Why does “emerging” always seem to come with a birthdate?
Monday Bitch #6 - Expiration Dates Are for Milk
You know what really gets me?
Every time I read emerging artist in a call, there it is again, open to artists under 35, sitting there like a quiet filter.
And I just think, really? It’s 2025. We’re still doing this?
Because come on, an emerging artist is someone at the start of their career.
They’re building visibility, showing work, taking risks, getting noticed.
It’s about momentum, not math.
Emerging is a stage, not a number.
Some artists don’t start late, they’re just finally being seen.
And some start later, not because they lacked ambition, but because life came first. Rent, kids, caregiving, burnout, or just trying to stay alive long enough to make something real.
And then one day they go, you know what, now. Now it’s for me.
That’s emergence too.
So why are open calls and residencies still policing the timeline?
Why do they act like curiosity stops at 35?
As if you turn 36 and suddenly your art evaporates.
I know artists who started painting in their fifties.
Sculptors who picked up clay again after raising kids.
Photographers who only began when they could finally afford a second-hand camera.
And they’re thriving. Showing, selling, growing.
They’re not late. They’re right on time.
DiFranco
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The problem isn’t them. It’s the system that still treats visibility like youth culture.
The market loves the young because it can brand them.
Potential sells better than persistence.
But art isn’t a start-up. It doesn’t depreciate with age.
I find it strange that in a world where we’re constantly policing what can and can’t be said, we still think it’s okay to pick artists by age. It’s discrimination, plain and simple.
So maybe next time an open call says emerging artist under 35, we should ask, why?
What are you really trying to exclude?
Because the work won’t get any worse if you raise the age. It might just get a whole lot deeper.
Anyway. I know too many incredible artists who began or began again later in life, and they’re proving every day that art doesn’t age, people just do.
So if your form still says under 35, maybe you’re the one who’s outdated.
Ever filled out an application that cared more about your age than your work?
You are not alone. Spill your bitch!
Heart lighter.
Monday Bitch. Every Monday.
Author: Dominique Foertig is the founder and editor of Catapult, The New Munchies Art Club, a Vienna-based curatorial and editorial platform for contemporary art.
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DiFranco
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