Reviewing applications
Run review on Artsume: the three Applications views, solo, panel, and two-round pipelines, scoring rubrics, blind review, and releasing decisions.
Review is where the work of running a program pays off: reading applicants, scoring them against your criteria, and getting an answer to everyone who applied. One Applications surface carries you from a fresh submission to a released decision letter.
This page owns the moving parts: pipelines, scoring, applicant fit, blind review, conflicts of interest, and decisions. For how applicants see their own status, see Managing applications. For where you configure a program's review before it goes live, see Creating programs.
The Applications surface
Open Applications from your organization's left rail. The header carries your total applications and how many are still to review, plus a switch between three views:
- Review queue. Every application across your programs, grouped into priority bands so you know what to touch next.
- By program. The same applications grouped under each program.
- Decisions. The programs with applications ready for a decision, where you set outcomes and release them.
What you see follows your role. Owners, admins, and staff see everything. A reviewer sees only what they are assigned to.
The status on a row reads differently for you than it does for the artist. The organization sees where the application sits in your process. The applicant sees where they stand.
The queue's four bands
The Review queue sorts applications into four bands, in the order you should work them:
- Ready to decide: all reviews are in. On a two-round program still in round one, this band reads Ready to advance.
- Needs attention: flagged, information requested, or short on reviewers.
- In review: reviews are under way.
- New: awaiting a first read.
A row of pills above the queue scopes to one band, or to All, each with a live count. Sort the rows by Priority, Newest, Score, or Status. Select rows to act in bulk: add applicants to a Your artists list, advance or pull back a two-round selection, or send a broadcast.
How a program is reviewed
Every program carries its own review configuration, set in its Review settings while you build it. Two choices shape everything: the pipeline and the scoring method. You can change them until the first application arrives, after which the pipeline and blind review both lock, so a jury never shifts mid-cycle.
Review pipelines
The pipeline decides how many people review, what words they use, and who makes the final call.
- Solo review. One person reviews each application and decides as it comes in. Best for exhibitions, jobs, and rolling submissions.
- Panel review. Several reviewers score independently, then an admin or a lead reviewer decides from the ranked list. Best for open calls, commissions, grants, and fellowships. A Who makes the final decision toggle sets whether Admins decide (the default) or a Lead decides. Choosing Lead decides requires at least one lead reviewer before you can publish. Owners and admins can always act.
- Two-round jury. A quick first pass narrows the field, then a scored second round decides. Best for prizes and public art.
Two-round jury and the Lead decides option are part of Artsume Pro for organizations. Solo and panel review with admins deciding are free. See Artsume Pro for organizations for what is free and what the plan adds and the pricing page for figures.
The words your reviewers see
Each pipeline gives reviewers its own three verdict words. The scoring method does not change them:
| Pipeline | Verdict words |
|---|---|
| Solo review | Accept · Waitlist · Decline |
| Panel review | Advance · Hold · Decline |
| Two-round jury, round one | Yes · Maybe · No |
| Two-round jury, round two | Advance · Hold · Decline |
Read the words in your program's Review settings before you brief your jury, so everyone uses the same vocabulary.
Scoring methods
The scoring method decides what a reviewer records alongside the verdict:
- Recommend: the verdict alone. Fast, and free on every plan.
- Score 0–100: a slider score plus the verdict.
- Rubric: weighted criteria, each scored on its own scale, which Artsume rolls into one score.
Score 0–100 and Rubric are part of Artsume Pro for organizations. Recommend is the free floor.
A rubric criterion with a short scale renders as a tap-to-score bar. Wider scales and the 0–100 mode use a slider.
Scoring rubrics
Rubrics live on your organization's Scoring rubrics page. Open it from Settings → Scoring rubrics. Select Create rubric to author one: name your criteria, give each a scale and a weight, and save. Then open a program's Review settings, pick Rubric as the scoring method, and attach it. Manage rubrics in that panel takes you back to that page. See creating programs for how programs attach one.
Blind review and review visibility are different settings
Blind review hides the applicant's identity from reviewers. Review visibility controls whether reviewers see each other's scores while a jury is in flight: Open, Blind until decisions released, or Lead reviewers only. Set them independently.
Assigning reviewers
Assignment settings decide who reads what. Pick a method:
- Manual assignment: you assign applications to reviewers yourself. Free.
