The Chicago Critic’s Table is an eight-month paid incubator for emerging Chicago cultural critics hosted by Arts + Public Life and funded by the Mellon Foundation. It offers emerging critics the opportunity to build an enduring network of colleagues working in a range of media, methods, and platforms in order to support and experiment with each other as they continue to develop their voice, practice, and audience with an emphasis on local critical scenes, history, and the work of Black and Brown artists.
The Chicago Critic’s Table at Arts + Public Life is a biennial program, with the pilot launched in 2023 by Prof. Adrienne Brown. The next application cycle will likely launch in late 2026.
Goals
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Support and incubate new and emerging critical talent in Chicago.
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Broaden who gets called a critic and what gets labeled as criticism, and create more dynamic modes of critical engagement.
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Create new kinds of critical communities that break down silos of identity, genre, and medium.
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Use criticism to broaden the audience for South Side artists and cultural scenes, and to create new types of critical audiences.
The cohort has so far consisted of 6 fellows in total. Fellows receive a $5000 stipend as well as a $700 arts budget for tickets and supplies/travel.
Fellowship Website:
https://artsandpubliclife.org/critics-table