Season 7

Earlier this year, the Momus editorial team gathered for a talk at Plural Art Fair in Montreal. It marked the first time Sky Goodden, Catherine G. Wagley, Jessica Lynne, and Merray Michael Mina were all together IRL. The lively conversation touched on how we’ve shifted from a discourse of “crisis” in art criticism to its material reality; the ethics of editorial care; and how to address the need for mentorship across all stages of a writer’s career.

The panel was sponsored by Artspeaks and this episode is supported by Night Gallery and Art Toronto.

Momus: The Podcast is edited by Jacob Irish, with production assistance from Chris Andrews.

About the Guests

About the Guests, and more

  • Jessica Lynne is a writer and art critic. She is a founding editor of ARTS.BLACK, an online journal of art criticism from Black perspectives. Her writing has been featured in publications such as Artforum, the Believer, Frieze, the Los Angeles Times, the Nation, and Oxford American, where she was a contributing editor. Lynne is the recipient of a 2020 Research and Development award from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and a 2020 Arts Writer Grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation. She is the inaugural recipient of the Beverly Art Writers Travel Grant awarded in 2022 by the American Australian Association. From 2023 to 2025, Lynne was an editor for Momus.

  • Merray Michael Mina is an Egyptian essayist, editor, and writing teacher based in New York. While studying art history at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, she co-founded and edited CRIT, a free biannual print-only criticism publication. From 2016 to 2019, she held various editorial positions at Canadian Art. She was the inaugural 2019-2020 editorial fellow at C Magazine, where she conceptualized and edited three themed print issues addressing facets of systemic change in the art world. She recently completed her MFA in narrative nonfiction at New York University. From 2023 to 2025 she was an associate editor at Momus.

  • Catherine G. Wagley is a journalist, critic, and editor based in Los Angeles. She is co-editor at Momus and her book She Wanted Adventure is forthcoming from FSG.

More by the Guests

Because my metier is black … (after Toni Morrison)

August 11April 17, 2027
Led by Jessica Lynne, and faculty members Erica N. Cardwell, Margo Jefferson, Danielle Amir Jackson, Stefanie Jason, Yaniya Lee, Colony Little, Tarisai Ngangura, Rianna Jade Parker, and Still Nomads (Samira Farah and Areej Nur).

Momus Residency: To Build and Sustain

August 11, 2025August 6, 2026
With faculty members Dr. Kemi Adeyemi, Camille Bacon, Sky Goodden, Jessica Lynne, Elisabeth Nicula, and Lauren Wetmore.

Momus Critical Writing Fellowship 2025

January 1December 1, 2025
With fellows David Ayala-Alfonso, Alexandra Méndez García, Ramona Ngin, and Andrii Ushytskyi and mentors Sky Goodden, Jessica Lynne, Merray Michael Mina, Catherine G. Wagley, and Lauren Wetmore.

Momus Arts Journalism Residency

June 10July 25, 2024
Led by Catherine G. Wagley, and faculty members Elisa Wouk Almino, Julia Halperin, Catherine Hickley, Danielle Amir Jackson, Ossie Michelin, Carolina A. Miranda, and Niela Orr.