Critical Commons: The State of Art Criticism in Arizona and the Southwest

Southwest Contemporary magazine and MOCA Tucson present a lively panel discussion and open Q+A exploring the current state of art criticism and art writing in Arizona and the greater Southwest region.

Art and cultural criticism can play many roles within the arts ecosystem and beyond. We’ll discuss how critical discourse constructively serves artists, institutions, and the general public; how it propels creative work forward; and what is at stake within the unique cultural environment of the Southwest region. We'll also speak to the challenges and opportunities for arts writing to advance the arts, support critical thinking more broadly, and resist the almighty algorithm.

Critical Commons is FREE with registration.

The panel begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by light refreshments.

You're also invited to join us for a celebration of Southwest Contemporary Vol. 8 — Medium + Support during MOCA Tucson's free Third Thursday event on November 16 at 6 pm.

Meet the Speakers

Adriana Gallego is the executive director of the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona. In her cumulative roles as an artist, administrator, and educator, she has developed programs, grants, services, and resources in support of arts organizations, artists, universities/schools, community groups, and government agencies. Adriana was the chief operating officer for the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, director of strategic initiatives with the Arizona Commission on the Arts, educational assistant at the Norton Simon Museum, and an arts educator throughout Arizona and California. Currently, she is on the board of directors for Grantmakers in the Arts and Map Fund. Adriana graduated magna cum laude from the University of Arizona College of Fine Arts. As a painter, her artwork is forged from ideals about equality and understanding rooted in the Civil Rights and Feminist movements, with sensibilities born out of her upbringing alongside the United States-Mexico border. She is the recipient of the Border-Ford Bi-national Painting Award and continues to build a repertoire of exhibitions, publications, and speaking engagements.

Erin Joyce is a curator and scholar of contemporary art and has organized over 35 solo and group exhibitions for museums, galleries, and project spaces across the United States including Between Beauty and Decay (Artspace New Haven, 2017), Still Life No. 3: Raven Chacon (Heard Museum 2019), Erika Harrsch: Moving in the Borderlands(Idyllwild Arts Foundation, 2022), and Crafting Resistance (Arizona State University Art Museum, 2023). In addition to her curatorial practice, Erin is a frequent contributor to Hyperallergic, and has had writing featured in Salon, Selvedge Magazine, Canvas Magazine, SHFT, Art Wednesday, Native American Art Magazine, GOOD Magazine, Southwest Contemporary, NPR Art and Seek, and a forthcoming essay in Digging Earth: Extractivism and Resistance on Indigenous Lands of the Americas (Ethics International Press). She is a 2023 winner of the Rabkin Prize for arts journalism from the Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation. Erin holds a BA in the history of art from the University of North Texas, studied contemporary art at Sotheby's Institute of Art, London, and received an MA in museum studies from Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as curator at large and advisor on curatorial initiatives at Arizona State University Art Museum and is a member of the faculty at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. She lives and works in Phoenix.

Lauren Tresp is the publisher and editor of Southwest Contemporary, an independent contemporary art publication dedicated to the American Southwest she has helmed since 2016. She is passionate about fostering empathy and critical thinking through arts journalism and cultural criticism, connecting national and international audiences to contemporary art of the Southwest, and creating opportunities and resources that advance creative work. Lauren also offers consulting services to artists and arts organizations, and has prior experience in arts administration. She has an MA in humanities from the University of Chicago, where she studied Medieval and Renaissance art history, and a BA in art history and history from UCLA. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Lynn Trimble is an award-winning arts writer based in Arizona who specializes in arts and culture in the Southwest. She’s covered visual, performing, and literary arts for more than two decades, writing for newspapers and magazines including Southwest Contemporary, Hyperallergic, and Phoenix New Times. Through her writing practice, which centers on art criticism and arts reporting, she works to amplify the voices of artists working in the Southwest, expand critical discourse about contemporary art, and foster curiosity that inspires readers to undertake and expand their own adventures with art, culture, and community.

About Southwest Contemporary

Southwest Contemporary is the leading resource for contemporary arts and culture in the Southwest.

Headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico and in print since 1992, Southwest Contemporary publishes curated and critical perspectives on contemporary arts and culture online and in print and produces events and career development programming.

southwestcontemporary.com

About MOCA Tucson

Established by artists in 1997, MOCA is Tucson’s only museum devoted exclusively to contemporary art from around the globe. Housed in a repurposed firehouse in Downtown Tucson, MOCA Tucson applies creative solutions to the problems of today and tomorrow through the vehicle of contemporary art. We create programming that is ambitious, innovative, and that is responsive to the wants and needs of our community. A pioneering museum of its kind in the community, MOCA Tucson currently hosts rotating exhibitions by locally, nationally, and internationally renowned contemporary artists—critical exhibitions that spur dialogue and foster empathy between artists and audiences. MOCA Tucson is an important incubator and connector for contemporary art across the Southwest region and beyond.

MOCA Tucson resides on the ancestral lands of the Tohono O’odham people.

moca-tucson.org

About Etherton Gallery

Since 1981, Etherton Gallery has showcased the icons of the history of photography as well as the contemporary artists changing its course. Our exhibitions highlight the most important figures in the history of the medium and we remain dedicated to making great works of photography accessible to novices and experienced collectors alike.

A champion of the arts of the Southwest and in particular Tucson, the gallery also exhibits top local and regional artists working in a variety of media, and presents free exhibition programs that address related local and national issues.

Etherton Gallery is a long-standing member of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers and participates in fine art photography fairs including the AIPAD Photography Show NY, Classic Photographs LA, and Paris Photo.

ethertongallery.com

Headshots left to right: Adriana Gallego, Erin Joyce, Lauren Tresp, and Lynn Trimble.

Critical Commons visual identity design by Zachary Norman.