Mentorship-in-Residence 2025 – 2026
Pathways for Creative Futures program expansion equips emerging Emily Carr artists and designers with structured opportunities to test ideas with real partners, audiences, and markets, gain professional insights, and build clearer employment and self-employment pathways, through courses offered by the Audain Faculty of Art, Faculty of Design + Dynamic Media and Jake Kerr Faculty of Graduate Studies.
This initiative offers short, focused 1:1 mentorship sessions between eligible ECU students and 19 experienced practitioners from design, arts, and creative-economy infrastructure across Canada. Throughout the month of February 2026, mentors in residence will provide practical, real-world perspective on topics such as professional pathways, capstone and applied research reviews, portfolio and project positioning, and share lived experiences on how to sustain a creative practice, collaboration, next steps after graduation, and more.
Meet our Mentors
This mentor group brings together deep, cross-sector expertise spanning contemporary art practice, illustration and publishing, curatorial leadership, and community-rooted cultural production, alongside seasoned guidance in grants, governance, and sustainable arts administration. Mentors also contribute strong pathways into public art, creative entrepreneurship, retail and market development, and the realities of building long-term careers—whether independent or within larger institutions. Together, they offer students a rare mix of creative rigour and practical know-how, with perspectives that span studio practice, ethical impact, and professional strategy across the cultural and design economy.
Artists & Independent Creative Practitioners
Working artists with established practices across visual art, illustration, craft, and interdisciplinary media
Creative Economy & Arts Infrastructure
Professionals who fund, produce, and sustain creative practice by building spaces, pathways, and long-term infrastructure
Design & Creative Industry Professionals
Senior designers and design leaders working in industry, startups, and independent studios
Student Eligibility
Mentorship-in-Residence initiative is only available to students enrolled in the following Pathways program courses. Information on how to book with mentors is provided to eligible students via email.
Undergraduate
- VAST 410: Senior Studio Interdisciplinary | S004, S007, S010, S011, S092T sections only
- ILUS 410: Illustration Senior Studio | S002 section only
- COMD 410: Core Studio Communication Design | S001, S002, S003 sections
- INTD 410: Core Studio Interaction Design | S001, S002 sections
- INDD 410: Core Studio Industrial Design | S001, S002, S003 sections
Graduate
- MDes and MFA students (1st and 2nd year) – all programs
Entrepreneurship Pathways is funded in partnership with the Business + Higher Education Roundtable and with support from the Government of Canada.