Lincoln Center Education's Mentor-Linc Celebrates a Milestone

On Saturday, January 28, Mentor-Linc, LCE's latest pilot program, reached an important milestone: the pairing of mentors and mentees who were matched according to their personalities and artistic interests, following large-group work during the Fall of 2016.

Mentor-Linc is Lincoln Center's exciting new and free mentoring program available to the alumni of the New York City Department of Education's Middle School Arts Audition Boot Camp. It is designed to provide support for student success throughout high school and the college admission process. The long-term goal is to develop the next generation of artists, professionals, and leaders who will represent the artistic, racial, and economic diversity of New York City.

In this first year of the program, the essential goals are to help students develop personal skills such as goal setting, time management, and problem solving, as well as to feel comfortable as members of the New York City arts community, and knowledgeable in exploring resources and opportunities that might enrich their artistic vision. To that end, LCE will familiarize them with its "think like an artist" campaign, and introduce them to the foundational Capacities for Imaginative Thinking, which are the framework for LCE's practice. Mentees will benefit from social activities on Lincoln Center's campus, college and career pathway exploration, group mentoring and peer support, seeing artists in action, and more. Mentors and students meet twice a month on the Lincoln Center campus, with additional regular check-ins by phone or video conference, which include the program manager.

The mentor-mentee matching event was a joyous affair. The youth, dispersed throughout the five boroughs of NYC the rest of the year, shouted out to each other in recognition: "Hey, theater 2015, right?" while parents chatted with one another and Mentor-Linc staff and volunteers.

The celebration took place at the Westside YMCA, a short walk from Lincoln Center. Everyone gathered for performances by ensembles from The Dream Unfinished, an activist orchestra that supports NYC-based civil rights and community organizations through concerts and presentations, using classical music as a platform to engage audiences with issues related to social and racial justice. The orchestra's founder, Eun Lee, joined Terrance McKnight, their Artistic Director and host and program presenter at the classical-music radio station WQXR, to talk about the need for advocacy on behalf of the arts, and the impact that music by such composers as William Grant Still can have in addressing social justice. The young artists in the audience watched the performers intently.

For parents, the event was a clarification of the opportunity their children were given: an opportunity that would keep its promise of long-term support.

For Elijah John-Burnley, now at the Edward R. Murrow High School, the most rewarding part of Mentor-Linc is the people he has met, both his peers and mentors. "It's been inspiring for me, just hearing their stories and how they got into art. They'll always be in my life... [the mentors] are stepping stones into something greater. I'll tell my friends to join. It's a great program and they won't regret it."

"My goals are to become a singer and a dancer, and to achieve high grades," enthused Heaven Vega. "So, what I hope to get out of Mentor-Linc is guidance, collaboration, and a person to confide in. Someone from whom I can get good advice for high school and for my future career." Heaven has a great start as student at Talent Unlimited High School.

And what is in it for the mentors? We asked Christina Dacanay, an illustrator for a publishing house.

"I had a mentor, and she was the first person who empowered me to feel confident as an artist, so the most rewarding part of this program is interacting with these young people now, as they take their creative destinies into their own hands and reach out to mentors and peers."

If you would like to be a mentor in 2017-18, click on this link to apply.