For the past 15 years, Chicago-based art historian and critic, Lori Waxman, has been moonlighting as the “60 wrd/min art critic,” a public performance in which she writes (and publishes) short art reviews for any artist who needs them. She presents an overview of this project with a focus on two iterations that took place in Chicago in very different times and spaces, relating it to the recent history of socially engaged art, a practice well represented in Chicago. Waxman encourages the audience to think through what happens when art history decides to leave the confines of the institution to see how it might be of use to practicing artists.

Presented by Red Line Service, an organization that creates cultural programming by and for Chicagoans with a lived experience of homelessness, this program is part of a series of talks by Chicago-based art historians that examines a variety of creative practices and settings where art is produced, questions ways in which art history is written, and introduces new audiences to art history. Programs focus on often overlooked American art, design, and cultural artifacts (past and present) with a specific focus on Chicago. Each program is free, open to the public, and includes a meal, bringing together audiences who don’t typically interact to develop community together through learning.

This talk is followed on June 10, 2022, 12-2 p.m. by a writing workshop for attendees who wish to explore writing their own art histories at Harold Washington Library, 8th Floor, Meeting Room. For more information and to RSVP for the workshop, please email contact@redlineservice.org.