Mentorships are a long established tradition in the arts. This panel, featuring Ginny Ruffner and her lead studio assistant, Sarah Fetterman, tells the story of one such collaboration. They will be speaking about their relationship to mentorship in Ginny’s Studio, in Sarah’s art practice, and in Ginny’s vision for her non-profit, Support for Old Lady Artists (SOLA). Ginny jokingly calls herself a benign dictator. In her practice working with assistants, she considers them as collaborators, investing in their ideas and capacities. Sarah’s relationship with Ginny extends from working as her studio manager to benefiting from the advice of a vital female mentor as she navigates the in’s and out’s of working as a professional artist in her own practice. In Sarah’s studio, friends and colleagues assist in the creation of her larger public art pieces. It has become an essential part of her practice to mentor those who work with her by teaching them welding and metal shop tools.

A light reception will be held at 4:00 in BIMA’s Bistro following the presentation.