Lessons for Artists From Ursula K. Le Guin
The insidious ubiquity of application fees, a bill to fund the arts advances to the Senate, and a sexual history of the internet.
There's a particular magic in discovering the worlds created by the late prescient author Ursula K. Le Guin, from the Earthsea archipelago to the planet of Gethen. The former series was one of the first I encountered as a young reader that centered non-White characters.
Even her carefully drawn maps reveal a mind with gears always turning, swirling with storylines that defied linearity and conventions of science fiction — and the way writers speak to their readers. "A book is just a box of words until a reader opens it," she replied to each of her many fan letters.
Theo Downes-Le Guin brought his mother's approach to art and literature to life for an exhibition at Oregon Contemporary in Portland, which he writes about curating with creativity and care in a moving essay today. I particularly cherish his reflection on her own shape-shifting identity as a writer and person, a gem of wisdom worth holding onto: "Rather than worship an immutable icon, we should aspire to her willingness to learn and change."
—Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor
Curating a Show on My Ineffable Mother, Ursula K. Le Guin
How does one curate a show about a parent? Theo Downes-Le Guin began this daunting task last year while organizing an exhibition about the singular Ursula K. Le Guin, who constantly remade herself and detested being pigeon-holed. It's fitting, then, that her own typewriter would be on view for visitors to leave their own mark on the show, changing it with each word they write. "I hoped visitors to A Larger Reality, at Oregon Contemporary through February 8, could experience a little of the residual magic that I find clings to it, pecking out whatever they please, taking home the original and leaving a carbon copy for posterity," writes Downes-Le Guin, musing on the limitations of narrative and how to tell his mother's stories.
Giving and Receiving: Memoirs of an Immigrant Curator and Philanthropist
Marica Vilcek shares her story in a new memoir, from her early life and escape from Czechoslovakia to her 30-year career at The Met, and the decision to create the Vilcek Foundation to champion immigrants in the arts.
News
- At long last, the New Museum announced that it's opening to the public in March after two years of construction on seven additional stories. (As Staff Writer Rhea Nayyar discovered in 2024, New Yorkers have mixed feelings about the new design.)
- Triennial this, biennial that ... what about a decennial? This June, the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art will open the first of its exhibitions taking place every decade. Here are the 40 artists participating in the inaugural edition.
- The US House of Representatives just advanced a bill to fund arts organizations like the Smithsonian Institution, the National Endowment for the Arts, and others — despite Trump's attacks on the sector.
Opinion
Why Are We Paying for the Privilege of Rejection?
Artist Damien Davis is back with an impassioned takedown of that most ubiquitous of art-world barriers: application fees. Far from a minor constraint, they pile up quickly and train artists "to treat unpaid administrative labor as a prerequisite for being seen." Read his essay for guidelines on identifying predatory fees and working against the normalization of "access as something artists should pay for in advance."
Develop Your Work and Aesthetic Philosophy at New York Studio School
Forge a lifelong art practice with NYSS’s unique MFA and Certificate programs. The priority application deadline for financial aid is February 15.
From Our Critics
The Internet According to Sex Workers and Cyberfeminists
Mindy Seu’s A Sexual History of the Internet is part performance, part artist book, and part financial experiment. | Eileen Skyers
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts – Haystack at 75
Artists can apply for Open Studio Residency and all-levels workshops in blacksmithing, ceramics, fiber, glass, graphics, metals, wood, and writing in coastal Maine. Tuition, room and board, and shop fees vary. Fellowships are available.
Deadline: January 30 or February 20, 2026 (depending on the program) | haystack-mtn.org/programs
Member Comment
Tom Knoff on Reviews Editor Natalie Haddad's "Take a Musical Trip Through Sixties Surrealism"
From the Archive
Take a Trip Through Ursula K. Le Guin’s Conjured Worlds
The fantasy and science fiction writer found her way into her invented worlds by making maps and then mentally exploring them. | Michael Glover
