Giving Compass' Take:

• In this Americans for the Arts blog post, arts education expert Dr. Dennie Palmer Wolf talks about how mentoring young people of color has taught her the value of listening and embracing different perspectives.

• Dr. Wolf also talks about acknowledging emotional connections in mentorships, and how this can help bridge the gap between generations. How could these lessons apply beyond the arts?

• Here's how the presence of mentors can enhance project-based learning in schools.

I have half a century of work in the arts field behind me: successes, publications, and big, noticed projects, right along with my full share of mistakes, disasters, and misjudgments. When I speak nowadays I claim my white hair as a badge of office and call myself a “crone emeritus.” Frankly, it is the moment when the temptation is great to serve on committees or publish your collected essays — about pressing issues that have long since changed. I started down that “remembrance road” and then thought, “For what?” Better to pass it on actively — why not mentor a next generation of leaders? I began to fantasize: I would take on three to four people in each of the upcoming five years to help them think about their work, careers, and place in the world. Maybe I would add a stipend so we could meet face-to-face.

The more I thought about it, the more that plan felt paternal or even colonial. How did I know that I had the kinds of expertise younger people really needed for the world they actually faced? Instead, I began working more squarely on hard issues like inequalities in opportunities to learn, the intersection of social justice and the arts, and diversity, inclusion, and equity in cultural institutions where I could meet a next generation of arts leaders drawn to these questions. I started going to different conferences — as a listener, not a speaker. I practiced the fine art of holding my tongue and learning.

This work put me shoulder-to-shoulder with younger colleagues whose work, cultural identities, and outlooks are different from my own. As a result, I now work closely on live projects with individuals whose skills, knowledge, perspectives, experience, and tools are very different from my own.

Read the full article about mentors and active listening by Dr. Dennie Palmer Wolf at Americans for the Arts.