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artfully.thought

@artfully.thought

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cultural worker • curator • art apperception

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Meet Charlie Farrell (@artfully.thought), a St. Louis-based curator, researcher and writer. Critical Minded sat with Charlie during the Art Papers Symposium in 2025 to discuss the relationship between critics and artists. This conversation now lives among the others in our portrait series, Not for Sale.

Charlie is the Assistant Curator of arts organization, Counterpublic. She served as the 2022-2024 Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellow at the Saint Louis Art Museum. Recent projects include Radical Rage (2026) at Stove Works, Wangechi Mutu: My Cave Call (2024), and Romare Bearden: Resonances (2024), both at the Saint Louis Art Museum. Farrell has also held positions at the Miami Museum of Contemporary Art of the African Diaspora (MoCAAD) and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, both in Florida.

Check out Charlie’s full interview along with the rest of the Not for Sale portraits at the #linkinbio.

#criticalminded #artswriters #curators #stlouis by @artfully.thought

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14 days ago

Counterpublic 2026: Coyote Time opens today! We’ll be begin with activations in the Grand Center Arts District at 6 pm before heading to Powell Hall at 8 pm for our opening reception.
Looking down memory lane and in awe at how we got here. ❤️ It’s interesting to reflect how these small moments coalesce into an exhibition. Enjoy this behind the scenes peek into 🐺⏰. by @artfully.thought

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a month ago

Radical Rage seeks to reframe the emotion of rage. What if rage were a positive feeling, necessary for sustained change and imaginative possibilities? Placing rage at the center and claiming it as the catalyst of an artist’s practice, this exhibition examines the various ways artists are channeling their frustration and anger into physical manifestations. Rage has the power to consume. Its tendrils can grow and fester. Unexamined rage can be destructive and distracting, encouraging lash outs and crash outs. It can settle in the pit of your stomach, an unwelcome passenger. With no obvious outlet, it sits, waiting for release.

Naming and identifying one’s rage allows for a more honest and expressive foundation from which transformative work can begin. The artists in this exhibition are creating frameworks to not only externalize their experiences, but experiment and build new, personal modalities via sculpture, painting, installation, textile, and photography. Ultimately, rage is expansive, a tool waiting to be wielded.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS -

Desmond Lewis, Chayse Sampy, estefanía vallejo santiago, James McKissic, Jordan Matthew, Ọmọlará Williams McCallister

Radical Rage will open August 7th at Stove Works in Chattanooga, TN and will run through November 14, 2026

The opening reception is August 7th, 6-8PM by @artfully.thought

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3 months ago

An excerpt from a piece I wrote reflecting on last year. I don’t think I’ve fully made sense of last year - as we’re still in this “era” so it’s not really “over” but for my own sanity I wanted to put pen to paper.

“We are driving through that storm. It seems endless. There are attacks from all sides. I’m unsure of my allies. But there are moments when the storm breaks and I wonder if it’ll be okay. It must be right? Beauty and goodness peeking through are proof that a future I want to live in is possible. I have family who love me. I have a home to return to. I have friends who are on the ready. And I am part of a community where we are all trying to do the work to dig us out of this clusterfuck in their own way.”

Link to full piece in my bio. by @artfully.thought

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8 months ago

Thank you thank you thank you. It was such an honor and pleasure to share space with brillant, thoughtful, curious folks. My deepest gratitude to @artpapers to organizing such an incredible gathering. by @artfully.thought

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a year ago

I had the delight of profiling St. Louis art, Kellen Wright. Kellen was one of the first people in the artist community I met when I moved to St. Louis. They were incredibly helpful in orienting in a new city. It is with much joy that I share this essay.
The full essay can be found in my bio! You can see Kellen Wright’s work on their website kellenwright.com by @artfully.thought

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2 years ago

This Juneteenth I moderated a panel seeking to examine three artists’ work in relation to themes of liberation, freedom, and future. What does it mean to make work in legacy of such a past? Gwen Moore, curator of Urban Landscape and Community Identity opened the evening with a history of Juneteenth/Emancipation in St. Louis. It was a necessary part in centering stories that don’t often get told. Juneteenth is a holiday or rest and reflection. I urge you to research local histories of Black emancipation.
I want to extend my deepest thanks to Brianna, André, and Patrick for their care, expertise, and thoughtfulness in approaching the conversation. It was such a special night and words seem to fail me in describing the energy in the room. Thank you for trusting my vision.

