Artwork & Poetwords Opening: May 4th

Opening: Friday, May 4th 5 to 8 p.m.
Food, Jazz, Poetry, Art, FREE: what more could you ask for?

The exhibit runs through May 30

Hours
Saturdays & Sundays 12 to 5 p.m.
May 5 & 6, May 12 & 13, May 19 & 20, May 26 & 27
Admission is free and open to the public

Where
Dome Arena’s Glass Lounge

Contact Info
Sherry Tulloch (585) 737-4211

A a unique new exhibition showcases the artistic/poetic process as much as its end-products. Thirty-one artists were randomly paired with 31 poets. Over a period of eight months, each artist-poet team has collaborated--without boundaries or guidelines—to see where it leads them. Almost all the teams were perfect strangers at the beginning of the project.

There are also events associated with the show throughout the exhibit's run-time

Sunday, May 6

2-3 PM Poetry reading
Gary Lehman
Karla Merrifield
David Michael Nixon
Fran Weeks
M J Iuppa
Marie Starr
John Roche
Louise Bennett
Claudia Stanek
Wanda Schubmehl
Wynne Mclure

4 PM - Poetry reading and discussion of project
Karla Merrifield

Saturday, May 12

2 PM - Lecture/Artist Talk
Marie Starr

4 PM - Talk on process
Ted Williams/Kristina Matthews
Chris Waara/Lorrie Divers

Sunday, May 13

2 PM - Talk on process
Richard Harvey/Wanda Schubmehl
Andrea Pettito/Colleen Powderly

Sunday, May 20

2 PM - Talk on process, painting demonstration, poetry
Dick Kane/Sally Bittner Bonn

3:30 PM - Talk on process
Leah Zazuyler/Kristen Malone

Saturday, May 26

2 PM - Artist's lecture
Marilyn Belle-Isle

3 PM - Artist's lecture
Patty Hill

Sunday, May 27

2 PM - Artist's lecture
Marilyn Belle-Isle

3 PM - Artist's lecture
Patty Hill

Press Release:

Visual artist seeks eccentric open-minded poet to whack ideas, metaphors and images back and forth in a unique game of intellectual tennis. With matching services enjoying a prime spot in today’s culture, it was only natural that the idea would occur to someone, somewhere. Why not offer a similar service to help creative types inspire one another?

Thus, the idea for Artworks and Poetwords was born. In a unique new exhibition, which promises to showcase the artistic/poetic process as much as the end products of their labors, 31 artists were randomly paired with 31 poets. Over a period of eight months, each artist-poet team has collaborated-without boundaries or guidelines—to see where it leads them. And best of all, almost all the teams were perfect strangers at the beginning of the project.

Each artist-poet pair was free to develop their own strategy for how to
collaborate. Which piece would come first, the art or the poem? Would it be possible to create simultaneously? Would two people who are so accustomed to working alone even be able to work together? Whose ideas or ego would prevail?

“We knew we were taking a risk—to take two creative personalities and tell them to work together in some way,” says Sherry Tulloch, artist and chairperson for the event, which is sponsored by the Rochester Art Club. “The response has been overwhelming. We thought we’d get five or six participants, never thirty-one.”

The artists are all members of Rochester Art Club, and the poets were invited from assorted poetry groups around Rochester. Themes of the poetry and artwork run the gamut, from the war in Iraq, to nature.