Sheldon exhibit pairs paintings with poetry
Ryan Kathman
Issue date: 4/25/08 Section: Features
The Greek lyric poet Simonides said, "Painting is silent poetry, and poetry painting that speaks."
The Sheldon Museum of Art on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus will explore that ancient theory with its "Poets on Painters" exhibit, officially opening Saturday with a reception held tonight.
For each of the 20 contemporary artworks adorning the walls of the Sheldon, a modern poet has composed a poem based on his or her response to the painting, and that poem will accompany the art as part of the exhibit.
"They are both creative forms of expression, so what this is doing is just giving them a chance to sort of work together," said Sharon Kennedy, interim curator of the Sheldon.
"I find it really interesting because it's not the curator interpreting the work, it's someone else who happens to be a writer. It's a nice way to see a description of a piece of art from another perspective."
But in addition to displaying the perspectives of professional writers on visual art, Kennedy said the Sheldon partnered with the UNL English department to coordinate a local poetry contest that would give amateur poets an opportunity to use a famous painting as a muse.
The contest was extended to students from kindergarten through 12th grade and to local adults and college students. The winners in all four categories will receive $100 prizes during the reception at the Sheldon tonight from 5 to 7 p.m.
Bekah Banks, a senior English major at UNL, won the top honors in the adult category with her poem "In Window, From Within," based on Georgia O'Keeffe's 1929 painting "New York, Night."
Banks, who recently switched her major to English, was required to submit a poem for a poetry class she is taking, but said she did not expect to win.
"The contest coordinator told me I'd won before I got the (official) letter," Banks said of learning of the honor from her friend Rebecca Bednarz, a graduate student who organized the poetry contest with the help of a grant from the Nebraska Arts Council. "I thought she was joking with me at first."
Banks said she chose to write her poem from a first-person perspective of O'Keeffe herself as the artist was creating one of her famous Big Apple cityscapes. Banks said she was aided by knowing some details of O'Keeffe's life, including her Midwestern roots, the belief that "New York, Night" was created from the view of a hotel room the painter was living in with her future husband and that she reportedly did not adjust well to big city life.
"Thinking about her life really drew me in," Banks said. "(The painting) kind of exudes this feeling of loneliness. She's surrounded by people in this big city but she seems very lonely."
Kennedy said the Sheldon is always interested in reaching out in creative ways to other branches of the university. Late this summer, an exhibit from artist Elizabeth King will fill the Sheldon gallery, and Kennedy said her staff is already trying to make connections to various scientific departments to complement the very biological and anatomical nature of King's work.
"(These kinds of exhibits) bring in new audiences and bring in an idea of art mixed with other disciplines," Kennedy said. "It means engaging more with the work than people normally would… Any time we can make those connections, we will."
To cap off the weekend of poetry and paintings, UNL English professor and recent U.S. poet laureate Ted Kooser will lead a tour and discussion of the "Poets on Painters" exhibit on Sunday from 2 to 3 p.m. The exhibit will run until the end of June.
For Banks, the connection between poetry and visual art is both mediums attempting to communicate a personal and a universal story. In the case of O'Keeffe's painting, she said, her poem is retelling the painter's story from a new perspective.
"I think there's sort of a universal human experience which art tries to capture," Banks said. "(Through my poem) I'm kind of having a dialogue with the painting, and it not only can alter the original meaning but also enhance it."
Simonides couldn't have said it better himself.
ryankathman@dailynebraskan.com
The Sheldon Museum of Art on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus will explore that ancient theory with its "Poets on Painters" exhibit, officially opening Saturday with a reception held tonight.
For each of the 20 contemporary artworks adorning the walls of the Sheldon, a modern poet has composed a poem based on his or her response to the painting, and that poem will accompany the art as part of the exhibit.
"They are both creative forms of expression, so what this is doing is just giving them a chance to sort of work together," said Sharon Kennedy, interim curator of the Sheldon.
"I find it really interesting because it's not the curator interpreting the work, it's someone else who happens to be a writer. It's a nice way to see a description of a piece of art from another perspective."
But in addition to displaying the perspectives of professional writers on visual art, Kennedy said the Sheldon partnered with the UNL English department to coordinate a local poetry contest that would give amateur poets an opportunity to use a famous painting as a muse.
The contest was extended to students from kindergarten through 12th grade and to local adults and college students. The winners in all four categories will receive $100 prizes during the reception at the Sheldon tonight from 5 to 7 p.m.
Bekah Banks, a senior English major at UNL, won the top honors in the adult category with her poem "In Window, From Within," based on Georgia O'Keeffe's 1929 painting "New York, Night."
Banks, who recently switched her major to English, was required to submit a poem for a poetry class she is taking, but said she did not expect to win.
"The contest coordinator told me I'd won before I got the (official) letter," Banks said of learning of the honor from her friend Rebecca Bednarz, a graduate student who organized the poetry contest with the help of a grant from the Nebraska Arts Council. "I thought she was joking with me at first."
Banks said she chose to write her poem from a first-person perspective of O'Keeffe herself as the artist was creating one of her famous Big Apple cityscapes. Banks said she was aided by knowing some details of O'Keeffe's life, including her Midwestern roots, the belief that "New York, Night" was created from the view of a hotel room the painter was living in with her future husband and that she reportedly did not adjust well to big city life.
"Thinking about her life really drew me in," Banks said. "(The painting) kind of exudes this feeling of loneliness. She's surrounded by people in this big city but she seems very lonely."
Kennedy said the Sheldon is always interested in reaching out in creative ways to other branches of the university. Late this summer, an exhibit from artist Elizabeth King will fill the Sheldon gallery, and Kennedy said her staff is already trying to make connections to various scientific departments to complement the very biological and anatomical nature of King's work.
"(These kinds of exhibits) bring in new audiences and bring in an idea of art mixed with other disciplines," Kennedy said. "It means engaging more with the work than people normally would… Any time we can make those connections, we will."
To cap off the weekend of poetry and paintings, UNL English professor and recent U.S. poet laureate Ted Kooser will lead a tour and discussion of the "Poets on Painters" exhibit on Sunday from 2 to 3 p.m. The exhibit will run until the end of June.
For Banks, the connection between poetry and visual art is both mediums attempting to communicate a personal and a universal story. In the case of O'Keeffe's painting, she said, her poem is retelling the painter's story from a new perspective.
"I think there's sort of a universal human experience which art tries to capture," Banks said. "(Through my poem) I'm kind of having a dialogue with the painting, and it not only can alter the original meaning but also enhance it."
Simonides couldn't have said it better himself.
ryankathman@dailynebraskan.com
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