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Mentorship Toolbox for Artists

Developed in collaboration with SITE Sweden and MARC (Milvus Artistic Research Center) | 2019

By Peter Mills

The Mentorship Toolbox for Artists is a practical framework and collection of score-based tools designed to facilitate peer-to-peer mentorship, non-hierarchical feedback, and ethical support structures within the independent performing arts sector.

Overview & Purpose

Navigating an artistic career often means balancing creative production with administrative isolation, institutional pressures, and precarious working conditions. Traditional mentorship models frequently reproduce top-down, hierarchical dynamics that privilege institutional authority over collective knowledge.

Developed through collaborative research between Peter Mills, SITE Sweden, and MARC, this toolbox reimagines mentorship as a reciprocal, peer-to-peer choreographic score. It provides structured formats for artists to offer mutual feedback, share resources, establish ethical boundaries, and hold space for each other’s practice without falling into evaluative or prescriptive dynamics.

Key Components & Methodology

  • Peer-to-Peer Feedback Scores: Structured protocols for discussing work-in-progress, separating observation and inquiry from value judgments.
  • Relational Mapping: Exercises to help artists map their support networks, identify needs, and communicate capacity and boundaries clearly.
  • Non-Hierarchical Mentorship Frameworks: Guidelines for establishing accountable, horizontal relationships between emerging and established practitioners.
  • Resource Sharing & Care: Practical tools for addressing burnout, administrative labor, and sustainable practice within independent art-making.

Who It Is For

  • Independent Artists & Collective Units: Seeking structured methods for self-organized feedback and long-term peer support.
  • Residency Programs & Arts Organizations: Looking to integrate care-focused, non-evaluative mentoring structures into their artist support programs.
  • Educators & Facilitators: Designing collaborative, student-centered learning and studio environments.

Downloads & Access

The complete Mentorship Toolbox for Artists is available as an open-access resource for independent use, workshops, and institutional implementation.

Download Mentorship Toolbox PDF →

Credits & Institutional Context

  • Author / Facilitator: Peter Mills
  • Partner Organizations: SITE Sweden & MARC (Milvus Artistic Research Center)
  • Year of Publication: 2019
  • Format: PDF Toolkit / Practical Scorebook

Workshops & Institutional Consultation

Peter Mills offers facilitated workshops, mentorship orientations, and institutional consultations based on the toolbox methodology.

For workshop bookings, collaborative inquiries, or permissions:

Contact: Peter Mills — www.stillpeter.com