A Space of Her Own Mentor Applications Due Sept. 9

The Visual Arts Center of Richmond is recruiting mentors for its yearlong mentorship program, A Space of Her Own. The program offers early- and mid-career women the chance to develop leadership skills, make art and build friendships with sixth-grade girls in Richmond’s East End.

A Space of Her Own, often called SOHO for short, was launched in the fall of 2008 and in the years since has positively affected the lives of almost 200 women and girls.

SOHO pairs 12 sixth-grade girls at the Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School with 12 women for a one-year mentorship program. The girls and women come together on Thursday evenings for an entire school year, creating art and decorative items in VisArts’ studios. At the end of the year, they work together to makeover the girls’ rooms, incorporating the projects they’ve made together.

The girls get an inspiring space where they can dream, but the biggest transformation happens inside each girl and woman. SOHO’s curriculum emphasizes trust, confidence, communication and self-efficacy, and helps both the girls and women tap into their own leadership capabilities.

Mentors need to have the capacity to commit to weekly classes on Thursday evenings from September through May as well as monthly mentor training sessions on Friday afternoons. In addition, they should be able to dedicate two weekends—the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May—to working on the girls’ bedroom makeovers.

Applications are due Sept. 9 at 5 p.m.