Each Bridge Work chapter, using its own selection process, invites two to three emerging artists to participate in the 9-month program, during which they are asked to create a new body of work. The program facilitators in each city serve as mentors to the artists in their local chapter—conducting studio visits, offering critiques and advice as new work emerges, assisting with the development or refinement of resumes and artist statements, and gently guiding them through the steps necessary to prepare for a small group exhibition. In turn, the participating artists must express the energy, commitment, and willingness to benefit from the resources and guidance provided, and demonstrate a strong commitment to their studio practice.
The chapter facilitators are also responsible for organizing a thoughtfully curated exhibition of the resulting work. Leveraging their own professional networks, facilitators invite stakeholders within the local arts community to the exhibition opening, thereby supporting crucial relationship-building opportunities for BW participants. Artists from all chapters are then brought together for a larger, culminating exhibition to create broader public visibility for their work. It also provides a forum to introduce regional artists to each other for the purpose of sparking peer-to-peer exchanges of knowledge, and future generative endeavors and relationships.
Chapter facilitators commit to offering the following professional development opportunities to participating artists:
- A minimum of 3 studio visits by BW facilitators throughout the duration of the program (prior to local exhibition) to check on progress, answer questions, provide critiques, troubleshoot problems, etc.
- Provide introductions and connections for beneficial networking appropriately targeted for each artist according to his/her/their needs, skill level, and goals
- Review and edit artist statements, CVs, websites, job/exhibition applications, etc.
- Assistance with grant writing or best practices for submitting exhibition proposals
- Provide artists with letters of recommendation upon request
- Help artists find studio space, for free (if you are able) or at a subsidized rate
- Organize artists talks to be given by the Bridge Work participants, either held at area institutions, local universities, galleries, or other non-profits art spaces
- Provide the artists with a stipend to cover exhibition costs (when possible)
In addition, chapter facilitators are reponsible for organizing, installing, and promotiong a local exhibition each year, hosted at a reputable visual arts venue, to showcase the new body of work their cohort of artists creates during the course of the mentorship program.
The program concludes with a larger, regional exhibition bringing together all of the artists from each local chapter. This final showcase enables the participants to improve upon their work from the first local exhibition, expand their professional networks beyond their current city of residence, and learn how work collaboratively, responsibly, and fluidly in a variety of exhibition contexts.