Arts Council combines poetry, photography in upcoming exhibit; how to enter, view it
In a joining of poetry and photos, the Cleveland County Arts Council will be hosting a unique exhibit and poetry reading next month and is seeking entries from the community.
“Unseen and Overlooked, an aerial and Macro Photography Exhibit & Poetry Reading,” will be held Sept. 7 through Oct. 28, 2023. It will feature the work of local photographers in addition to the words of three North Carolina poets.
The Arts Council is issuing an open call for photographers to enter the exhibit. The prospectus is on its website www.ccartscouncil.org under events.
It is open to all artists age 18 and up. Work must have been completed in the past 2 years, and participants can submit up to four entries. There is no entry fee.
The two categories are macro and aerial photography.
Macro Photography is an extreme close-up of incredibly tiny subjects. It is different from regular close-ups because the subject in the photograph has to appear larger than life. The aim is to highlight details that would be invisible to the naked eye.
Aerial photography is the taking of photographs from an elevated or direct-down position. Platforms for aerial photography include but are not limited to fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, balloons, blimps and dirigibles, rockets, kites, parachutes, using cameras while skydiving, telescoping pole or mast, or other aerial or elevated support systems to emulate aerial photographs.
The opening reception will be held on Sept. 7 from 5 to 7 p.m. and features a poetry reading from three North Carolina poets: Nancy Womack, Pat Riviere-Seel and Kathy Ackerman.
The poets will each select a "poets choice" photograph.
Randy McNeilly will select the winner of the Macro and Aerial photograph, and first place winners will receive a $100 gift card.
Winners will be announced after the poetry readings.
Nancy Womack, who has a Ph.D. in English, is a retired educator and a native of Rutherford County.
“I find that I am always surprised anew with discoveries of things formerly neglected, unseen or overlooked,” Womack wrote in an artist statement. “Who knows what treasures lie beneath both real and figurative surfaces? To me, my role as a poet is to probe beyond the obvious.”
Pat Riviere-Seel is a former journalist, editor, publicist, teacher, and lobbyist. A native of Shelby, she has published four collections of poetry, most recently "When There Were Horses" (Main Street Rag, 2021). Her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies.
“I write to discover what I do not know,” Riviere-Seel said in an artist statement. “All writing for me begins with curiosity, a desire to look closely at the world I live in, both the natural world and the emotional and intellectual landscapes. Like any good journalist, I want to investigate, look below the surface, ask questions, and report what I find in a way that invites the reader to see the world in a new way or to discover something new, overlooked, or hidden.”
Kathy Ackerman has published six poetry books and chapbooks, most recently "Repeat after Me." Her 2019 collection, "A Quarrel of Atoms," won the Lena Shull Book Award from the North Carolina Poetry Society. She serves as Dean of Arts and Sciences at Isothermal Community College, and lives on a farm in Polk County.
“To me, the title of this exhibit is the very definition of poetry,” Ackerman said in an artist’s statement. “The poet sees beyond an object or an event or an image and asks, “What am I not seeing? What is the story here? What is this similar to, and how does it make me feel?” Thus, the ordinary “seen” thing becomes so much more, just as the beautiful photos in this exhibit.”
For more information, contact Cleveland County Arts Council with any questions: info@ccartscouncil.org or call 704-484-2787
This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Arts Council seeking photo submissions for new exhibit
