Wikipedia:Meetup/Black Lunch Table/SixtyCriticsCollab

CROWDSOURCING THE CANON
The Black Lunch Table (BLT) Wikipedia initiative mobilizes the creation and improvement of Wikipedia articles that pertain to the lives and works of Black artists. Central to the documentation of an artist’s life and work on Wikipedia are reliable, citable written works. Sixty Inches From Center (Sixty) is a worker-led organization and publishing platform that produces collaborative projects about artists, archival practice, art history, and culture in Chicago and the Midwest.

BLT’s x Sixty’s collaboration will create an opportunity for emerging Black art critics and writers writing on Black artists, with a focus on contemporary exhibitions to be published. The underrepresentation of Black artists on Wiki mirrors the imbalance in coverage of Black artists in general publishing and critical arts writing. We aim to increase the quantity and quality of citations possible for articles about contemporary Black artists on Wikipedia. BLT’s x Sixty collaboration bridges the citation gap that exists between an artist's career and the criticism they receive–discourse that is crucial to fulfilling Wikipedia's notability requirements.

Call for Writers
'''As a part of a new editorial collaboration with Black Lunch Table, we are announcing an open call for writers to pitch critical essays, journalistic takes, exhibition reviews (solo or two-person shows), and/or deep dives into the lives and practices of Black artists based in the Midwest, especially those whose Wiki pages lack sufficient citations. See a list of topics in the 'Who or What to Write About for the Collab' section below.''' '''This call will prioritize those who have a clear commitment to researching, curating, or writing about Black cultural production and artistic practices. Sixty defines the Midwest as the interconnected Native lands and diverse communities overlapping the arbitrary colonial boundaries of North Dakota, South Dakota, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Each piece has a suggested length of up to 1,000 words.    To submit, please fill out Sixty’s pitch submission form on our “Pitch to Sixty” page. To indicate that you are submitting to this project by writing in “BLT x Sixty Critics” for your work’s genre in the Google Form. We are accepting pitches through July 1, 2024.'''

Not a writer or can't pitch right now?
There are other ways that you can improve the quality/presence of Black artists on wiki right now. You can:
 * Add a photo to wikicommons
 * Suggest a name of an artist who should be on our task list
 * Get a user name and start editing with BLT

Black Lunch Table's task list is made up of Black visual artists who are under-represented on Wikipedia. We welcome additions to our list so long as they are within our scope. We encourage editors to suggest artists who do not have a page or whose page is a stub over adding an artist who already has a substantial page and presence. Please always defer to Wikipedia's NOTABILTY guidelines for new pages.

BLT's Main Task List

Sixty's archive already has MANY articles about Black artists. You can see a list of published articles here and include more information in existing artist pages or start a new one.

Published Sixty Articles About Black Artists

BLT Photobooth
Photographs and images are an important part of Wiki as well. For this project, we will pair a photographer to photograph the artist written about in your contribution. See portraits form past BLT Photobooths below:

Who or What to Write About for the Collab

 * Exhibition Reviews (solo or two-person shows) - see a list of upcoming Midwest shows

Below are lists of suggested artists to edit from some Midwestern states and cities.

About Black Lunch Table
Black Lunch Table (BLT) is a nonprofit organization and nineteen-year ongoing artist collaboration.BLT’s primary aim has been the production of discursive sites, wherein cultural producers engage in dialogue on a variety of critical issues.

Black Lunch Table Wikimedians mobilize the creation and improvement of a specific set of Wikipedia articles that pertain to the lives and works of Black artists. In the field of mainstream contemporary art, Black artists are still marginalized within our field.

Wikipedia estimates that 77% of their editors are white and 91% of their editors are men. Our work shifts this demographic and empowers people to write their own history. Our sessions and events, including BLT Photobooth and edit-a-thons, equip new editors with the skills and resources to create, update, and improve Wikipedia articles and encourages existing editors to focus on Wikipedia knowledge gaps.

About Sixty Inches from Center
Sixty Inches From Center is a worker-led organization and publishing platform that produces collaborative projects about artists, archival practice, art history, and culture in Chicago and the Midwest. We are a collective of arts workers, writers, editors, artists, curators, librarians, and archivists who promote and prioritize the preservation of culture within Indigenous, diasporic, queer, and disability communities of our region.

We believe that the stories of artists, cultural workers, archivists, organizers, memory workers, and writers within Indigenous, diasporic, queer, and disability communities are essential to understanding history and creating inclusive future canons that align with the more liberated and just worlds that reflect our dreams and realities. Our stories need to be preserved and promoted simultaneously, so we work with local and national archives while providing platforms and capsules for the cultural practices of our people.