Open Call: Pizza Salon - Art Writers Focus Group

Pizza Salon marks the beginning of a new initiative by Civil Art, co-hosted with September Magazine, to strengthen networks among art writers, editors, and historians in the API creative community.

This gathering is a chance to meet peers and mentors — to talk honestly about what’s needed, what’s missing, and what’s possible. Emerging writers are invited to share current challenges, needs, and ideas for support, connection, and hands on experience, while established professionals are encouraged to reflect on how mentorship, access, or community could have shaped their own paths differently — and how they can now offer that guidance to others.

Civil Art is dedicated to creating a pipeline program to nurture emerging voices in art writing, create sustainable pathways for professional growth, and build long-term networks across the API arts ecosystem. The salon format lets us start that process together — informally, collaboratively, and over pizza.

This first focus group will help Civil Art and September Magazine understand how to better serve art writers and historians — building bridges between old and new friends who share a commitment to writing as an act of care, connection, and community.

Requirements

Pizza Salon: Art Writers Focus Group is open for submissions from 11/21–12/3 and welcomes applications from emerging and established art writers. Our use of the term “art writers” is inclusive of curators, art historians, researchers, and all professionals whose significant time and effort goes into writing, curating, or researching about art.

• Applicants should maintain an active art-writing practice or intend to pursue a career in art writing.
• They are seeking individuals who are not only passionate, but genuinely invested in building a supportive community of art writers—those committed to uplifting one another and helping shape a brighter future for the next generation of voices.
• While the application is intentionally short to keep the process accessible, they encourage you to take your time. Use the space to tell them who you are and what you are working toward. Capacity for the salon is limited to ensure depth and quality in the conversations.

Application Instructions

• All applicants must be able to attend the in-person Pizza Salon event on Wednesday, December 10, in Brooklyn, near the Knickerbocker Station on the M line.
• Upon acceptance, an email invitation to the Pizza Salon will be sent no later than December 5.