Open Call: Art Writing workshop with Amy Sherlock in collaboration with Art Basel
Phileas, Opernring 17, 1010 Vienna
4–7 December 2025
Can you capture an artist’s depth and vision – in just a few hundred words? It's a challenge familiar to every art writer: how to introduce wide-ranging and complex artistic practices to different audiences without losing nuance.
Phileas – The Austrian Office for Contemporary Art, together with writer and editor Amy Sherlock, is offering a four-day, free-to-attend workshop from 4 to 7 December 2025, designed to address exactly this challenge. The workshop is open to eight emerging journalists, authors, and art critics, who are keen to expand their skills.
The programme will focus on short-form profiles of Vienna-based artists, developed through a series of workshops and studio visits. It will provide practical advice as well as real-world publishing experience. The texts will appear on Art Basel's widely read Stories digital magazine.
We welcome applications from all aspiring journalists, writers and art critics (employed or freelance, over 18), who are based in Austria. The workshop will be conducted in English. Participants will have full expenses covered, including travel, food and accommodation (if based outside of Vienna).
The workshop will be held at Opernring 17, 1010 Vienna, with full in-person attendance required. The venue is wheelchair accessible.
Two weeks before the workshop begins, participants will be assigned an artist living and working in Vienna about whom they will write. This will allow ample time for research. During the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to meet their assigned artist and visit their studio.
The deadline for applications is Monday 6 October 2025, 23:59 (CET).
Apply via the form below or click here.
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Thursday 4 December
Understanding the brief: different types of art writing, tone, purpose, and critical voiceFriday 5 December
The necessary skills: interview techniques, tips for concision, opening sentences, and important pointsSaturday 6 December
Studio visits and writing day (no scheduled workshop)Sunday 7 December
Group crit of draft textsFollowing the four-day workshop, texts will be edited by Amy Sherlock (in dialogue with each workshop participant) to prepare them for Art Basel’s Stories magazine and will be published in Spring 2026.
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Amy Sherlock (born 1987 in Manchester) is a writer, editor, and consultant based in London, UK. She began her career at Frieze, where she held various positions over the course of ten years, serving as deputy editor of the magazine from 2016 to 2021. An experienced writer and editor, she has contributed to and worked on a range of publications in both capacities, including as a features editor at Condé Nast and contributor to the arts pages of the Financial Times. At Frieze, she developed public programming initiatives including Frieze Academy and its annual Art & Architectureconference, and she initiated Frieze New Writers, an ongoing programme supporting early-career critics from underrepresented backgrounds. Since 2019, Amy has worked as a freelance strategist, contributing to the rebranding of several UK-based arts organisations and advising on vision, positioning, and communications. In 2024, she joined Avance, a strategy consultancy supporting contemporary visual artists across all aspects of their careers. At Avance, she works on content and communication strategy, gallery and institutional outreach, and the development of new narratives and networks for artists and their work.
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This workshop is open to journalists, writers, and art critics (freelance or employed) who live in Austria and are over the age of 18. Applicants should have published no more than three pieces of art writing in English.
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Current CV in PDF format
One published or unpublished piece of writing, no longer than 350 words, about an individual artist or exhibition in English
A 150-word statement about why you are applying to the workshop and what you hope to gain from it
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The deadline for applications is Monday 6 October 2025, 23:59 (CET).
Late applications will not be accepted. Applicants will be informed by the end of October, whether they have been selected. You will also be notified if you have not been selected. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide feedback on unsuccessful applications.
The selection of participants will be made by Amy Sherlock, Art Basel’s Head of Editorial Dr Jeni Fulton and representatives of Phileas – The Austrian Office for Contemporary Art.
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Stories is Art Basel’s digital magazine. Publishing daily, it covers all aspects of the art world, from artist profiles to interviews with collectors, and curators. See more at artbasel.com/stories
