Presented in partnership with Praise Shadows Art Gallery, the program supports three individuals based in Boston ages 18–21 who are interested in expanding their knowledge of the city’s contemporary art community through hands-on experience writing reviews, artist interviews, and exhibition texts while deepening their understanding of the operations behind a commercial gallery. This fellowship is not a traditional internship, but rather a curriculum-based program with learning at the center.
The program is five-month commitment that begins with a crash course in art writing led by the team at Boston Art Review. In this part of the program (February–March), individuals participate in weekly workshops and field trips to cultivate their writing practices and relationships within Boston’s art community. At the end of this portion, each fellow is with a mentor to formally pitch, develop, and complete a project that is published on the Boston Art Review website or in print.
For the second half of the program (April–May), fellows step into paid, part-time internships at Praise Shadows Art Gallery in Brookline’s Coolidge Corner. Here, they learn the inner workings of a contemporary art gallery, including marketing and press release writing and engaging with the general public about the work on view.
In addition to workshops with local writers and arts leaders, past fellows have participated in sessions with editors from Triple Canopy and Book Art Review (part of Center for Book Arts) and met with an executive at Higher Ground (the Obamas’ media company). They also heard from Dr. Jovonna Jones, Nakia Hill, Jackie Houton, Jessica Shearer, and visited exhibitions at ICA Boston, Boston Center for the Arts, and Northeastern’s Gallery 360.