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Poets for Art
Sat, April 6th, 2019 at 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
In celebration of National Poetry Month, the New Orleans Museum of Art is offering a free poetry workshop on Saturday, April 6, for students in grades 8–12, led by Louisiana Poet Laureate Jack B. Bedell. Workshop participants will tour the museum and select a work of art that inspires or engages them. Working with a professional writer, students will develop and write a poem. Students are invited to submit their completed poem to NOMA for publication in a soft-bound book that will be mailed to all participants. Experienced and novice poets are invited to apply by March 29.
Jack B. Bedell is the Louisiana Poet Laureate fro 2017–2019. He is Professor of English and Coordinator of Creative Writing at Southeastern Louisiana University where he also edits Louisiana Literature and directs the Louisiana Literature Press. His latest collections are Elliptic (Yellow Flag Press, 2016), Revenant (Blue Horse Press, 2016),and Bone-Hollow, True: New & Selected Poems (Texas Review Press, 2013).
Download Poets for Art Entry Form
SCHEDULE FOR APRIL 6
10 a.m. Meet at main entrance to the sculpture garden for an introduction and tour.
10: 45 a.m. Workshop participants tour NOMA galleries after discussing connections between poetry and art.
12:30 – 1 p.m. Lunch (provided)
1 – 1:45 p.m. Poetry lesson with workshop leaders.
1:45 – 2:45 p.m. Students write poems and revisit galleries and the sculpture garden.
2:45 – 3 p.m. Regroup with workshop leaders.
3 – 4 p.m. Poetry readings in front of selected art works by students and workshop leaders.
BRIEF GUIDELINES
NOTE: Students are encouraged to visit NOMA before April 6 to look at art works ahead of time. It is suggested that they take photos (without flash!) of the pieces in the permanent collection that inspire them.
Teen passes are available by clicking here, or at NOMA’s front desk. (Visitors ages 13-19 are granted free admission to NOMA through 2017 courtesy of the Helis Foundation.)
Only work in NOMA’s permanent collection should be used. These pieces can be identified by the following:
- Artist name or manufacturer’s company, nationality and dates, such as “Antoine-Jean Gros, French, 1771–1835,” or “Johann Goetz-Witwe Glassworks, Bohemia, Active 1840–1940.
- Title of work and date completed (sometimes a date range): Vase with Snake, circa 1895–1900.
- An explanation of how NOMA acquired the piece, for example: Gift of John J. Cunningham
- An accession number, for example: 1977.145 or 56.30
NOMA will provide paper, pencils, and a laptop computer to compose poetry during the hours of the workshop. Students will have one week after the workshop to complete their poem and submit it for publication.