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The members of the 2023 Artlab Editorial Fellowship advisory committee Hunter Braithwaite, Orit Gat, Shannon Lee, and Barry Schwabsky share their paths to art writing and offer advice to aspiring art writers and potential Artlab Editorial Fellows.

Hunter Braithwaite

Talk us through some biographical info. How did you get your start as a writer?

My mother studied art history, so the house was always full of art books. That said it never dawned on me that this was something that people still did, or that I could do.

I started writing and editing professionally in the travel books department of National Geographic. I switched to art gradually, writing about it as an extension of place, when I was living in Shanghai. I hopscotched from byline to byline, and eventually built up enough of a resume for some people with money to trust me to start a magazine. This was The Miami Rail, where I was the founding editor.

Eventually I moved to New York to work with Cultural Counsel. I always knew I’d end up in New York, so I put it off as long as possible. The less-obvious places where I spent my 20s (Shanghai, Miami, Memphis) allowed me the space and the unique perspective to develop.

What piece of writing are you most proud of, and what made it successful?

There are a few that stack up nicely: two pieces I did for The Paris Review, one on art fairs in Mexico City, and another on photographs of motel pools; and then an essay I published with The White Review on reading J.G. Ballard in Miami. These followed that simple, inexhaustible equation that first got me going—how does art provide the blueprint that allows us to build (or demolish) our understanding of place?

What is some advice you have for those pursuing a professional writing practice?

Embrace amateurism and first impressions. Write with the reader in mind.

What are you looking for in an application to the Artlab Editorial Fellowship?

Writers who take risks, read widely, and will keep writing no matter what.

Orit Gat

Talk us through some biographical info. How did you get your start as a writer?

I’ve always wanted to be an art critic. When I was a kid, I would rarely go to museums or anything like that. Every time I did see art, I felt this connection to it, but I couldn't draw or paint, so I thought I couldn't be an artist. I was a huge reader as a child, though, I still am. And so, I realized that maybe I could just write about art. Then I did a bunch of things that seemed like the right thing to do: an art history BA, a curating MA. I went to work for an art magazine. I went freelance after working for an art magazine for a long time, and all of the freelance writers who worked with me introduced me to their editors, and that's really how I started.

What piece of writing are you most proud of, and what made it successful?

The piece of writing I’m most proud of is a book review of two books. Nick Blackburn’s The Reactor, and Katherine Schultz’s Lost & Found. They were both written after the authors’ fathers died, and I reviewed them together after my dad passed away. It was a piece about reading as a way of connecting with other human beings' experiences. Looking back at it, it was a piece I wrote to assure myself that I might still be able to write personally, even when, or even if, personal life felt almost impossible to explain. But mainly I'm proud of it because it is still a book review. I’m interested in stretching what formats can be.

What is some advice you have for those pursuing a professional writing practice?

The advice I’d give to anyone pursuing a professional writing practice is just to read. That’s it. Read widely so you can have many examples, and people to emulate, and people to be jealous of. Read the magazines you want to pitch to. Read to see what's possible and what you may improve on. Read to see what hasn’t been done, and maybe you can do it.

I do have another piece of advice. Do some editorial work. Edit your friends’ work to learn how to focus on that kind of writing, and on having that relationship with other writers. Editorial relationships are some of the best ones I have, and it’s editors that changed my writing, almost as much as the books I've read.

What are you looking for in an application to the Artlab Editorial Fellowship?

What I’m looking for in the Artlab Editorial Fellowship is something that would reflect on what I’m thinking of now, which is a lot about sincerity in writing, and how a voice means to implicate oneself in one subject. I want to see someone who considers not just the place or the space that they’re writing about, but also their relationship to it. And also, I want that voice to be interesting, exploratory, and ambitious.

Shannon Lee

Talk us through some biographical info. How did you get your start as a writer?

I got into writing as a profession pretty incidentally. I studied painting at Pratt, with a minor in video art history. When I graduated, I was pretty burnt out on making my own work. I tried every sort of job from production assistant to studio assistant, restaurant jobs etc.

A few years after graduating, my friends Casey and Evander, who studied investigative journalism and design respectively, were talking about the lack of in-depth, long form coverage about the environmental crisis: stories that didn't feel green-washed and also captured the entangled nuances of our climate crisis.

We started a DIY magazine called Silica Mag that combined stories with really stellar digital art commissions. My official title was Lead Producer. I fell in love with the editorial process. I had always written for myself—a lot of songs, music, personal essays, that sort of thing—but never thought of it as a potential career path. For me, it was really refreshing to be able to have my thoughts and ideas communicated so directly. Having come from an art and painting background that's so liquid and labor-intensive, writing felt like a much more direct, back and forth communication with audiences.

What is some advice you have for those pursuing a professional writing practice?

My advice to those pursuing a professional writing practice is to make friends, be kind, and be communicative. Writing is a solitary practice for sure, but getting published is a collaborative endeavor, so definitely find community. Feed your mind and make sure to get paid.

What are you looking for in an application to the Artlab Editorial Fellowship?

I’m looking for writers who can express what they see in ways that are engaging, compelling, and fresh, while also demonstrating a sincerely rooted love for community.

Barry Schwabsky

Talk us through some biographical info. How did you get your start as a writer?

I became an art critic through the poetry-art connection. I was enamored of New York school poets like John Ashbery and Frank O'Hara who’d written about art. When I moved to New York in the 1980s, I got to know poets like John Yau and Marjorie Welish who were doing the same. It seemed natural to want to join the fun.

What is some advice you have for those pursuing a professional writing practice?

My advice to prospective art writers is to do it for love because the money is dicey.

What are you looking for in an application to the Artlab Editorial Fellowship?

In reading the applications, I’ll be looking for that passion along with critical intelligence and creativity. It takes a lot to play along with great art.