Pitches wanted (arts, culture) (worldwide) | ~$1 per word

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: CURATIONIST

Deadline: 30 March 2025

Open Call, February 1 through March 30.

We seek proposals to publish new writing on our platform.

Curationist’s editorial features critically investigate and contextualize the Works in open access archives. Writers build essays from the histories, narratives, and art of global cultures across time.

This call for feature proposals is open to arts writers, artists, historians, curators, librarians, archivists, and anyone in the GLAM field with an interest in engaging with our readers and our mission. We seek to expand our network of guest contributors and to build on existing relationships.

Invited guest writers will be welcomed to the Curationist community. They will have the opportunity to develop their proposal into an essay which will be published as part of our Editorial Features. In the process, guest writers will also learn about image rights and the open knowledge movement; and have the feedback and research assistance of our experienced editorial team and digital archivists.

The ideal guest writer will have an interest in the history and contemporary context of cultural objects and materials. This is an opportunity for writers at any stage of their career to engage with open access digital collections through Curationist and to have their writing expand cultural discourse.

One of our goals is to support writers who are underrepresented globally and topics that are underexplored in mainstream arts writing. Curationist promotes storytelling and curiosity through a social justice lens that is anti-racist, anti-colonial, feminist, queer, and anti-ableist. The Curationist team is committed to diversifying perspectives, decentering colonialist cataloging, and supporting Indigenous data sovereignty.

Curationist Invited Guest Writer, Specifications:

• 3-month timeline from accepted proposal to publishing on site $1500 flat rate for essay (aiming for ~1500 words), paid upon submission of final draft 

• Full editorial support from our editors 

• Research support from our digital archivist 

• Expect to go through at least 2 drafts with editorial feedback and revisions 

• Proposals/abstracts should critically engage Works in our archives 

• Topics should take into consideration our mandate to revise/amend/improve metadata of Works.

Curationist Features Topics Themes for 2024/25:

• We seek proposals for new feature essays that address topics that are not already well-covered in our editorial features, delving into new corners of the archive. We ask that you peruse our editorial essays and the website to gain a better understanding of our ethos and publishing history. 

• Some topic suggestions for 2025: film, animals and taxidermy, botany and plants, architecture, interior design and furniture, museum conservation, cookbooks, the nonvisual senses.

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

To submit a proposal for a guest editorial feature, please email pitch.us@curationist.org with a PDF containing: 

• An abstract of your essay (200-300 words). Please note: We intend to publish new writing, developed for our platform. Do not send finished drafts or work that is published elsewhere.

• Link/s to at least one Work in the Curationist archive that will be referenced in your essay. 

• Links or PDFs of published writing or other writing samples. No more than two or three. 

• CV or resume.

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CONTACT INFORMATION (please do not share the email address publicly):

• Questions/submissions: pitch.us@curationist.org

• Website: https://www.curationist.org

TO HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR PITCH:

• Learn more about the publication: Curationist is a free online resource that brings together arts and culture communities to find, share, collaborate, and reimagine cultural narratives. It offers access to over 4.4 million artifacts and cultural objects from museums' open access collections. The platform aims to foster a collaborative global community, promoting storytelling and curiosity through a social justice lens that is anti-racist, anti-colonial, feminist, queer, and anti-ableist. More information here.

• Read through a selection of recent articles/stories on its website.

• Check out our collection of pitch excerpts on this page and find more sample pitches at The Open Notebook and at SuccessfulPitches.com.

• Do not forget to end your pitch with (1) a short introduction about yourself; (2) a few lines highlighting your writing experience, relevant credentials and publication credits; and (3) links to your strongest work or portfolio, and online profile.

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