Art Criticism Apprenticeship - Public Programming
Overview
“I’m honored to be the first apprentice chosen for this joint program and am excited to dive headfirst into Seattle’s varied and diverse art scene. There are so many incredible artists, shows, and performances — I’m thrilled to have the chance to connect those stories with the Seattle Times’ audience. ”
— Jas Keimig, inaugural Art Criticism Apprentice
OverviewWe believe that healthy and vibrant arts communities depend upon the feedback loop that arts writers and arts publications provide the public. In 2025, we launched the Art Criticism Apprenticeship to strengthen that loop at the local level.
We wanted to work with a legacy outlet like The Seattle Times because the way newspapers once sustained art critics is a model worth revisiting—even as a dramatically changed media landscape has transformed the critic’s place in everyday life. We see the Apprenticeship as an ongoing experiment in cultivating the presence and value of hyperlocal public intellectuals. G
Jas Keimig was the inaugural Apprentice. A Seattle-based arts writer and journalist, Keimig spent four years on staff at The Stranger, covering visual arts, film, and music, and has since written about arts and culture in South Seattle as a regular contributor to the South Seattle Emerald. Their work has also appeared in The Seattle Times, Cascade PBS, i-D, Variable West, and Arte Noir. Beyond the page, they co-directed Black Film School, a YouTube series produced by Netflix, and co-created Unstreamable, a column and screening series at SIFF devoted to films you can’t find on streaming services.
Keimig brought a rare combination of range across mediums and close familiarity with Seattle’s neighborhoods, along with a commitment to the communities whose art too often goes uncovered in Seattle.
About the Apprenticeship
The BES Apprenticeship partners with local and regional publications across the U.S. to train and mentor writers who are committed to becoming art critics, giving them financial support and the time to develop a beat. Inspired by the 20th-century critics who built distinctive voices and deep local knowledge as full-time staff writers, we aim to cultivate informed, thoughtful critics who can offer well-contextualized judgments and become trusted, if sometimes disagreed-with, members of their arts communities.
Quick Stats
6-month runs (for now…)
Apprentice receives $10k honorarium + publication fees
Regular mentorship meetings with BES and partnering publication
Monthly publication schedule, if not more, depending upon publication needs and capacities
Interested in Partnering?
We want to connect with publications that want to enhance or build out their arts coverage. We love all-digital publications but are especially invested in entities that have print circulation. We love to problem-solve and capacity-build, so let’s have a conversation and work a collaboration out. Email us.
Public Programs