In its more than 100 years of watchmaking, Rolex has supported almost every form of art, with philanthropic programs in architecture, dance, film, literature, music, theater and the visual arts. But the most forward-thinking of them all may be the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.
Since its inception in 2002, the program has paired 54 A-list artists with up-and-comers from around the globe. Each mentor selects an outstanding young artist to advise over the course of two years. Rolex asks that the teams directly engage for at least six weeks, although they often spend more time together. This may involve gaining access to the master at work, seeking guidance for a new project, or even collaborating on a new work.
The brand provides financial support to both the mentors and the protégés, who, at the conclusion of the mentorship, can also apply for a grant to fund the creation of a new piece of work or performance.
This year’s mentor list (announced in February in Cape Town, South Africa) is full of creative masters: Spike Lee, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Carrie Mae Weems and Phyllida Lloyd.
Award-winning director Lee, known for shining his artistic spotlight on important sociocutural themes, chose to work with Native American filmmaker Kyle Bell, 33. The 2019 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab alum strives to tell stories that give voice to his people, “stories that don’t get told,” Bell says.
The pairing seems a perfect fit for Lee, whose affinity for Rolex goes way back. Since the early 1990s, he’s been photographed wearing a variety of Rolexes — often coveted Daytona chronographs. At this year’s Academy Awards, Lee wore an Evergold GMT-Master II dubbed “Root Beer” for its bicolor black and brown Cerachrom bezel. As he’s said in past interviews: “When you wear a Rolex, you’re wearing a piece of art on your wrist.” (For the record, the left-hander wears his on his right.)
Meanwhile, Broadway phenom Miranda — creator, director and star of “Hamilton” — is mentoring Argentinian director, screenwriter, cinematographer, colorist and film editor Agustina San Martín. The 29-year-old San Martín, who won a special mention jury prize for her 2019 short film “Monster God” at the 72nd Cannes Festival, says she hopes Miranda will help “nurture and broaden her creative universes.”
Miranda’s own creative universes have been exploding this year. His blockbuster Broadway hit “Hamilton” has been streamed nearly 3 million times since its July debut on Disney+, and he’s been busy acting, writing, composing and producing for multiple projects, including a live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid,” a film adaptation of “In the Heights” and another Disney animated musical called “Encanto.”
Joining Miranda and Lee as a mentor is contemporary artist Carrie Mae Weems. Based in Syracuse, New York, Weems is known for her exploration of family relationships, cultural identity, sexism, class, political systems and the consequences of power through her multimedia works. She will join forces with Colombian filmmaker and visual artist Camila Rodríguez Triana, 35, who creates powerful pieces that, much like her mentor’s themes, portray intimate relationships in everyday spaces.When you wear a Rolex, you’re wearing a piece of art on your wrist.
- Spike Lee
Finally, British director Phyllida Lloyd — best known for directing both the smash-hit musical and film versions of “Mamma Mia!” and the Margaret Thatcher biopic “The Iron Lady” — has teamed up with Whitney White, 33, an accomplished American director, musician, composer and actress.
They’ll join a list of impressive former Rolex protégés, who have gone on to lead major theater companies, show their work at the Venice Biennale and even (as Tracy K. Smith did) become poet laureate of the United States.
Rolex — which has passed down the craft of watchmaking for centuries in Switzerland — explains the importance of the mentor-protégé relationship this way: “[It’s] based on the belief that art is a continuum, an accumulation of past experiences over generations, and that all artists are inspired by those who went before them.”