Critical Writing

Critical Writing is a year-long program for writers to practice the art of cultural criticism in a small cohort setting. The program began in 2011 to facilitate meaningful exchanges between writers and artists, wherein writers pursue the underlying themes and ideas that inform Session projects toward the mutual production of new works.

Art writing at Recess is playful, responsive, and experimental, with an emphasis on storytelling that champions the subjective voice, observations, and abstractions. Although texts are typically developed in essay format, there is an open invitation to bend the genre and twist the form in order to build a textual world that considers the role of narrative change within contemporary art writing. The program is shaped for writers at any stage of their practice and those working across and beyond criticism. Alongside publishing new work, the rhythm of the program is structured around a series of monthly workshops and opportunities for Critical Writing Fellows to collaborate with one another throughout the course of the yearlong program.

Program Model

Publishing

Fellows publish two web-based texts on Recess's website after the end of a Session or partnership project. Writers are supported through one-to-one editorial workshops as they develop their texts within a 8 to 10-week editorial timeline.

Workshops

A dual series of workshops anchor the monthly convenings. The 2026-2027 workshops are Reading Room and Open Desk, both are organized around thematic exchanges on editorial theory and practice, investigative artist interviews, curatorial writing, and the art of reframing the margins.

Reading Room is a virtual workshop formatted around internal discussions around selected short-form writing from across the cultural arts field. Fellows co-facilitate these sessions and contribute companion readings for the conversation.

Open Desk is an in-person workshop series where text-based practitioners are invited to engage with our Fellows about their writing and reading practices. The exchange begins with a presentation exploring key arcs of their practice and closes with a conversation around two short-form texts they’ve selected for Fellows to read beforehand.

Collaboration

Through two collaborative projects, Critical Writing Fellows are invited to consider who their chosen publics are and to engage them beyond readership.

Co-edit a Digital Reader in the Fall / Winter

The reader is a published text where Fellows place Recess’ archive of critical art writing in conversation with contemporary and historical texts across the field.

Co-curate a Public Program in the Spring / Summer

Participatory artist programming is central to our model at Recess, and our Critical Writing Fellows are invited to present their own public activation as a culmination of the Fellowship.