Group Crit began as a response to a need—for space to reflect, to pause, to share, and to build language around the work. Facilitated online, it brought together BBIPOC artists from across Greater Boston in the spirit of collective liberation: a recognition of the intersecting systems of oppression we navigate as people of color, and a commitment to undoing them in ourselves, our families, our communities, and the spaces that shape our practices.
Alongside critique, Group Crit became a space for something else: friendship, encouragement, dialogue. A place where frustrations could be voiced without judgment. Support for both the work and the artist’s practice—often encumbered by day jobs and other demands—was freely offered and affirmed as legitimate.
We talked about artworks in progress and professional practices in flux. We gave feedback. We asked what the work needed—and what the artist needed. But we also listened. The stories of dismissal and silence were eerily familiar to all.
Hosted online—when gathering in person was still uncertain—our screen became a shared table, studio, and floor. This wasn’t critique in the institutional sense. It was an experiment in care, in facilitation outside of established order. A reminder that validation, too, is a form of practice—and of professionalism.