First Mentorship Session: The MAF Academy Takes Flight

On Saturday, March 7, 2026, MAF took a new step in its mission: to concretely support women artists in their professional development. The very first mentorship session of the MAF Academy was held in our spaces, marking the beginning of an ambitious and essential program.

A Pioneering Program

The MAF Academy is much more than a simple training program. It is our structured and personalized response to the specific challenges faced by women artists at different stages of their careers. Designed as a true support pathway, this women's mentorship program aims to give artists the tools, skills, and network necessary to flourish fully in their artistic practice.

The program addresses two distinct audiences: Emerging artists, at the beginning of their careers or in transition, and Established artists, in the structuring and development phase. Each group benefits from workshops tailored to their specific needs, throughout 2026.

First Workshop: Building Your Artistic Identity & Storytelling

For this inaugural session, Marie Bagi, MAF Director and PhD in art history, guided Emerging artists on a fundamental theme: "Building Your Artistic Identity & Storytelling."

How to define your artistic universe? How to present yourself and promote your approach? What are the first foundations of a coherent visual identity? So many essential questions to which this first session brought concrete answers and practical tools.

The workshop took place in a supportive and stimulating atmosphere, fostering exchanges, collective reflection, and sharing of experiences. Participants were able to work on their own journey, identify their strengths, and begin structuring their personal storytelling.

Year-Long Support

This first session is only the beginning of a complete journey that will unfold throughout 2026. On the program for upcoming workshops:

For Emerging Artists:

• Getting started on social media: formats & self-confidence

• Building your image: moodboard & visual universe

• Public speaking & camera presence

• Creating a micro-performance & learning to share it

  
  

For Established Artists:

• Refining your artistic positioning & career direction

• Social media strategy & artist editorial line

• Advanced artistic branding

• Artist portfolio, pitch & professional communication

• Filmed showcase & visibility plan

Why Women's Mentorship?

The choice of the term "women's mentorship" rather than simply "mentorship" is not insignificant. It affirms the specificity of this support, designed by and for women artists, conscious of the particular obstacles they encounter in an art world still largely dominated by men.

Women's mentorship creates a space for peer-to-peer transmission, fosters sisterhood, and allows artists to benefit from support that intimately understands their realities and challenges.

A Structural Dimension of Our Mission

With the MAF Academy, we affirm that our role is not limited to exhibiting works. We actively engage in the professionalization of women artists, from the earliest stages of their careers—where opportunities, networks, and recognition are forged that transform an artistic practice into a sustainable career.

This program fully aligns with our mission: to address the structural gap in visibility for contemporary and emerging women artists by offering them a unique platform for recognition, support, and dissemination.

What Now?

The next mentorship session will take place on March 21, 2026 with Established artists, on the theme "Refining Your Artistic Positioning & Career Direction."

Artists interested in the program can find all information on our website le-maf.ch/artistes. Several affiliation options are offered, including a Solidarity option at a pay-what-you-can rate for artists facing financial hardship.

The MAF Academy is our concrete commitment. It is our way of building, day by day, a more equitable art world.

See you very soon at MAF