One suggestion a past professor made that still resonates with me to date is to take time to look at the work critically - dissect the work’s formal and aesthetic qualities while pinpointing the historic references. He said one must mull over the work, question the things they dislike about it rather than become distracted by the parts they like. I found this suggestion to be odd, but useful.

…..Amid the trying times of content considered “woke”, cool or relevant, we often found ourselves asking: Where can a creative go to feel safe, to express a thought freely, that may or may not be in alignment with the status quo? Where can they go to get away from conversations of the norm? To discuss much larger and pressing issues of art and artistry at hand?

We thought about it, then opted to create this space ourselves… since that's what creatives do best - create.