Class

Museum as Muse: Transforming Art into Poetry with Ekphrasis

This generative poetry class uses the museum as our muse by inviting students to enter into conversation with visual art. Merriam Webster defines ekphrasis as "a literary description or commentary on a visual work of art."

We’ll begin with group discussion of two contemporary ekphrastic poems: "Science Says" by Mary Jo Bang, and "Timothy O’Sullivan, Photographer" by John Spaulding. By unpacking their strategies and techniques, we’ll see how poets translate image into language.

From there, we’ll move into practice. Using shared artwork, students will free-write their responses, considering both the visual details of the piece and the emotional landscapes it opens up. Finally, participants will select their own piece of art to free-write about.

By the end of class, each participant will leave with several drafts, fresh techniques for approaching ekphrastic writing, and a newfound excitement for approaching museums to generate poetry!

All classes listed on the Loft website take place in Central Time.

Instructions for Accessing This Online Class

In order to access live class meetings, you must have the Zoom application downloaded to your computer. You will also need a WiFi/Internet connection throughout the duration of your scheduled meeting and a computer with audio and video capability. The information to join your Zoom classroom will be provided in your confirmation email upon registration. Please check spam folders if you do not see this email upon registration. For more information on how to use Zoom, please see our training manual here.

Some classes use a supplemental Google Classroom page. Should your teaching artist use Google Classroom, you will be invited to join the classroom via email at least 24 hours in advance of your class (check spam folders if you are not seeing this invitation). Please note that Google Classroom requires a Gmail address to access the Classroom. If you do not have a Gmail account, the email invitation will be sent to the email address we have on file and will prompt you to create a free account or enter an existing account to join the classroom. If we are unable to send an email invitation to your non-gmail account, you will be contacted by a staff member to provide a Gmail address. If you do not have a Gmail account, you can create a free account here. Should you have concerns about this, please contact a Loft staff member at [email protected] or 612-379-8999. For more information on how to use Google Classroom, please see our training manual here.