Writing About Art: Through the Critic's Lens

In this two-hour introductory workshop, we will discuss strategies for writing about art with an eye to incorporating your distinct perspectives, knowledge bases, and skill sets. After a brief overview of different art writing formats and a conversation about the qualities of compelling criticism, we will do a group exercise with Cauleen Smith's Dusk of Dawn exhibition.

Cassie Packard is a New York-based art writer and reviews editor at frieze. Her writing can be found in frieze and such publications as Artforum, ArtReview, BOMB, The Brooklyn Rail, Cultured, e-flux, Financial Times, and Los Angeles Review of Books. She is a recipient of the 2024 Rabkin Prize for art writing and the author of Art Rules (Frances Lincoln, 2023 (UK); Eyrolles, 2024 (FR); China Textile Publishing House Co., 2024 (CN)). Packard has contributed to artist books, exhibition catalogues, monographs, and anthologies and is a frequent guest lecturer/visiting critic at universities and artist residencies. Previously, she was an oral historian at Eyebeam and a researcher at Hauser & Wirth. She holds an M.A. with merit in art history from University College London and a B.A. with honors in art history from Brown University.

Co-sponsored by the Department of Art & Art History, School of Arts & Sciences, and University of Richmond Museums as part of the 2025-26 Tucker-Boatwright Festival of Literature & the Arts.