As always, many thanks to my colleagues at the Saint Louis Art Museum. Their support was key to a wonderful event. by @artfully.thought

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2 years ago

protect the culture, protect the people, that’s all we have

i love seeing the community show up and out in support and love. it was a beautiful night by @artfully.thought

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2 years ago

Romare Bearden: Resonances opened last Friday, May 3. The opening kicked off Thursday with a lecture about Bearden and his many influences and influence, highlighting the spaces he cultivated for Black artists. You can’t talk about about Bearden without jazz so on Friday we opened with a jazz concert in Grigg Gallery. @kasimu_taylor (part of the Kasimu-tets) played music that Bearden may have listened to while making work. They even played “Seabreeze”, a song written by Bearden!

This exhibition represents two years of work and research and is a wonderful way to round out my time at the Saint Louis Art Museum. Thank you to the entire SLAM team for their endless support and guidance. I’m eternally grateful that I was able to curate a show about an incredibly important artist as well as pay honor to the Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellowship, an opportunity that’s provided me with immense growth.

The exhibition will be open through September 15. by @artfully.thought

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2 years ago

I was pleasantly surprised to return home and see “Dimensions of Curation” had been delivered. Over a year ago I was given the opportunity by my then professor, Dr. Jay Boda to be interviewed about my curatorial practice and where it fit on the axes (interpretive focus, curatorial power, and curatorial intent) that Drs. Rowson Love and Villeneuve were expanding on in their book. I had worked closely with staff at the Ringling on an exhibition proposal (my graduate capstone) that championed young artists of color in the Sarasota area. A two pronged event, an exhibition in the community gallery and a film festival of the lawn, this project took me around the city and gave the opportunity to see simply stunning work.

Though a lot has changed in a year and a half but I am endlessly eager to see where my curatorial journey will lead me in the future.

I have a lot of exciting things planned for 2024 and appreciate all the continued support ❤️. by @artfully.thought

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3 years ago

It’s been almost a month since Advancing Change: Museums, Libraries, and Communities as well as the 30th anniversary of the Romare Bearden Fellowship. The payoff was immense and immediate. It was so affirming to be in the presence of my cohort as well as be reminded that I am privileged to be part of this legacy. A legacy that includes intelligent and thoughtful professionals across the country. This is a reminder on the power of joy and fellowship. There is strength in the community that you nurture.

As I navigate the future I hope I can continue to honor my predecessors but continue to add to that incredible legacy.

I’d like to thank the SLAM team for their essential help. This event was no small feat and I want to acknowledge that this was the effort of many! And I’d like to thank all the alumni for bringing their wonderful selves. This certainly is a weekend I will remember. by @artfully.thought

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3 years ago

I visited the Museum of Tampa while back home in the 727. I was really excited to see multiple exhibitions on view dedicated to modern Haitian art, “A Passion for Haitian Art: The Albrecht and Heller Collections”, “Reframing Haitian Art: Masterworks from the Arthur Albrecht Collection”, and “Sequin Arts: The Flagmakers of Haiti”. Haiti occupies an important place in Black global history. It was the first Black republic. Read that again. Haiti is the first nation of formally enslaved individuals to self liberate, and it did so against France, arguably one of the most powerful superpowers of its time. Despite its legendary place in history, modern Haitian art is often overlooked in conversations around global African diasporas and Caribbean art. Artists like Gerard Valcin, Wilson Bigaud, Sully Obin, and Wilmino Domond were featured. Though this exhibition only represents a small sample of artists within the canon, it’s a great entry point. The bright, bold colors in many of the works reinforce the vibrancy present in daily life. Scenes of lwas, landscapes, and the mundane fill both galleries, offering a

Slide 1: Sully Obin, Battle of Vertières
Slide 2: Jasmin Joseph, Lion and Tree, 1969
Slide 3: Jacques-Enguerrand Gourgue, Mamba, 1969
Slide 4: Micius Stephane, Wedding Party, 1980s
Slide 5: André Pierre, Dambala, c. 1950s
Slide 6: Gerard Valcin, La Combite, 1974
Slide 7: Artist unknown, Cousin Zaka, 1990s
Slide 8: Edgar Jean-Louis, Agoue, 1980s

(Apologies for the repost. I was made aware there was a a problem while uploading and the rest of the images were not visible.) by @artfully.thought

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3 years ago