Illustration by Emily Zhang
At an arts university, especially one like the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a pass/fail grading system, rarely are students pulling all-nighters to cram for exams. Instead, that time and energy is put toward making artwork for the big deadlines of the semester: critiques.
Critique, or crit, is the designated time for students to get feedback on their work from faculty and peers. Critique comes in two primary forms at SAIC: classroom, where students work on projects and present their work; and graduate, which are longer, paneled discussions with faculty and other students of graduate students’ work during Critique Week.
“The most important part of the curriculum of a graduate education is critique. It’s something that we take very seriously,” said Delinda Collier, dean of graduate studies, who oversees crit week.
But does every student get an equal critique experience?
“I’m almost always the only Black person in the room, so making work on the experiences I have as a Black person is always met with silence or a ton of babying. The head of my department makes no move to know me or my work, or even the other Black person in our cohort,” said M, an MFA student who asked that their name not be used for fear of retaliation from the department.
Tiana Westbrook (BFA 2027) and LP Kindred Gardner (BFAW 2026) described similar experiences at the undergraduate level.
“People either take work that isn’t particularly about race […] and make my art about that or [my piece] is very obviously about my experience, and the students and teachers fail to properly critique it,” said Westbrook, who is African American, “I think it has to do with them not wanting to say anything offensive and the disconnect they have with the culture. However, I would rather them ask questions and be intrigued to learn about my culture and my experiences rather than remain silent.”
“Once it becomes clear my story centers my race, folks tend to back away from saying anything remotely critical for fear of being cringe or cancelable,” said Kindred Gardner, who is Black-American.
In 2016, filmmaker Eloise Sherrid and the Rhode Island School of Design student group Black Artists and Designers released a short documentary titled “The Room of Silence.” In the film, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color express the struggles they faced as students at RISD, especially in critique spaces. The titular “room of silence” refers to the lack of engagement in critique from peers and faculty.
Similar struggles continue to exist at SAIC.
“At some point in my time at SAIC, I decided to turn it all into a mental game. If I bring up where I’m from or make work about where I’m from — how many microaggressions will come up? How many questionable statements will be made?” said Kristen Lee (BFA 2023, MFAW 2025) who is Jamaican, Black, and Asian.
Collier said she’s seen changes in critique methods in the last decade at SAIC. Faculty at SAIC are now required to participate in online training around these issues.
“We’re not all coming from the same backgrounds. And so we have to be very careful to establish that first and establish that trust first and then proceed to be honest,” said Collier.
Faculty and students on graduate critique panels are given a document of critique guidelines acknowledging that critique is part of the process of putting your work out into the world, which can be both “uncomfortable and rewarding,” according to the guidelines.
The guidelines also discuss bias. “The interpretation of artworks can project unexamined implicit biases entrenched in dominant values that can disadvantage students from minoritized backgrounds. Faculty must be conscious of this danger,” they read.
Collier and LuLu Sbardellati, the assistant director for academic studios, have been working to create diverse critique panels. As SAIC has hired more diverse faculty over the last decade, critique panels have become more diverse.
“We try to keep everything as balanced as possible, trying to have faculty from a variety of departments, different representations as much as possible and working within the SAIC community to make that possible,” said Sbardellati.
But even as the administration tries to make the critique space more inclusive, students of color say they are still struggling to get people to engage in their work.
Gouri Bhuyan (MFA 2026) said she burst into tears during her performance critique. She said she was stopped multiple times during her performance — once to be told by a panelist that she was making him feel “defensive as an artist.” (Bhuyan is a staff writer for F Newsmagazine.)
“My piece was a work of confabulation exploring how we all, as artists, have an internal hierarchy of identities and choose to present only certain aspects of our identity contingent on who our audience is,” Bhuyan said.
Associate professor Adrian Wong, an Asian faculty member in the sculpture department who was on Bhuyan’s panel said, “From my recollection, Gouri was stopped while performing — at least once by me — because of a lack of clarity on what parts of her presentation were performance and what parts were exposition.” He added, “I honestly did not perceive that race/ethnicity/country of origin was a significant factor in this particular critique.”
There is no simple solution to breaking down the “room of silence.” Faculty and graduate students participating in critique week fill out a survey once the critiques are over, allowing for situations like Bhuyan’s to be reported. This is similar to undergraduate students and graduate students filling out course evaluations. Another option is speaking to advisors, department heads, or trusted faculty.
Dean of faculty and vice president of academic affairs Camille Martin-Thomsen wrote a chapter for the book “Let’s Talk About Critique” where she writes, “An inclusive critique should disrupt the hegemonic barriers that disturb student learning by responding to the needs or goals of specific classrooms, projects, or learners.”
One example of disrupting hegemonic barriers in critique at SAIC came in the form of Residence Life teaming up with affinity groups to host a “Crit of Color.” This event, held on Dec. 5 in the 280 Building, was a BIPOC-led critique outside of the classroom space.
