THE PROGRAM

Have you ever felt you needed guidance, advice, or someone to offer support? Someone to bounce ideas off of, who’s willing to tell it to you straight, course-correct your work-in-progress series, and give you an honest review of where you stand with a collection of images? Someone who can point out your strong suit and provide the reassurance you need to push forward?

Michael Behlen isn’t just a mentor—he’s your coach. He’ll be with you every step of the way, providing guidance and support that pushes you to your artistic limits. With Michael, mentorship becomes a personal and creative partnership focused entirely on your growth as an artist. This is a space to refine your vision, explore your ideas, and receive the feedback you need to evolve.

HOW IT WORKS

Your mentorship starts with an in-depth assessment of your current body of work—an honest evaluation of your strengths and areas for improvement. Together, you’ll examine your creative process, where you’ve been, where you’re headed, and, most importantly, where you want to go. Whether you’re sharpening technical skills or exploring new creative directions, this program is about carving a path that is uniquely yours.

In regular one-on-one sessions (monthly), you’ll receive the creative support and accountability necessary to keep you on track. From honest critiques to custom photo assignments, Michael’s feedback will be designed around your specific needs, helping you challenge yourself while refining your artistic process. When not meeting, you can access Michael for quick feedback via email and have access to quick bi-weekly check-ins opposite your monthly session.

HOW IS BEHLEN DIFFERENT?

What sets this mentorship apart is its adaptability to your life, creative rhythms, and professional goals. Michael provides critique and guidance on crafting compelling artist statements, understanding your role within your work, and effectively marketing yourself as an artist. He’ll help you navigate the complexities of articulating your vision and positioning your work to connect with audiences and opportunities, all while maintaining the authenticity of your voice.

Michael’s role is to help you understand where you are and where you want to go, offering a structured framework to guide your creative journey. Through this mentorship, you’ll gain clarity in your artistic direction and the confidence to push your work into new and unexplored territories.

THE DETAILS:

Six-month mentorships receive approximately 20 hours of coaching, mentorship, photographic review, and encouragement. This is broken up into six 2-hour sessions on a monthly recurring basis (12 hours) and 8 hours spread throughout the course of your mentorship—discussing new ideas that woke you up in the middle of the night, shooting a quick text to receive quick feedback on your current series to assess progress.

Twelve-month mentorships receive approximately 40 hours of coaching, mentorship, photographic review, and encouragement. This is broken up into twelve 2-hour sessions on a monthly recurring basis (24 hours) and 16 hours spread throughout the course of your mentorship.

WHY WON’T YOU DO SHORTER PROGRAMS?:

All great relationships require trust, and trust takes time. The mentor/mentee relationship is meant to be deeper than a portfolio review. Building off ideas and getting to know what drives you as a person and in your art are important factors in considering your artistic direction. Three months in is just getting to the good stuff, trust me. For a one-off session, I offer them one hour in the shop.

NEXT STEPS:

Behlen will contact you to schedule your meeting. You do not need to overly prepare; just have your work ready to share and organized, your artist statement(s), and your authentic self.

Unable to afford an upfront payment? Contact Michael Behlen here.*