A program for youths to
explore careers in the arts
Applications open on
November 10, 2025!
This program offers youth aged 16-19 the opportunity to participate in an introductory group mentorship program run by partnering industry organizations in a choice of three different arts disciplines. Each program is FREE to accepted youth and offers 8 introductory group sessions between March – May.
Opening Doors for Creative Careers
Mentorship with Room to Explore
All Group Mentorship Programs include working with a lead mentor and guest mentors who are professionals in an arts career, collaborating with other youth participants, and working on a project for a final wrap-up presentation. They aim to expose younger individuals to what a career in the arts looks like, and to inspire creative career possibilities. All programs are free of charge and bus tickets and snacks will be provided at each session to any participants who may need them.
Program disciplines are subject to change year to year.
Creative Manitoba pledges to make its best efforts to prioritize opportunities for people with diverse backgrounds or from equity-seeking communities, with the goal of 50% of programs holding space for participants who identify as IBPoC or from equity-seeking groups.
Requirements & Application Info
Mentee Age
16 – 19
Location
Winnipeg residents only
2025 Disciplines
Writing, Music, Theatre
Program Dates
March through June 2025
See specific program for individual start and finish dates.
Necessary Forms to Fill Out
Application form, Nominator Form, Permission Form (if under 18 years old)
GROUP MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
Previous Group Mentorship Program Options
Program Dates
Wednesdays, March 19 through May 21
(no session during spring break)
Times
5:30 – 7:45 pm
Program Leaders
Carrie Hatland
Location
Millennium Library – Mona Gray Room
Final class – Carol Shields Auditorium
In Partnership With
Translation, Culture, and Self in Creative Writing
This workshop will connect young writers with award-winning Manitoban authors, Jen Robinson and Zilla Jones, to explore elements of creative writing and how to incorporate culture and self. Zilla and Jen will talk about exciting career options in the literary field and help us generate writing where we embrace our own identities. Then, over the course of multiple sessions, Featured Guest Mentor, Sally Ito, a local writer and translator, will lead workshops in translation. Not only can translation be a valuable career option for those who speak more than one language, an understanding of basic considerations can also benefit writers who only speak English. It helps writers slow down and consider word choice and how we make sentences.
Near the end of the program, we will hold a peer review session, where we share our writing in a critique circle and discuss translation. Peer Reviews are used in university creative writing classes, and we want to give you a head start in developing these valuable skills. The final session will include a formal reading where writers will read to family, friends, and peers and celebrate their hard work. Readings will be in any language of the student’s choice, with English translations provided where applicable.
A stronger sense of self makes us better writers! It will help the participants find their family story and increase inner awareness. Even those who believe they have no culture, do, and embedding these rich details in our writing strengthens our work. A basic understanding of translation and appreciation for languages will serve you all through life, no matter what you do and will enrich any career you choose. You will leave this program with an idea of how writing can fit into your future. We can’t wait to see you there!
Program Dates
Thursdays, March 20 through May 22
(no session during spring break)
Times
5:30 – 8:30 pm
Program Leaders
Nia Banilbo and Alex Sannie
Location
Manitoba Music – 530-112 Market Avenue & recording studio tbc
In Partnership With
In Tune: Create and Collaborate
This year’s music-focused mentorship delves into the creative and collaborative process of creating music and community resources. Participants will learn from local industry experts about songwriting and production, collaboration, show booking, funding, and more topics, led by Manitoba Music, seasoned songwriters and producers. During the nine-week program, mentees will be able to collaborate in small groups and partners to create their own unique music. Based on their small group breakout choice, Mentors will guide the youth as they learn about either co-writing and recording or music engineering and production basics. We’ll wrap up the program with a final presentation in which the participants showcase their new projects.
Group Sessions @ Manitoba Music
As a full group youth will focus on the fundamentals of the music business. Sessions will feature guest speakers to explore these topics and share their own expertise, and will explore: basics of the music biz, studio etiquette, booking local shows, funding your music career and collaboration!
Break Out Groups
Participants will choose a breakout small group to focus on with mentors in the studio:
Songwriting – Work with your program mentor to sharpen your songwriting skills and learn how to co-write with others. Experience what it’s like to be in a real writing room. Learn how to record in a professional studio, with your producing partner.
Music Engineering & Production – Learn to record, mix, and produce music. Hands-on experience with your mentor in each session as they show you different techniques to create the sound you want, along with your songwriting partner.
Program Dates
Wednesdays, April 16 through June 4
(no session during spring break)
Final invite to the fringe production opening TBD
Times
6 – 9:00 pm
Program Leaders
Rea Swan
Location
MTYP – 2 Forks Market Rd
In Partnership With
Behind the Scenes with MTYP: Theatre Production and Design Mentorship for Youth
Welcome to Manitoba Theatre for Young People’s Behind the Scenes! Participants will work closely with design and production professionals at MTYP, and the students of the summer studio student led project as they create a fringe production from the ground up!