- Round robin: applications are distributed evenly across the reviewer pool.
- Assign to all: every reviewer in the pool reads every application.
Round robin and Assign to all are part of Artsume Pro for organizations. Reviewers per application sets how many reviewers each application needs, from 1 to 10. Assign or reassign from the queue, or from inside an application.
Reviewing an application
Select any row to open the review workspace. A sticky top bar carries a back link, the program name with its pipeline chip, an Application N of M counter, and Prev and Next buttons so you can move through your filtered queue without losing your place. The applicant fills the main column with their answers, portfolio works, CV, statement, and contact details. The Your evaluation card sits in the rail on the right, ending in Submit review.
On a phone the workspace takes over the screen. A queue sheet lets you jump between applicants, and a score sheet lets you score without scrolling away from the work.
When more than one reviewer scores, the panel lists every reviewer with their score and their verdict, so agreement and disagreement are both visible.
Panel scores
3 of 3 reviewed · avg 3.5Nadia Okonkwo
Lead · submitted Aug 12
Tomás Ferreira
Submitted Aug 13
Ines Bauer
Submitted Aug 14
Shortlist is a separate internal marker: a switch with a star that flags an application for the jury's attention. It is not a decision, and the applicant never sees it. Do not confuse it with the Waitlist outcome below.
Judge each application on its own merits
Use the full range of your scale, and add a note explaining your reasoning while it is fresh. You will thank yourself when the panel meets to decide.
Applicant fit
Applicant fit shows how well each applicant matches the criteria of your program. It is part of Artsume Pro for organizations. The free review tools stay free: status, flags, notes, reviews, the panel score, decisions and decision release.
Each submitted application gets one fit band:
- Strong fit: the profile and the application both fit well, and no requirement fails.
- Good fit: one of the two fits well and the other fits partly, and no requirement fails.
- Possible fit: a partial fit, and no requirement fails.
- Missing a requirement: the application fails one or more of your stated requirements.
- Not enough information: there is too little to go on. A criterion with no information stays unknown. It does not count against the applicant.
The band comes from three reads of the application:
- Profile fit compares the applicant's discipline, medium, career stage and location with your program criteria.
- Application read rates how completely and how directly the answers address your stated criteria. It reads the answers, the titles of the submitted works and the CV. It does not look at the images, and it does not judge the art.
- Requirement checks test the application against the requirements you set, such as eligibility rules.
Artsume reads each application when it arrives, so the bands are there the first time you open the queue. Until an application has been read, its band comes from the profile alone and the card says Application not yet read.
In the queue
Each row carries a fit chip. Use the Fit filter to show one or more bands, and sort by Best fit first to read the strongest matches before the rest. Without Artsume Pro, the filter shows as locked and opens the upgrade.
In the review workspace
One Applicant fit card shows the band, the reasons for it, the requirement checks, and a written summary with the applicant's strengths and gaps. Generate summary appears only when an application has no summary yet.
A band is a reading aid, not a decision
A fit band describes fit against the criteria of one program. It says nothing about the quality of the art. It never changes a status, and it never declines an applicant. Your reviewers and your decisions stay yours.
In a blind review, the card keeps the band and removes names, links, organizations and any reason that reveals who or where the applicant is.
Blind review
Blind review anonymizes the applicant so reviewers judge the work on its own. Reviewers see an anonymous ID, such as APP-abc123, in place of the applicant's name, and the fields you choose are redacted throughout the review interface.
You pick which fields to hide, field by field: Artist name, Email address, Phone number, Location, Full address, Website/URLs, Social media, Institution, and References. All nine start selected. Leave at least one selected for blind review to mean anything.
Blind review is part of Artsume Pro for organizations. Set it before you publish: once the first application is in, the setting and its field list both lock, so the terms a jury reads under cannot change mid-cycle.
Conflicts of interest
When a reviewer knows an applicant, Artsume keeps the record clean. Every assigned reviewer starts at No conflict of interest declared, and the card offers three actions:
- Declare a conflict of interest. An assigned reviewer abstains from an application they have a conflict with. A reason is optional. Their review drops out of the panel average.
- Recuse. A staff member or program lead recuses a reviewer. A reason is required. The application leaves that reviewer's queue and their review drops out of the average.
