and interns pretty close to their age. That’s what executive producer Clayton Taylor especially likes about WFYI’s active program of mentoring. “Interns bring in a fresh perspective, a core of enthusiasm.” Rounding out this summer’s team is Tricia Plumer from Butler, whose primary interest is writing. The three complement each other while moving forward with increasing responsibilities from “shadowing masters” in all phases of TV production. They go one-on-one with Taylor and/or a senior staff member at WFYI to critique their work. By summer’s end they’ll have a professional portfolio to show potential employers. But Taylor aims for more. “I hope we can instill not only skills, but a sense of values,” he said. “I hope they get a sense of ethics, mission, responsibility — a moral compass — as they approach entry into a career.” Good work ethics and habits are indeed what they are acquiring agreed the three interns. They each appreciate being treated like colleagues. They feel comfortable asking questions and getting “insider tips.” When they each return to their respective campuses, they expect to share their experiences with fellow students. “The cycle of mentoring will keep going,” Cantwell said. “My experience will help improve a lot of other people’s work. The most important thing in selecting an internship is to look at the people you’ll work with and opportunities you are going to get.” Community fulcrum A handful of years ago, John Green arrived as head of Butler University’s Theatre Department intent upon becoming a participating member of Indianapolis’ arts community. Eliminating the gown-town barrier included exploring how to partner with established theater organizations to mutually benefit them and Butler’s students. Bobby Fong, president of Butler University, broadened the commitment to include all of the strengths of the Jordan College of Fine Arts by making construction of the Performing Arts Complex a priority. “Butler’s decision to forge ahead with this project reflects a deep-seeded belief in the arts, in our university and in the Central Indiana community,” Fong stated. Mentoring became the fulcrum upon which all outreach programs were to balance, and that’s what finally convinced Deborah Asante, founding artistic director of Asante Children’s Theatre, to return John Green’s call — three years later. “When he first approached me, I was busy with other things. I’m such a renegade, I didn’t think an academic setting would be conducive. I thought it would be stifling,” admitted Asante, adding, “but the more I saw him [Green] — he has such a creative and open spirit — I was pleased ...” The Asante-Butler relationship was “three years in the making, with Deborah watching Butler theater,” Green stated. “The rest was easy.” What they mutually agreed upon, Asante stated, was “that I would be exposing ACT to a different kind of venue and that by working with young designers ACT members would picture themselves in these roles. That will happen the more we do it.” The two-way street, Green said, happens with Asante mentoring college students through a series of special seminars in African theater techniques. “When you look at our department — all white — we are challenged to make her students feel welcome,” Green explained. “We have no role models for people of color, yet we wanted integration on an artistic project. Professor Owen Schaub laid the groundwork by taking Butler students [in an outreach project] to the Eastside of town, giving young people opportunities to discover themselves, invigorating them to use theater skills for the good of community.” It takes being mentored to become a mentor. “It was a truly creative experience” that went beyond the usual design expectations, Green said, relating his students’ reactions to the ACT collaboration. The Butler students were dealing with 10 first-time directors who were tackling original scripts for performance in a black box theater — a space in which they had never before performed. “It was a different experience for all of us,” Yvonne Gilbert stated. “It took me as an actor to another level in another form of theater — intimate, right there with the audience. As a director, the Butler designers took our ideas and made them work. They made us comfortable in a new place. What I love about ACT is we always get to experience new things that take us out of our comfort zone.” Ryan Bennett, like Gilbert, directed, acted and authored a script, which “really scared” him at the outset but following a brainstorming session with the other playwrights, he started to write. “It took a long time, with a lot of e-mail communication” with playwright/author Crystal Rhodes, who mentored ACT graduates in writing distinctly different one-act plays on the theme of making decisions. “It started out frustrating and ended up rewarding,” Rhodes stated. “I was very structured, wanting them to meet deadlines, teaching them discipline. What anybody learns as a mentor is that there are graduated degrees of ability and discipline.” Her biggest challenge was persuading playwrights to “let go” and let it be “a marriage between script and director.” Easier said than done insisted Bennett. “I was giving my child up for adoption.” Yet he learned to trust, and will keep writing plays “as long as someone will produce them.” “As an actor,” Bennett said, “I personally love the Walker Theatre because I’m performing where greats preceded me, but you need something huge to fill the space. At Butler the audience was right there, I was close, intimate. I could grab their attention.” As a director, Bennett said the relationship with Asante took on a different dimension from her usual role of being in charge. “She wanted to draw a line. She told us, ‘I will assist you with technique, but not tell you what to do.’” “I didn’t want to overstep,” Asante said. “I was pulling back. Everybody was trying to find their place. I’ve thought about how I could use my tutelage a little better. Next time I’ll feel more comfortable with helping directors with not much experience in talking with designers. In the end, it all worked. Confidence grows.” The bottom line, however, was the audience reaction. ACT played to full houses for three weekends. People who hadn’t been on campus came and felt comfortable. It’s precisely this kind of mentoring that Lilly Endowment is inviting in its new initiative to build opportunities between colleges and communities, said the Endowment’s Gretchen Wolfram. “To build community you need healthy families in strong neighborhoods. Young people should have every possible option to have a good life. We want higher education to think beyond business, manufacturing, industry, to include the non-profit sector, the arts, the media.” Passing it on The Indianapolis Art Center is a place where working artists also teach. “The thing I’m really proud of is my students stepping out and taking themselves seriously as artists. They start out as middle-aged people with no aspirations,” commented Ellie Siskind, a visual artist who has spoken of the importance of being mentored after raising her sons. Teachers and other working artists who recognized her talent helped her build self-confidence in a highly competitive, critical field. “Five of my students recently had a show at Munce Museum in Zionsville. I knew they would need support to do this.” The key to mentoring, Siskind added, is to “help people understand it’s not ‘do or don’t.’ It’s more flexible than that. You keep at making art at whatever level you can, depending on conditions and age.” “The unwritten rule in dance is you pass on what you know,” Gregory Hancock said. “Mentoring is more than technique. It’s being healthy physically and mentally. It’s good environment, good feelings; how to interact and treat each other.” Mentoring an entire company is a challenge because some individuals are more open than others to being open, giving. “Some who have a different agenda are not so open. In the process of mentoring, I grow,” Hancock explained. “It’s not control. I don’t want to create drones. They have to interpret my vision, yet they bring their own individuality. Nevertheless, ensemble pieces are more military-like. You have to adapt to each other and come to common ground.” Hancock speaks of the enormous change in the Gregory Hancock Dance Theater since principal dancer Dawn Henig’s retirement. “As a mentor, as a mentee, you realize you have to let go at some point. When is it time to move on? When you say, ‘It is time to do this now.’” Frank Basile writes and speaks of his experiences as a mentor with the National Speakers Association. “It is that feeling of pride as the mentor watches the mentee blossom and grow because of the advice and counsel provided,” Basile stated. “The best counselor is something of a role model, yet a person who encourages innovation and individuality rather than crafting a clone. It’s achieving a bit of immortality.”

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