Crafting A Strong Artist Statement

A clear and strong artist statement will help you open doors, build your network, and seize the right artistic opportunities. It is often the first introduction to who you are and your unique approach to your artistry. This workshop is designed to support emerging Black artists who may be crafting an artist statement for the first time, or currently have one that is in the very early stages.

Interested in learning how to write a compelling artist statement? This session will provide you with the tools and information you need to craft a strong and compelling artist statement that reflects and represents you and your artistic practice. Led by writer and curator Geneviève Wallen, participants will also get the opportunity to receive one-on-one feedback on your artist statement, and when/how to best use it to your advantage. Spots are limited.

About Geneviève Wallen

Geneviève Wallen is a Tiohtiá:ke Mooniyang/Montreal and Tkaronto/Toronto-based independent curator, writer, and researcher. Wallen’s practice is informed by diasporic narratives, intersectional feminism, intergenerational dialogues, and BIPOC alternative healing platforms functioning outside neo-libral definitions of self and collective care. Her ongoing research focuses on the intersections of longevity and pleasure as contemplative spaces for care work in the arts. 

Wallen contributed essays for C magazine; the anthology Other Places: Reflections on Media Arts in Canada, edited by Deanna Bowen; and the anthology The Politics of Spatial Transgressions in the Arts, edited by Gregory Blair & Noa Bronstein. Wallen is the Exhibition Coordinator at FOFA Gallery. She is also part of the collective YTB (Younger than Beyoncé) Gallery; the co-initiator (with Marsya Maharani) of Souped Up, a series of sporadic and thematic dinners for racialized curators and cultural workers; a member of the Black Curators Forum; an advisory committee member for the BLACK PORTRAITURE[S]: Toronto, Absent/ed Presence conference and she recently joined the advisory board of the Centre for the Study of Black Canadian Diaspora founded by Andrea Fatona.

About Left of Centre

Left of Centre is a two-year artist incubation project which combines professional development, creative consulting, critical feedback, and seed funding to support the careers of emerging Black artists living within Toronto or the GTA. With multiple streams, Left of Centre allows artists to locate themselves within the incubator, making use of elements that are best suited towards their needs – whether that be funding, consulting, critique, or inspiration. Learn more here.

Thank you to our funders