Loop Art Critique (LAC) is classified as an artwork. It may operate at times similarly to an institution, residency, or artist-run-space but it is none of these. It began in 2022 for an exhibition at The MUD Foundation and it has a small group of facilitators that maintain it. Since October 2023, it has been integrated into the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami's Art + Research Center. The project resides at loop.onland.io within the Onland spatial-internet, while maintaining a simultaneous presence inside of the museum.

• Process
• Openness
• Peer-to-Peer Exchange
• Collectivity

Objective: To assist artists from across the art-making spectrum in creating artwork through private feedback sessions held within supportive small cohorts, where participants may remain anonymous, use pseudonyms, or use their own names, drawing on the tradition of collective art salons and leading to either a collectively curated exhibition or an artwork created during the critique sessions.

Focus on Creative Process: Conversations within Loop emphasize the development of artistic practices and works-in-progress. One of the system's foundational pillars is Process, which follows the path from an initial concept to the final public display. Inspired by the tradition of collective art salons, LAC believes in critical peer-to-peer feedback and guidance from established figures. The terms salons, cohorts, pavilions, clubs etc. are all used to signal this relationship to art history.

Ease of Use and "Type" of Art: Technology in Loop Art Critique should be easy to use as a complete beginner and/or non-tech native user. Artists who have never created digital art should never be denied or discouraged from participating in Loop. Artists may upload digital representations of physical artwork and create physical artwork. Artists can create any type of artwork during the critique process so long as others can experience it during the critique sessions. Loop Art Critique will work with artists who struggle to use technology. This is part of a foundational pillar of Openness.

Pedagogical Structure: Artists share information and insights with each other in order to improve or reflect on their process of creating artwork. A fundamental pillar of the Loop system is this direct, peer-to-peer exchange of specialized information from a diverse array of artists from geographically different areas of the world, with very different backgrounds.

For complete anonymity and major focus on the art making process, artists are asked to submit five artworks within a single folder. It is mandatory that no identifying information, such as names, artist statements, CVs, or resumes, is included on the artworks or the folder. Any names found will be removed by the artist or by LAC staff after submission. This helps artists to be treated equally, despite conditions beyond their control such as where they were born, went to school, exhibited, are geographically located, sex, gender, sexuality, appearance, social status, political stance, religion, ethnicity and identity.

A rotating Guest Juror reviews all submissions anonymously to select the new cohort. To maintain impartiality, the juror will not have access to any identifying information about the artists and will only learn their identities after the selection is complete. Only LAC staff may view artist names during the submission phase.

For every session, LAC invites a distinguished figure from the art world to serve as a Guest. The Guest provides insight during live critiques for at least one hour weekly, they are not expected to curate the final exhibition. They select 8–10 artists with 2 alternate artists from the pool of submissions gathered through the Open Call. Once chosen, they may not amend their selection after learning the identifying information of the artists.

LAC welcomes a diverse cohort of national and international artists, including those with or without deep digital art backgrounds. Selected artists become part of a dedicated cohort. Participants are expected to attend critique sessions twice a week and contribute to the planning and execution of the final exhibition. Members must participate in at least 50% of meetings and contribute to the planning and execution of the final collectively curated exhibition.

Artists work as a collective to organize an exposition of their work at the end. This is based on artist-led exhibitions throughout art history which favored the collective expression of the participating artists. Exhibitions are archived and available to the public on the website along with each artist who participated. Artists can choose to curate or structure their exhibition in any way they choose so long as each artist is given equal amounts of space and attention according to their own choice. The Guest is not intended to curate this exhibition.

Loop doesn't sell art but the artists may do whatever they want — the project is not affiliated with being commercial in any way. All other decisions around how to exhibit and what to exhibit are left to the cohort entirely; groups are encouraged to think outside the box, a reference to the very first artist-run exhibitions throughout art history, such as The Impressionists after the Salon des Refusés.

The exhibition is featured on the Loop Art Critique homepage AND is live in Loop Art Critique's installation at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami — located on the ground floor between the ticket area and the gift shop. Visitors to the ICA can interact with artists inside of LAC and vice versa.

Artists are invited to join a cohort in Loop Art Critique through a public Open Call. Open Calls may be any length but not shorter than 2 weeks.

• The Critique Club — Selected artists participate in a 6-week critique club that meets twice a week in the Loop metaverse, on priorly selected dates, for 3 hours — timed to be accessible across multiple timezones. Loop facilitators and the Guest Artist provide constructive feedback alongside fellow participants; facilitators record key critique points and the links artists share with each other. Artists also get free access to XR Studio software, donated by The MUD Foundation, to build custom 'verses within the Loop Metaverse for the first 6 months, then at a reduced-price subscription that includes an artist studio at Loop Studios.
• Prep — Artists are given 2 weeks to prepare their exhibition. They can use The Salon, The Salon des Refusés, or build their own exhibition space. Loop facilitators help throughout, and many cohorts keep meeting weekly, though it isn't required.
• Exhibition — The residency culminates in a collectively curated exhibition by the artists, focused on what they've made and done since the (private) critiques.
• Reception — Artists choose when and how the reception happens, within the exhibition's time frame. LAC facilitators and the founding artist attend; the Guest is invited and attends given their own schedule.
• Archive — All exhibitions are archived and presented on loop.onland.io afterward.