Critical Feedback Program at Trestle

Trestle programs are designed to offer an alternative to the expense of higher education. The Trestle philosophy comes from a belief that artists can grow and learn from each other without the excessive student loans that can come with graduate work at larger institutions. With a studio in NYC, one of the biggest contemporary art meccas in the world, Trestle program participants have the ability to explore all that the city has to offer with a community of like minded individuals.

Trestle’s Critical Feedback Program participants work with art professionals who work in the “real” art world today, actively seeking and earning opportunities, with current information and relevant advice. 

Who is this program ideal for?

Artists interested in a peer support network with regular feedback for six months to a year. 

Artists who wish to belong to a critique group led by a professional artist/professor.

Artists who want a discounted rate on a studio in Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn (this program is located at Trestle Projects - 62 18th Street, Brooklyn).

About the studios:

24/7 Studio Access

10% discount on a private studio within a vibrant community of artists

Studio rates are $385 - $630 per month depending on size (include utilities)

About the Advisors:

Trestle hires experienced artists as advisors who run the monthly critiques. These individuals are knowledgeable and give great feedback/suggestions. Applicants will be matched with advisors. Catherine Haggarty will lead the pilot, as well as subsequent sessions. The other advisors for subsequent sessions include: Michael Brennan, Bill Carroll, and Jim Osman.

About the critiques:

Critiques are pre scheduled for the duration of the program. 

Participants may choose to focus on a specific question/problem or may choose to simply hear what others see in their artwork.

There are four groups with 8-10 artists per group. Half of the group receives about 20 minutes of feedback each month. 

Critiques last about one and a half to two hours.

It is optional to being snacks/refreshments to share at the meetings.

They are mandatory to attend to participate in the program.

What are the perks of participating in the program?

Meet other artists and network

Share opportunities

Get discounted studio space

Extend the conversations with peers outside of critiques!

Pop up exhibition and curation opportunities at Trestle Projects (62 18th Street, Brooklyn)

Program dates:

Session 1 : October 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020 

Application Deadline: 8/15/2019 11:59pm

Session 2: April 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020

Application Deadline: 2/15/2020 11:59pm

About our Session Leaders:

Michael Brennan has been a Trestle Gallery advisory board member since 2014. He is a practicing artist who has exhibited extensively, domestically & internationally. Group exhibitions include PS1/MoMA, Vassar College, St. Peter’s College, etc. He has also written extensively for The Brooklyn Rail, ArtNet, and numerous catalog essays. He currently teaches at Pratt alongside his practice, and has also taught at Hunter College and Cooper Union. 

Bill Carroll has been involved in the New York art world in a variety of roles for over 30 years. He was the Director of the Charles Cowles Gallery, then in Soho,; and the Elizabeth Harris Gallery in Chelsea. Bill also worked in non-profit at the Dia Art Foundation, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Nancy Graves Foundation, and is presently the Director of the Studio Program of The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts. He has curated numerous exhibitions. Bill has taught at Parsons School of Design in New York, and since 2011 is teaching a course for MFA students at Pratt Institute titled Art World & Professionalism. He has lectured at the New York Foundation for the Arts, New York University, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bard College, School of Visual Arts, Columbia University, Cornell University, and F.I.T. In April 2016 he had a solo installation of fifty-six paintings at the Mid-Manhattan Branch of the New York Pubic Library. Bill is represented by the Elizabeth Harris Gallery in Chelsea, and in January 2019 will have his fifth solo exhibition at the gallery. His work has been reviewed, including by Joe Fyfe in the March 2008 issue of Art in America.

Catherine Haggarty, b. 1984, is an artist, curator, and writer based in Brooklyn, New York. Haggarty earned her M.F.A from Mason Gross, Rutgers University in 2011 and is currently the co-director of Ortega y Gasset Projects in Brooklyn, New York. Haggarty is an adjunct professor at The School of Visual Arts (SVA) and Hofstra University. Additionally Catherine co-directs NYC Crit Club and is an advisor for Trestle Gallery’s Critical Feedback Program in Brooklyn, NY. In 2018 Haggarty was the Anderson Endowed Lecturer at Penn State University, and the juror for both Espositivo Residency in Madrid, Spain and Ground Floor Gallery in Nashville, TN.

Jim Osman has been an advisory board member at Trestle Gallery since 2016. He is an established artist and fine arts professor. He has exhibited extensively both across the country and abroad. Born and raised in NY, he received both his BFA & MFA from Queens College, and is currently the Director of the First Year program at The New School.