Methods & Muses Vol. 32
Discover more from Methods & Muses
Like any artist, I need creative nourishment. I could say inspiration, and while this is a beautiful word – to fill with an animating, quickening or exalting influence – nourishment has a comfort food connotation. I need mashed potatoes, so I go to the woods, or if I’m feeling social, I visit spaces where I might meet other kids who want to play, and perhaps have some potatoes.
For Methods & Muses Vol. 32, I celebrate a most welcoming space – Art Lit Lab (ALL).
What a gift for Madison!
At ALL, all kinds of artists can share their work, and as someone versed in the Interdisciplinary, someone who craves a blend of literary, visual, music and performative art to feed her soul, I am still pinching myself that ALL is real, and right down the street from my current house!
Level 1 of Art Lit Lab hosts Exhibitions and Performances. I have had the pleasure of viewing paintings like Sharon Biyrd’s as well as assemblages, collages and installations like Nirmal Raja’s.
Also on this fabulous floor, I’ve attended poetry readings – The Watershed Series and The Winter Poetry Festival , music events like Paran Amirinazari and Eric Tran’s duet, and most recently, Sarah Elstan’s project, The Nunnery.
About The Nunnery – Wow! This performance was charming and hypnotic.
Sarah stood behind a table arranged with several pedals, a mic and a drum. She picked up her mic and made a sound – a breathy hum, a spoken-sung lyric. Then, she hit one of the pedals to create a loop. After she listened to her loop for a moment, all the while dancing, yes, dancing to her own voice, she repeated the process with various sounds, like drum taps or hand claps or more vocals, until essentially, she created a layered backdrop, or her own back-up band. And then, she sang with herself!
It was fantastic to see an artist creating such beauty, having so much fun on stage!
Sarah thanked the audience and closed her set with a song called ‘Proud.’
The direct lyric sings for itself:
“I’m proud of you for getting out of your house.”
My description of The Nunnery pales in comparison to hearing her work or watching her compose, so I invite you to listen to her tunes and/or enjoy her videos.
Ok, back to Art Lit Lab…
Level 2 is called the Ellen Kort Mezzanine for Writers. This tucked story, as in, a mezzanine is a story of a building tucked between two stories, is perfect for writers, because well, you get the metaphor. This cozy space has tables and chairs and tons of books. And here’s the thing, most of the books are poetry books – full collections and chapbooks. Yes, my fellow word-lovers, shelves and shelves featuring our humble craft, and you can check them out, because it’s a lending library!
Oh, thank you, Art Lit Lab, and thank you, Ellen!
I had the pleasure of being on the mezzanine this month when I took a Poetry Chapbook Workshop with poet-teachers, Rita Mae Reese and Jeanie Tomasko.
Nourishment from this class included:
1. meeting my classmates, lovely poets – Erin, Christine, Tyler, Jacki, and Genia
2. being asked great questions like:
What’s the deal you’ve made with poetry?
What is expected? What is offered?
What questions drive your work? – Thank you, Rita Mae and Diane Di Prima.
3. reading a variety of chapbooks and taking them home for deeper study
4. learning about small presses offering chapbook possibilities
5. playing kinesthetically, collaging a mini-book from cut-out, found lines
6. exploring order and how editors think when reviewing a collection
7. collectively laughing when, due to a schedule conflict, we moved class to a pub, where we shared a plate of French fries! Yay! – Thank you for treating, Christine.
8. hearing my classmates read their work and letting their poetry wash over me
9. meeting teachers who offer to read 10-12 pages of work, provide feedback and then meet for a chat over coffee – Thank you, Jeanie.
10. connecting and looking forward to future strolls, coffees, laughs and conversations
Last but not least, Level 3 of Art Lit Lab houses the Education Center and Studios.
Our last Chapbook Class was held on this floor, so I had the delight of skipping past the art studios, peeking in to admire the quiet, work-in-progress, and then inhaling the glorious scents of the Education Center.
Oh, I love the smells of crayons and paper, paint and clay!
What a beautiful room – long tables, solid chairs, big windows overlooking the neighborhood, shelves and shelves of art supplies. The energy in that room hummed. The teacher in me felt it, and the student in me wanted to take more classes. I made a mental note to review ALL’s schedule for visual art classes, and then I sat down with my potato-mates to savor some poetry.
I’ll close with another big-ol’-hug-of-a-thank-you to the community that is Art Lit Lab.
Thank you, ALL. You confirm that I am home.
And thank you, Readers. May you find nourishment. See you next month!