Bea Huff Hunter is a British-American artist and writer based in Philadelphia.
After studying fine art and history of art, Bea Huff Hunter worked in writing roles for art magazines, artists, museums, and universities. Bea also extended her art writing into more personal, narrative, and creative texts. She has exhibited these texts as contributions to contemporary art exhibitions.
During the pandemic, she was diagnosed with a chronic illness that significantly limits her energy. While in convalescence, Bea learned knot-making and weaving, which offered her pleasure and purpose. New metaphors and materials for art practice germinated (see Tim Ingold’s meshwork, for example). Now, she’s learning—inch by inch—to live and work in new, sustainable ways.
Educational Background
Bea Huff Hunter earned a BA (hons) in fine art painting from Chelsea College of Arts, London. She received support for her MA (distinction) in history of art at the University of York via a full Arts and Humanities Research Council research preparation grant. She presented her thesis research on the abstract painter Agnes Martin at symposia with the help of a grant from the Association of Art Historians.
A lover of learning, Bea has taken studio and theory classes at the Royal Drawing School, London; the Cooper Union, New York; and the Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. At Penn, she also enriched her creative practice through graduate-level classes in writing, English literature, ancient history, and ancient Near Eastern languages.
Arts Writing
Bea has published articles on contemporary art in Artforum, Art in America, and frieze, among others. For many years, she was Philadelphia contributing editor of Art Papers. In order to hone her craft, Bea participated in the CUE Art Foundation Art Critic Mentoring Program and the Warhol Foundation Art Writers Workshop, a program of AICA-USA and Creative Capital.
Since then, Bea has embraced projects that allow a more personal narrative approach to art writing. Her ongoing critical writing project on artist Moyra Davey, for example, started with support from The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation. Her exhibition essays “A gathering, a sensuous meeting of thinking bodies” (Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts) and “The thing that has been there” (THIS MUST BE THE PLACE) continued this exploration.
Museums and Galleries
Bea has held full-time positions at the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology—both at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. She was a member and served on the board of directors of storied artist collective Vox Populi, Philadelphia. Before this, she belonged to Core Gallery, London.
While still an art student, she cherished every moment spent in the cuneiform tablet Study Room during her internship at the British Museum, London.