Art Is Essential October 2020
Writers on the art that matters to them.
Announcing the Winner of the 2020 Tote Bag Design Contest
We have a winner, and it’s Dora Pang.
Announcing The Creative Block Essay Contest – Open Now Through November 30
We are seeking previously unpublished personal essays up to 2,000 words about the creative endeavor that you paused.
Art Across America
Have Skateboard. Dive Deep.
Poet Anders Carlson-Wee on the skateboarding aesthetic, the benefits of dumpster diving, and the...
How to Tell a Dance on Film
Elliot Caplan and Mirra Bank watch dance with eyes and minds open to creative possibilities. They...
Drop Out. Tune In. Start a Revolution.
Mario Torero on leaving art school, his place in the Chicano art movement, and fifty years of...
Art Is Essential
In March 2020 Critical Read began the Art Is Essential flash nonfiction project. We asked writers to describe the art that they are turning to during these uncertain times. Since then, we’ve heard from over 300 writer across the country.
– Adam Zucker on Mierle Laderman Ukeles’s Touch Sanitation
First Person Stories
Walls Covered in Basquiat
"What might be if he lived? What does it mean that his image is defined and further commoditized...
The Lewis Chessmen, Deer Antler, and a French Bulldog
"What could I make with antler?" I recalled the Lewis Chessmen and figured I could attempt to carve...
An Itch for Things Remote
From ‘Moby Dick’ to Frank Stella, a writer looks to art of the sea for inspiration....
Grass Grew on the Sidewalks
The dream of visiting Harper Lee’s world leads to reconnecting with a grandmother....
Trending
Seventeen Ways of Looking at the Mona Lisa May 2, 2019 We asked writers and artists to show us what the…
Art is Essential Essays Vol. 1 April 14, 2020 Writers on the art that matters to them
2020 Tote Bag Design Contest – DEADLINE EXTENDED May 28, 2020 Help us tell the world that Art Is Essential
Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico December 23, 2019 Lessons from a master in living with beauty: Georgia O’Keeffe’s…
Art Is Essential Vol. 5 June 30, 2020 Writers on the art that matters to them.
Art Is Essential vol. 6 July 28, 2020 Writers on the art that matters to them.
Art Is Essential vol. 7 August 25, 2020 Writers on the art that matters to them.
Art is Essential Essays Vol. 4 June 3, 2020 Writers on the art that matters to them
Art has history
Online since 2016, Critical Read is a nonprofit, non-partisan publisher dedicated to making American art and art history more inclusive and discoverable.
We tell the true stories of the fine, literary, and performing arts. Browse our Artwork Biography e-books, available in mobi, epub, and pdf files.
Art In-Depth
Victim of his own intent: On Alvin Feinman
“My ambition, nonetheless, is that someday in the distant future, just one lonely reader will wander the shelves of a library and discover a slim volume of my poetry, taking inspiration from my work in the way I found it in Alvin Feinman’s.”
October 20, 2020• Commentary, Feature, Visual Art
How a 19th-Century Idea Could Rescue 21st-Century Art
The American Art-Union offers a model for supporting artists with direct engagement from the American public. For an art world struggling in the pandemic economy, it could offer a solution.