They will learn first-hand skills in costume and prop and set design and creation (including carpentry, painting, setting the stage), directing, stage-managing, and technical lighting and sound. Through this program participants can experience what a career in theatre arts looks and feels like. They will shadow directors and stage managers, learning how a theatre runs when it is close to putting on a show. Students in “Behind the Scenes”, will be exposed to many career possibilities in theatre production and backstage work.
This program is perfect for someone who is curious about what it’s like to work backstage, someone who is interested in art and design as a career, someone who has no idea but wants to learn something new or someone who is confident that a career in production or design is right for them.
GROUP MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
Ready to Take the Plunge?
How to Apply
- Read through the program details above and pick the program you are interested in
- Download the required nominator form and have it completed by a teacher or unrelated adult familiar with your work
- If you are under 18 download the required permission form and have it completed by your parent or guardian
- Creative Writing and Music programs give you the option to share sample materials that you will need to collect and save to attach or provide links for as well. You will see these questions in the application once you click “Apply Now”.
- Click APPLY NOW below, read through questions, fill in all answers and attach all require forms
- If your application is successfully submitted, you will be brought to a confirmation page. If you hit submit and this does not happen, scroll up and check for any error highlights to fix and resubmit
Tips for Applying
- Copy and paste your answers into a Word doc in case you need to re-submit or want to edit ahead of time
- Be sure to include your name on all attachments, for example “YourName-GroupMentorship2024”
- You will have the option to save & send yourself an incomplete application to continue at a later time
- Make sure all attachments are in PDF unless otherwise specified
- If you have questions at any point during the application process, do not hesitate to contact the Mentorship Program Manager mentor@creativemanitoba.ca.
Previous Group Mentorship Programs
Filmmaking with your Smartphone
Winnipeg Film Group’s Filmmaking with your Smartphone was a program created to inspire and activate young aspiring artists, creative-types and storytellers. This program provided guidance and valuable information from an array of working professionals in Manitoba’s film community. Each week the students met on Zoom with lead mentor Ben Williams and other professional guest mentors involved in different aspect of the filmmaking process. The topics ranged from independent filmmaking to how to get into Manitoba’s film industry, creating, producing and distributing a film, and various aesthetic and technical skills. They conducted an independent study lab where each filmmaker made their own movie on their smartphone and screened their film at the final presentation share night. Providing a place for young people to network, create new work and develop a pathway to a new career in film.
Theatre Creation Lab
In One Trunk Theatre’s Creation Lab participants learned how to create theatre from scratch! Facilitated by Gwendolyn Collins and Tanner Manson, with special guest mentors, this was a crash course in theatre creation where participants learned how to collectively create their own original theatrical work. These sessions were held in person. They were introduced to different aspects of theatre that go into the final products you see on stage from lighting, set and costume design to stage managing, production managing, and much more. One Trunk brought in theatre professionals in each of these theatrical disciplines. Highlights of this course included getting tours of most of the major theatres here in Winnipeg and talking to industry professionals from an array of different disciplines in theatre. One of the biggest highlights was seeing how excited and empowered the youth were creating their own original theatre content. Giving them the tools and exercises to do it, the final product was a true collaboration between all of the participants. Due to the pandemic, we were not able to have a live audience at the final presentation share night, so they filmed the final project, that the participants were then able to share with friends, family and their schools.
Intro to the Music Biz
Manitoba Music’s Intro to the Music Biz group mentorship program focused on the ins and the outs of the music industry, how to get started as a musician building your career, what it takes to put on big musical events, and how to build a marketing plan. This program had four speakers join to expand on these topics and share their own experiences. In addition to the Intro to the Music Biz sessions, participants were placed into small focus groups (based off of their experience and interests in music) with mentors in a specialized area of the music industry. These groups were focused on song writing, music engineering and production. The participants worked on original songs throughout their time together in the program and showcased them at the final presentation share night.
The Art of Games
New Media Manitoba’s The Art of Games program had students go through the process of creating 3D environment props for games using a program called Blender – a free to use open source 3D program which has been used on some of your favourite videos games and animated films. Participants were introduce to the interface and core modelling concepts of Blender 2.9x and created models of their own. Each class was held virtually on Discord and focused on a different aspect of this powerful program and moved step by step through the process. Local figures Tamara Abas, Rebecca Harrison, and Albertine Watson all agreed to join the Discord server for the class and give a 30-45 minute presentation to the students. These presentations were followed by a question-and-answer period where students asked these industry professionals about their career paths and also received feedback on their work. By the end of the course, everyone had at least one model to present in the final class. Many of the students exhibited college-level skills in their modeling and a greater understanding of 3D modeling as a whole.
