Frequently Asked Questions
Writers apply through our platform by submitting their credentials and writing samples. Our editorial team reviews applications and approves writers based on their track record, writing quality, and regional coverage. We prioritize established critics but also welcome emerging voices with demonstrated talent.
Artlance maintains a floor rate of $1.00/word for all writers. This rate may increase for writers with larger established audiences. Writers receive the full word-rate amount; Artlance's platform fee (15–20%) is paid by commissioners on top of the writer payment.
First, they can do both! With Artlance, writers retain their platform, byline and copyright, they have greater freedom to experiment with tone, form, and voice and do not need to conform to a specific audience expectation or house style.
Writers need to have an independent platform where their work is presented or aggregated. This can be as simple as a website, or it can be a newsletter or blogging platform such as Substack, Medium, or Ghost.
Yes. The platform allows you to see commissions from any region. As long as you can attend in person and meet the scope and deadlines, you can take commissions from any locale. Local writers get a 48-hour head start on new commissions, after which they're available to everyone. Some commissions are also marked as remote-eligible, meaning no physical attendance is required — those are available to all writers immediately. See full claiming rules →
Remote-eligible commissions cover subjects that don't require physical attendance — digital artwork, web experiences, games, online exhibitions, and similar work. These commissions are visible to all writers regardless of region, skip the 48-hour local priority window, and don't require travel confirmation. The same editorial standards and review process apply. See full claiming rules →
The only way a work is deemed unusable is if it fails to meet the accountability standards outlined in our Charter.
The gallery can request a correction post-publication. Artlance editors will mediate: if it's a verified error, we will request the correction from you and follow up on it. If it's a difference of critical opinion, we side with authorial independence, and will suggest that the commissioner can post their own response, or commission another writer to respond.
Yes. Writers retain 100% of their intellectual property and primary publication rights. Artlance maintains only a secondary archive right and uses rel="canonical" tags to direct search authority back to the writer's own platform.
Anyone who is interested in independent, critical writing about a project they are producing or promoting or exhibition can sign up to be a commissioner. You will provide information about you and your organization, and then once registered and approved, you can begin posting commissions for our writers.
Because all of the artists and their advocates we have spoken to in the visual arts industry say they want more independent, critical writing about their work. They want recognition. Serious writing needs to be supported, and the current business model is broken. So if arts organizations do value serious, critical writing, then they will pay for it. Before Artlance, there was no streamlined mechanism to ensure authorial independence. And serious critical writing signals confidence and intellectual seriousness; it reaches audiences that do not trust promotional coverage; it produces language artists and their advocates can actually use and trust; and it creates a more durable public impact and record. This is its value.
No. Commissioners post commissions that can be claimed by any writer on the Artlance platform. Most often these will be the writers in the given commission's region, but they may be claimed by a writer traveling to that region as well. Remote-eligible commissions are visible to all writers regardless of region.
No one chooses writers. Writers apply to be part of Artlance. Writers are selected based on the quality of their writing and the depth of their experience. Artlance does not assign writers. Commissioners cannot choose specific writers.
The timeline can vary based on the needs of the commissioner. In general, Artlance requests a two-week minimum interval between the posting of a commission and the commission deadline. Shorter intervals are doable, but require approval from Artlance editorial before posting.
Artlance is a platform that connects writers with cultural institutions (galleries, museums, arts organizations) and others (including artists) who want to commission quality, independent art criticism.
Commissioners (galleries, museums, etc.) post a commission describing the exhibition or project they want reviewed, including word count and deadline. Vetted writers claim the commission. After writing and editorial review, the writer publishes the piece on her own platform. Artlance and its writer network promote it.
No. PR seeks favorable coverage and manages messaging. Artlance guarantees publication but explicitly forbids commissioner influence over content. Commissioners fund the work; they do not shape it.
No. Advertorial involves sponsor review, alignment, or message coordination. Artlance commissions independent writing under standardized non-interference rules. The writer's position is not contracted. The writer and the content remain independent.
No. Artlance guarantees editorial independence through our Charter. Commissioners have no input into or visibility of the writer's work beyond the initial commission description. All writing carries a standardized disclosure. Writers maintain full control of their content and voice. The commission funds the writing, not a particular opinion.
There is nothing to handle. Writers are independent. If the work meets Artlance's Standards of Engagement, the piece is published, and the writer is paid. The commissioner is paying for honest critique (positive or negative), not a guaranteed puff piece.
Artlance addresses conflicts of interest at every level. Writers must disclose any material conflict — financial relationships, governance relationships, family ties, or other personal connections to a commissioning organization — before claiming a commission, and may not claim a commission where a material conflict exists. Certain conflicts are absolute: writers may not write about a current or recent romantic partner, may not write about family members, and may not accept commissions from any commissioner that has paid them for other work within the past three months. All commissioned work must be published without a paywall and cannot be used to solicit subscriptions or other individual-platform funding; the writing must be freely accessible to all readers. Writers publish on their own independent platforms or on approved collective critical projects that do not sell subscriptions or advertising. Every piece carries a standardized disclosure identifying it as commissioned work with independent opinion. These obligations are codified in the Artlance Charter (Section 7) and enforced through the Writer Terms.
Reviews, critical responses, essays, debates, and other forms of public cultural writing. Artlance promotes format-flexibility but is standards-fixed.
Artlance offers first-reader editorial support: fact-checking, cleaning, and readability. It does not moderate tone, voice, or opinions.
On the writer's own platform or chosen outlet. Artlance aggregates excerpts on its website and amplifies writing on its own channels and platforms. Artlance also maintains a full-text index of all commissioned pieces.
A durable infrastructure for arts writing, where independent voices, both established and emerging, can find consistent, well-paid work; where both for- and nonprofit organizations and institutions can support discourse without scripting it; and where readers can find thriving, evolving, serious contemporary criticism.