- Clear conflict. A staff member resets the status to none when a conflict was declared in error.
Making decisions
Deciding and telling the applicant are two separate acts. You set an outcome first, and nothing reaches the applicant until you release it.
Decisions have their own screen. From the review workspace, select Decide; from the Decisions view, open the applicant's row. Both land on the decision screen for that application. It opens only for people who can set decisions: owners, admins, and a program's lead reviewers.
Set an outcome
On the Outcome card, pick one of:
- Accept
- Waitlist
- Decline
When triage is turned on, a Disqualify instead link handles applications that do not belong in the pool, such as ineligible or incomplete ones.
The badge on the card tells you where the outcome stands: Not set, Not saved while your pick is unsaved, Queued once you have stored it without sending, and Released after the applicant hears.
Release
Release decision emails the applicant their letter and makes the outcome final. Queue without sending stores the outcome and sends nothing, so you can set a whole program and release together. If a program requires locking the jury before release, the release action stays disabled until you lock it.
The letter comes from your organization's default decision letters, set once in Settings → Decision letters. The decision screen previews the exact letter, with the merge fields filled in, before you send it.
The Decisions view filters by outcome (Accept, Waitlist, Decline, Disqualify, or still Pending) and releases in batches.
After release
- Amend decision. Change a released outcome and send an updated letter. Any of the four outcomes is a valid amend target.
- Promote to accepted. For a waitlisted applicant, move them up when a spot opens.
Releasing sends the letter immediately
There is no draft state once you release. Set every outcome for a program and read your letters first, then release the batch together so your applicant pool hears back at the same time.
Getting the numbers out
There is no export button on the Applications header. Pulling other people's data out of Artsume is a deliberate act you take inside a list you built: open Your artists, build a list, and use Export list. That is part of Artsume Pro for organizations.
For board-ready or funder-ready summaries, use Reporting and its report builder, which prints, saves a PDF, and exports its own figures.
Roles at a glance
Who can do what follows your team roles. Owners and admins, plus a program's lead reviewers, set and release decisions. Staff and above assign reviewers and clear conflicts. Reviewers score the applications assigned to them. Invite outside jurors as Reviewers so they see only what they are meant to. The full role matrix lives in Team collaboration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can reviewers see each other's scores?
That's the review visibility setting on each program: Open lets all reviewers see scores and comments any time, Blind until decisions released hides other scores until you release outcomes, and Lead reviewers only limits the aggregate view to leads. It's separate from blind review, which hides the applicant's identity.
Why do my reviewers see different verdict words than another program's?
The words follow the pipeline, not the scoring method. Solo review reads Accept / Waitlist / Decline, panel review reads Advance / Hold / Decline, and a two-round jury reads Yes / Maybe / No in round one, then Advance / Hold / Decline in round two.
What's the difference between Shortlist and Waitlist?
Shortlist is an internal marker that flags an application for the jury's attention. It never reaches the applicant and isn't a decision. Waitlist is a released outcome that emails the applicant. When a spot opens, use Promote to accepted to move them up.
How do I handle a conflict of interest?
On the application, a reviewer can declare a conflict of interest to abstain, and their score drops out of the panel average. A staff member or lead can Recuse them with a required reason, which also removes the application from that reviewer's queue. Staff can Clear a conflict declared in error.
Can I change a decision after I've released it?
Yes. A released decision can't be edited in place, but you can Amend it to any outcome and send an updated letter. Amendments are recorded, so keep the applicant informed.
Does applicant fit decide who gets in?
No. Applicant fit sorts and describes applications against the criteria of your program. It never changes a status and never declines anyone. It does not look at the images or judge the art. Your reviewers score, and you decide.
Where do decision letters live?
In Settings, under Decision letters. They're set once for your whole organization, not per program. The decision screen previews the exact letter before you send it.
How do external reviewers get access?
Invite them to your team with the Reviewer role. They only see the programs and applications they're assigned to. See Team collaboration for the details.
Next steps
- Creating programs: set a program's pipeline, scoring, and reviewers before it goes live
- Team collaboration: roles, reviewer pools, and inviting jurors
- Reporting: funnel figures and board-ready reports
- Managing applications: how applicants track the status you set