It’s official–I will be offering a 4-week workshop on Ekphrasis–writing poetry inspired by visual art–beginning August 31 at the Nemeth Art Center in Park Rapids, MN. I hope you can participate! I am very excited about getting to spend time with the gorgeous 15th and 16th century masterworks at the museum, and to hear what the class participants write about them. The class members will also have a special opportunity to read their poems for an audience (optional ) during Art Leap on Sept. 24, and to have their poems posted in the art center.
Here are the details:
The Art of Ekphrastic Poetry—A Writers’ Workshop
Ekphrastic Poetry is poetry written about or in response to other forms of art, usually visual art. In this workshop, we will explore Exphrasis—reading Ekphrasitic poems by well-known and not-so-well-known poets, and trying our own writing in this genre. All the while, we will be surrounded by Old Masters’ paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries and Nigerian art and artifacts, as well as more modern works. We will take some of our inspiration from these works, and some from the participants’ favorite artwork from outside the museum. The emphasis will be on generating new poems and bringing them to the group for sharing, discussion and gentle critique. The class will culminate with a reading (optional) on Sept. 24, 2:30-4 pm at the Nemeth Art Center, as part of Park Rapids’ annual Art Leap event, and some poems may be hung next to the artwork that inspired the poem.
Dates and times: Wednesday evenings, 6:30-8 at Nemeth Art Center, August 31, Sept 7, 14 & 21, with optional reading Sept. 24, 2:30-4 pm
Where: Nemeth Art Center (formerly North Country Museum of Arts), 301 Court Street, Park Rapids, MN
Cost: $80 (contact me if in need of a scholarship)
Who: older teens (17 and up) and adults
To Register: Call the Nemeth Art Center at 218-237-5900, or email Kelly at kelly@ncmapr.com
Registration Deadline: August 21. We must get at least 5 participants to offer this class.
LouAnn Shepard Muhm 