DescriptTalking about art in a safe critique setting, whether your own or someone else’s, can help you understand your own art philosophies more clearly. Critique can create community, heal self doubt, and offer paths out of creative block.

With The Non-Toxic Crit Group, a critique is a discussion among a trusted group of artists about one or more pieces of art. The group follows the artist’s lead in asking questions, making suggestions, and providing resources to support the artist in reaching their own goals and vision.ion text goes here

Critique groups are richer with artists from diverse backgrounds. We welcome creatives from emerging to late career experience levels working in all media from around the world. We have had members who are coming back to their process after taking years off and full-time mid career artists, recent graduates and self-taught artists, creatives searching for community and others looking to climb out of a creative slump. We welcome you with open arms wherever you are in your process, but you will get the most out of your experience if you are committed to an active creative practice. 

As a member of The Non-Toxic Crit Group, you are not only receiving feedback, but you are also offering feedback to other artists. Your perspective and valued. It’s important to be able to approach conversations with an open mind and empathetic heart.Description text goes here

The Non-Toxic Crit Group Workshop runs eight weeks and is capped at six artists. Groups meet via Zoom for 1-2 hours per week, and members receive weekly asynchronous content created by founder Bri Custer to guide artist development. Each artist will have two 20-30 minute critiques throughout the eight week session, where they share one or more pieces of work via a screen share. The presenting artist has the opportunity to guide the discussion to address specific questions or problems, or they may choose to leave it open ended. Most importantly, the artist is in the driver’s seat of the conversation.

So many people have had negative critique experiences, and I wanted to be clear that this is not a “break you down to build you up” experience. 

Toxic criticism is uninvited judgement born out of resentment, insecurity, & jealousy. It often becomes self doubt and can inhibit our art practices if we don’t set strong boundaries. Many artists have experienced this in traditional “break you down to build you back up” critique philosophies.

Non-toxic criticism, in contrast, is constructive feedback that comes from love, understanding & support. It answers questions, helps you grow, and inspires new directions. At The Non-Toxic Crit Group, we strongly believe that you are the expert of your own work, with constructive feedback serving as a tool for you to use in furthering your own process and understanding of your work.

Your access to the content area will remain active for six months after the last meeting date of the course.

Membership is $735, available in a three month payment plan. This includes 8 weeks of live virtual critique group meetings and asynchronous video content by founder Bri Custer designed to inform critique meetings and discussions and offer opportunities for independent growth.

Pricing is structured in a way that honors the time, effort, and expenses that are required to host a critique group. If you do not currently have the means to register for a critique group, we offer a sliding scale of 20% or 40% off: Just apply codes TWENTY or FORTY at checkout.