Hear (and see) an ekphrastic reading at the Delaplaine Arts Center
May 29—The Frederick Chapter of Maryland Writers' Association will once again partner with the Delaplaine Arts Center for an ekphrastic reading, which will take place on June 3.
The 2023 National Juried Exhibition, currently on display at the Delaplaine and featuring works in a variety of media, served as the inspiration for the event. Poets selected paintings, sculptures and photographs from the show that inspired them and will read their poems at the program while in the midst of the work that served as their muse.
In November, MWA and the Delaplaine held "Ekphrasis," pairing MWA writers with a national juried photography exhibit.
"We were so pleased with the ekphrastic event we had [last fall] that we knew we had to do it again," said Corey Frey, exhibitions manager at the Delaplaine. "There is simply some symbiotic energy that reciprocates between linguistic and visual art, and when paired together and then spoken aloud with the visual work present in the room, it ran the gamut of human emotion in a vibrant way."
Frederick poets Rod Deacey and Kari Martindale, editor and co-editor of MWA's literary journal Pen-in-Hand respectively, featured some of November's poetry and accompanying images in a special ekphrastic section of the journal's January 2023 issue. As Deacey noted, the issue "welcome[d] a recent trend where arts centers, galleries and libraries join up with local poets to create poems about artwork."
The issue also featured member poetry from events at the Baltimore County Arts Guild and the Montpelier Arts Center in Laurel, along with poetry previously published in the Ekphrastic Review.
"After participating in events at other arts centers, I was eager to bring ekphrasis to Frederick last year," said Martindale, who also serves as president of the Frederick Chapter of Maryland Writers' Association.
Martindale and fellow MWA member Nicole Abuhamada teach workshops through community organizations. Abuhamada will be introducing ekphrasis to teens throughout the summer at five Frederick County Public Library branches. She is a visual artist herself, who recently presented her ekphrastic poetry alongside her paintings in her solo show "Notional Ekphrasis" at Frederick Community College. Her first ekphrastic poem was based on a woodcut print she carved.
"The print came alive in the poem and invited the reader into the metaphor of a scientifically accurate human heart being resuscitated on the page," she said. "[When I shared] it with my professor and advisor, poet Elizabeth Knapp, she informed me it was ekphrastic. I wanted to learn all I could about ekphrasis."
"The Delaplaine attracts excellent artists, and Frederick has excellent poets. Bringing the two together — sight and sound — creates real magic," said Frederick writer Bill Haxton, who participated in November. "This particular ekphrastic celebration is very important to me because my brother, who lives in Oregon, has a piece of abstract art in the show, and I am very pleased to be able to present a short poem about it."
The reading is free to attend and starts at 2 p.m. June 3. It is a part of the Delaplaine's Art Matters Artist Talk series
Poems and a recording from November's ekphrasis event are available at delaplaine.org/ekphrasis-poems.
