Season two of the Silhouette Awards has officially launched. The team, made up of co-founders Eve Gaut of Parrot PR and Marketing and Katia Kolovea of Archifos and Senior Marketing Manager Charlotte Jenkins, are excited for the upcoming season, and for good reason.
The initial iteration of the Silhouette Awards was a rousing success, and designing lighting (dl) covered the first season in our August issue. Like any good sequel, the program is keeping the structure that worked so well in the first round. As Eve said, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” This season will again pair 20 up-and-coming lighting designers with 20 established professionals in the field. The program is maintaining its emphasis on being a global to support young talent from around the world.
Many of the mentors from season one asked if they could participate again, a sign of the first season’s success. But, to grow the community as much as possible, 19 of the 20 mentors will be new. Martin Klaasen is the lone returning mentor, providing some consistency from the previous year.
Some minor tweaks have been made to the program with an even greater emphasis placed on the community aspect. Plans on incorporating regular (frequency still TBD) online miniseries events aimed at shining a light on an important aspect of professional development, such as negotiation skills or productivity improvement, are in place. These sessions will be open to everyone who applies, regardless of whether they are selected for a mentorship.
The age restriction for applying has been removed, as Eve and Katia recognized that some people start their careers later in life. So, for this season, the program is open to anyone in his or her first 8 years in the industry.
The applications for season two are now open and can be found here. Applicants will need to complete the application form and submit a short biography as well as a 3-minute video discussing themselves, their mentorship goals, and another passion outside of the lighting industry. The list of mentors for this season reads as a Who’s Who of the lighting industry and is reason enough to apply.. Best of luck to the mentors and mentees this season! We expect great things!