DULUTH — January is National Mentoring Month, and to mark it, Mentor North, a one-on-one mentorship program based in the Twin Ports, is hosting its second annual art show.
The show will feature art from youth, families, mentors and community partners and will be on display Jan. 7-31 on the fourth-floor balcony at the St. Louis County Depot. An opening reception will take place Tuesday, Jan. 7, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. featuring refreshments, a student-led jazz quartet and art-making stations.
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One pair of mentor/mentee artists featured in the show are Kathy Bogen and Poemaut "Poe" Goodsky. They have been in a mentorship match for three years now, but their history goes back longer, as Bogen mentored Goodsky's mother for eight years until she turned 18. When it was time for Goodsky to enter the program, Bogen was free for another match.
"I like it because Kathy and I get to do fun activities and see stuff you wouldn't normally be able to see when I'm just stuck inside," Goodsky said. "We go hiking and see hockey games. Oh, and we got to go learn how to track animals in the Sax-Zim Bog, which was pretty cool."
Goodsky and Bogen share a love for nature, which is evident in their art piece, a pair of bearded dragon sculptures named Sadie and Melissa.
"We let our imaginations go wild, and we've made some pretty fun art projects," Bogen said. "We also will let our imagination go wild in the woods and spend that time playing games like, 'What's the worst invention humans have ever created?' and then we think of reasons why our choice is the best."
Bogen said she keeps returning to Mentor North because she likes exploring new interests — often things she's never tried before.
"You have to get to know each other and start with things you can find in common, but you also have to be open-minded and find out what your mentee really likes to do," Bogen said. "And that's when you find yourself doing things that neither of us have done before, like exploring a corn maze."
Jeff Skrenes and Nate Lee have only been in a mentorship for about eight months, but already they've found some common ground in appreciating activities such as trampolining at Sky Zone.
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"I like the opportunities it has to learn and grow as a person," Lee said. "It helps build social skills, which is a good thing for kids to grow."
Skrenes said he decided to become a mentor partly because he had one growing up in the Big Brother Big Sisters of America program.
"I just remember how much it meant to me," Skrenes said. "So when I was looking to volunteer with something, it was at the top of my list."
Skrenes submitted a drawing of Yoda that he made to the Mentor North art show, while he and Lee also worked on and submitted a model of a twin-engine boat to be placed on display. The two also attended a Mentor North art night where they decorated ceramic tiles, which will be displayed in the show.
This is Mentor North's second time running an art show, and according to Samantha Smingler, Mentor North development and communications coordinator, the event was very popular in their community last year.
"It meant the world to the kids last year. They brought their whole families to see it and were so proud to see their work on display in a public space," Smingler said. "We wanted to give our youth an opportunity to express themselves, and art is such a great way to do that. And it's a wonderful opportunity to highlight the joy of mentoring during National Mentoring Month."
Smingler said that there's a waiting list of youth looking to be matched with a mentor as they have 38% more youth enrolled in the program this year. Find out more about Mentor North at mentornorth.org.
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