CUE Art Foundation Art Critic Mentorship Program
About this opportunity
The CUE Art Foundation Art Critic Mentorship Program, run in partnership with AICA-USA, pairs emerging writers with established art critics to produce original long-form essays about artists exhibiting at CUE's gallery in New York. The programme offers sustained editorial mentorship and the opportunity to develop ambitious critical writing for publication, providing a rare supported pathway into professional art criticism.
Application tips
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, so apply when you have a strong portfolio rather than rushing to meet a deadline. Your writing samples should demonstrate genuine critical engagement with contemporary art, not just description. Familiarity with CUE's exhibition programme will strengthen your application.
Pathway
Helpful prior experience
Related opportunities
International Association of Art Critics (AICA)
Opens: April · Closes: July
The AICA Incentive Prize for Young Art Critics is an annual essay competition run by the International Association of Art Critics, inviting emerging writers to submit critical essays on a rotating theme. The prize is designed to encourage new critical voices to engage with underrepresented topics and geographies, and to promote the international circulation of new ideas in art criticism.
Frieze
Opens: December · Closes: February
The Frieze New Writers Programme is a free, intensive three-day course for emerging art writers, held in a different city each year. The programme offers workshops, seminars, and practical exercises led by frieze editors and established critics, providing participants with the skills and confidence to develop their art writing. Previous editions have been held in London, Liverpool, Seoul, and other cities.
British Film Institute (BFI)
Opens: June · Closes: July
The BFI London Film Festival Critics Mentorship Programme pairs emerging film critics with experienced mentors from leading media partners. Participants attend the festival as accredited press delegates, producing reviews, interviews, and features for publication. The programme is specifically designed to open doors for writers from backgrounds underrepresented in film criticism.