2026 Critics-in-Residence Open Call

Open Call: Local Critic-in-Residence (Summer 2026)

The Luminary x Sixty Inches From Center

The Luminary, in partnership with Sixty Inches From Center, is pleased to announce an open call for a Local Critic-in-Residence to participate in a week-long paid residency in St. Louis, MO, alongside a traveling writer selected by Sixty. 

Rooted in The Luminary’s commitment to art, thought , and action, this residency supports arts writers and cultural critics who are not only invested in interpretation and analysis, but in how ideas move, circulate, and take form in the world. We encourage applicants who think expansively about criticism as a creative, public, and material practice – whether through essays, print ephemera, DIY publishing, zines, and experimental forms, or other modes of distribution beyond traditional platforms. 

The program invites writers who are curious, rigorous, community-minded, and invested in building critical dialogue with and beyond St. Louis as a site of inquiry and exchange. 

Residency Dates:

July 1-7, 2026

The residency will coincide with The Luminary’s summer exhibition, featuring a large-scale sound work engaging collective voice, ecological futures, and non-human entities.

Residency Focus & Guiding Themes

Applicants are encouraged to consider how their writing and research connect with:

• Art as a site of thought, critique, and public engagement
• Ecological Futures, non-human narratives, and collective imagination
• Free Speech, democratic prints, and new modes of independent publishing
• The relationship between analog and digital processes and spaces
• Being present in place and translating local experience into writing
• The role of arts criticism in regional and diasporic communities

What the Residency Includes:

• $1000 paid honorarium
• Paid travel
• Local housing for the residency period (a staycation)
• Access to The Luminary’s programs, archives, and publications
• Introductions to artists, organizers, and cultural workers in St. Louis
• A hosted community share-out dinner with invited guests
• Access to a risograph printer, with optional demo and print support
• Publication opportunities with Sixty Inches From Center
• Publication opportunities in a print zine produced with Melon Press

Writers may produce essays, criticism, interviews, field notes, experimental writing, or hybrid forms. 

Who Should Apply:

This open call is for local writers based in or connected to St. Louis who are:

• Emerging or established arts writers, critics, journalists, or cultural thinkers
• Engaged with local or regional arts ecosystems
• Interested in expanding or deepening their writing practice
• Aligned with values of equity, accessibility, and community accountability 

We especially encourage applicants connected to Indigenous, diasporic, and queer communities, folks living with disabilities, and those historically underrepresented in arts publishing. 

Accessibility:

The Luminary’s residency apartment is located on the second floor of the building and is only accessible via one flight of stairs. For additional questions about the space and accessibility, please contact us at info@theluminaryarts.com

Selection Process:

The Luminary will review applications and nominate three finalists, who will then be reviewed in collaboration with Sixty Inches From Center. One local writer will be selected to participate alongside Sixty’s traveling critic.

Selection will consider:

• Relationship to arts communities
• Writing voice, perspective, and critical approach
• Experience level, access, and growth potential
• Alignment with the values of The Luminary and Sixty
• Capacity to contribute meaningfully to local and national discourse

Residency Timeline:

Open Call: March 3 - April 17

Panel deliberations and final decisions made: May 1, 2026

Participants notified: May 15, 2026

Residency begins: July 1, 2026

This residency is a part of a shared commitment to expand arts writing in St. Louis, support regional cultural criticism, connect local and national writers, and build platforms for critical, community-rooted dialogue.