HED: The Room of Silence Persists
DEK: Race and identity continues to play a role in critique spaces at SAIC
BYLINE: Sidne K. Gard
At an arts university, especially one like the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a pass/fail grading system, rarely are students pulling all-nighters to cram for exams. Instead, that time and energy is put toward making artwork for the big deadlines of the semester: critiques.
Critique, or crit, is the designated time for students to get feedback on their work from faculty and peers. Critique comes in two primary forms at SAIC: classroom, where students work on projects and present their work; and graduate, which are longer, paneled discussions with faculty and other students of graduate students’ work during Critique Week.
“The most important part of the curriculum of a graduate education is critique. It’s something that we take very seriously,” said Delinda Collier, dean of graduate studies, who oversees crit week.
But does every student get an equal critique experience?
“I’m almost always the only Black person in the room, so making work on the experiences I have as a Black person is always met with silence or a ton of babying. The head of my department makes no move to know me or my work, or even the other Black person in our cohort,” said M, an MFA student who asked that their name not be used for fear of retaliation from the department.
Tiana Westbrook (BFA 2027) and LP Kindred Gardner (BFAW 2026) described similar experiences at the undergraduate level.
“People either take work that isn’t particularly about race […] and make my art about that or [my piece] is very obviously about my experience, and the students and teachers fail to properly critique it,” said Westbrook, who is African American, “I think it has to do with them not wanting to say anything offensive and the disconnect they have with the culture. However, I would rather them ask questions and be intrigued to learn about my culture and my experiences rather than remain silent.”
“Once it becomes clear my story centers my race, folks tend to back away from saying anything remotely critical for fear of being cringe or cancelable,” said Kindred Gardner, who is Black-American.
In 2016, filmmaker Eloise Sherrid and the Rhode Island School of Design student group Black Artists and Designers released a short documentary titled “The Room of Silence.” In the film, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color express the struggles they faced as students at RISD, especially in critique spaces. The titular “room of silence” refers to the lack of engagement in critique from peers and faculty.
Similar struggles continue to exist at SAIC.
“At some point in my time at SAIC, I decided to turn it all into a mental game. If I bring up where I’m from or make work about where I’m from — how many microaggressions will come up? How many questionable statements will be made?” said Kristen Lee (BFAW 2023, MFA 2025) who is Jamaican and Asian.
Collier said she’s seen changes in critique methods in the last decade at SAIC. Faculty at SAIC are now required to participate in online training around these issues.
“We’re not all coming from the same backgrounds. And so we have to be very careful to establish that first and establish that trust first and then proceed to be honest,” said Collier.
Faculty and students on graduate critique panels are given a document of critique guidelines acknowledging that critique is part of the process of putting your work out into the world, which can be both “uncomfortable and rewarding,” according to the guidelines.
The guidelines also discuss bias. “The interpretation of artworks can project unexamined implicit biases entrenched in dominant values that can disadvantage students from minoritized backgrounds. Faculty must be conscious of this danger,” they read.
Collier and LuLu Sbardellati, the assistant director for academic studios, have been working to create diverse critique panels. As SAIC has hired more diverse faculty over the last decade, critique panels have become more diverse.
“We try to keep everything as balanced as possible, trying to have faculty from a variety of departments, different representations as much as possible and working within the SAIC community to make that possible,” said Sbardellati.
But even as the administration tries to make the critique space more inclusive, students of color say they are still struggling to get people to engage in their work.
Gouri Bhuyan (MFA 2026) said she burst into tears during her performance critique. She said she was stopped multiple times during her performance — once to be told by a panelist that she was making him feel “defensive as an artist.” (Bhuyan is a staff writer for F Newsmagazine.)
“My piece was a work of confabulation exploring how we all, as artists, have an internal hierarchy of identities and choose to present only certain aspects of our identity contingent on who our audience is,” Bhuyan said.
Associate professor Adrian Wong, an Asian faculty member in the sculpture department who was on Bhuyan’s panel said, “From my recollection, Gouri was stopped while performing — at least once by me — because of a lack of clarity on what parts of her presentation were performance and what parts were exposition.” He added, “I honestly did not perceive that race/ethnicity/country of origin was a significant factor in this particular critique.”
There is no simple solution to breaking down the “room of silence.” Faculty and graduate students participating in critique week fill out a survey once the critiques are over, allowing for situations like Bhuyan’s to be reported. This is similar to undergraduate students and graduate students filling out course evaluations. Another option is speaking to advisors, department heads, or trusted faculty.
Dean of faculty and vice president of academic affairs Camille Martin-Thomsen wrote a chapter for the book “Let’s Talk About Critique” where she writes, “An inclusive critique should disrupt the hegemonic barriers that disturb student learning by responding to the needs or goals of specific classrooms, projects, or learners.”
One example of disrupting hegemonic barriers in critique at SAIC came in the form of Residence Life teaming up with affinity groups to host a “Crit of Color.” This event, held on Dec. 5 in the 280 Building, was a BIPOC-led critique outside of the classroom space.
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