Listening as seeing – drawing from Hannah Gamble’s poetry
Hannah Gamble visited Phoenix Military Academy to meet art students who had been creating a huge multimedia art piece based on her poem “Most People Would Rather Not.” Each student was given a different line or phrase to begin generating their imagery, using chalk, pencil, and marker. They compiled their drawings into collages which were painted onto 6’x4’ canvases, taking on a life of their own.
During Hannah’s visit, the students did a rhythm visualization: listening to the poem with their eyes closed, they created cardiograph-like lines corresponding to the sounds of the spoken words, painting what they heard. These new elements will be incorporated into their existing piece.
Krista Franklin reads “Manifesto, or Ars Poetica #2” to art students at Phoenix Military Academy. Her poem serves as the basis for a large-scale collaborative artwork that incorporates pastel drawing, collage, and painting.
The students have created huge canvases that incorporate drawing, painting, and collage based on the poem’s imagery. For this new phase of their project, they focus on the literal sound, rendering their responses into expressive brushwork.
Poetic Imagery – Creating murals from Krista Franklin’s poetry
Poet Krista Franklin visited Phoenix Military Academy to read “Manifesto, or Ars Poetica #2” to art students and discuss the possibilities for translating its imagery into dynamic oil pastel compositions. The students said they loved having Krista, who also talked about her experiences as a poet and artist in Chicago.
After the reading, Krista answered questions, and each student selected two lines of the poem at random to use as a basis for their pastel drawing. The drawings will later form a collage, which will be painted onto a large canvas that synthesizes all of the students’ visual interpretations.
You can catch quality poetry live tonight! Find the live webcast of the National Finals of Poetry Out Loud here. The show starts at 7pm ET and is hosted by Anna Deavere Smith (Nurse Jackie).
Tonight’s nine competitors emerged from a competitive field of 375,000 high school students across the country. Do it for the last day of National Poetry Month.
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