Colored Criticism

A fresh take on art.

Tiffany Bradley

Announcing Keep NYS Creating Grant Recipients!

As an extension of its ongoing support of artists who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) announced today that it has awarded $42,000 to 42 artists statewide through the new “Keep NYS Creating” grant program in partnership with the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). These $1,000 grants are supported by National Endowment for the Arts funding through the CARES Act and will help artists continue their indispensable work within their communities throughout New York.   

Among the Keep NYS Creating recipients is Tiffany Bradley of Westchester, who will create #ArtOffPause, a digital conversation in which artists, curators, and scholars explore how the COVID and structural racism crises are shaping their practice. The series features arts workers with a social practice or public engagement process, with an emphasis on those from LGBTQ and communities of color.

“Communities of color are at the center of the COVID crisis yet remain at the periphery of the art world,” said Bradley. “This pandemic has been a force multiplier on existing financial, health, and housing disparities for people of color in the United States. But it can also be a catalyst for change. During this social rupture, artists need space for advocacy, imagination, and reflection. This is the most important critical work we can do right now.”         

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Read In, Speak Out!

I’m an art critic, so I get a lot of press releases. Over the first five years of Colored Criticism, my inbox has been flooded with messages about acquisitions, initiatives, and programs aimed at “diversity” in the arts. As our country burns with righteous anger, I received nothing. The deafening silence of the art world reverberates. The only acknowledgement of the national crisis and emotional trauma has come from organizations run by people of color. (And for reference, 88% of museum executive staff are White-non Hispanic by race/ethnicity.) Despite the rising financial value of Black art, there’s scarce support for Black lives. Silence = death, as the impassioned elders of ACT-UP taught us.

Image credit: Betye Saar always brings the heat. “Liberation of Aunt Jemima: Cocktail, 1973.” Mixed Media assemblage. Brooklyn Museum permanent collection.

Required Reading
Independent Study for times of turmoil

Culture To Do From Your Couch

New England Public Media recommends #ArtOffPause for “Culture To Do From Your Couch” during May 2020.

Tiffany Bradley of Colored Criticism hosts #ArtOffPause, which keeps people engaged in art as we look ahead. Hear curators Dr. Emma Chubb and Yao Wu talk about changes at the Smith College Museum of Art, including closing “Black Refractions” on loan from the Studio Museum and preparing for “SCMA100: Then\Now\Next.”

Read more: https://www.nepm.org/post/culture-do-your-couch-week-4-edition

Art Off Pause Playlist

Did you miss us? That’s okay – every episode of #ArtOffPause is available for viewing on YouTube.

Watch the Playlist

Previous Guests on #ArtOffPause

  • Wednesday 8/12: Dr. Bimbola Akinbola on portraiture, diaspora, and COVID philanthropy in Chicago 
  • 7/ 1: Tammy Johnson on bellydance, community, and Black resilience in the Bay Area.
  • Tuesday 5/12:  Kevin Seaman on toxic masculinity, drag culture and #femMASCULINE in San Francisco.
  • Tuesday 5/5:  Dr. Ndubuisi Ezeluomba on insider/outsider visions of ancestor worship at the New Orleans Museum of Art.
  • Monday 5/4:  Alexander Hernandez on textiles, migration, and resilience in Latino communities in California.
  • Tuesday 4/28:  Marcela Torres on agentic modes, Muay Thai, and moving past violence in Chicago.
  • Monday 4/27:  Channing Kennedy on preschool storytimes and equity in California.
  • Friday 4/25: Kale Roberts on hijacking the ritual of tailgating in Florida.
  • Thursday 4/24: Betty Yu on imagining de-gentrified futures in New York.
  • Wednesday 4/23: Dr. Kimberli Gant on showcasing Black artists at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Virginia.
  • Tuesday 4/21: Dr. Emma Chubb and Yao Wu on shifting curatorial approaches at the Smith College Museum of Art in Massachusetts.
  • Monday 4/20: Lexa Walsh on radical hospitality and artist residencies in California.

Art Off Pause Livestream

We need art, and we need each other. Every part of our world has been disrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak.  Americans have turned to arts as a refuge. Since we can’t gather in person, we’ve moved our socializing online.

#ArtOffPause is a livestream series and social media campaign that helps us to stay connected as we look ahead. Our arts institutions are “on pause” to stop the spread of COVID-19. Artists, curators, and scholars will preview their suspended or upcoming projects via livestream. Our community can envision what the future might bring after the public health crisis.

We can’t access our museums and galleries, but we have access to each other. This crisis gives us an opportunity to highlight the people and process of art, instead of objects. Through connecting on a daily basis, we can deepen our relationship to our work and to our larger community. We need something to look forward to in the face of national adversity.

Register for Art Off Puase
Watch on YouTube

Stay tuned for more from #ArtOffPause this summer!

Coronavirus Cancels Everything

Hi friends,

I’m writing from my home, surrounded by the fallout of coronavirus. Our county is referred to as the “Westchester cluster,” which sounds vaguely like an old-timey candy instead of an outbreak. The National Guard is helping out the good people of New Rochelle, schools are closed next to my writing spot in Scarsdale, and our streets get quieter as the diagnosed cases tick up. We’re already community distancing as our schools, cultural institutions, and houses of worship try to contain the damage.

Museums are a great place to spend ideas, culture, and germs. I’ve been watching closely as #CancelEverything becomes real – every hour brings a cancellation or postponement. I’m not saying you have to stay home, but you can’t go to a museum or theater in NYC. Of course, we can still love up on art in the time of coronavirus. I’m clearly not a doctor, so I can’t help you with testing or public policy. But I can suggest how to make the best of a (mandatory? requested?) Covid-19 staycation:

  • Read a book: This is the time for independent study – your public library is full of arts expertise. Librarians are like a search engine or the internet, without conspiracy theories and #sponcon. I’m selecting my books online so that I can hit the circulation desk, wash my hands, and be back home.
  • Take a hike: Lace up your boots and see some outdoor art. We can definitely maintain a healthy distance from each other in a sculpture park like Socrates or Storm King. And let’s be honest, you’re going to be spending even more time sitting if you’re working from home. Get some fresh air!
  • Give generously: If you can’t buy a ticket at the door, make a donation. Smaller organizations are going to be hard hit by any reduction in visitors. The mandatory closures mean a significant drop in attendance for cultural institutions. That money isn’t coming back when the situation improves.

It’s no secret that there are plenty of low-wage and contingent workers in the arts. Teaching artists, security guards, cleaning staff, and art handlers tend to be under or uninsured. They also deal the most with the public. Boards and executives, this is the time to be creative in your duty of care. The Rauschenberg Emergency Grants program is a great start, but it won’t be enough. Supporting our most vulnerable colleagues will have a huge impact on our communities. Remember, Typhoid Mary was a service worker. She infected others because she couldn’t afford to stay at home.