An official Sierra Poetry Festival Event
in Collaboration with Nevada County Arts Council
“Emily dickinson”, Encaustic painting by roseanne burke
EKPHRASTIC FANTASTIC: Art-Inspired Poetry
Gallery Exhibit & Poetry Readings featuring
visual artworks by ASiF Resident Artists
and poetry by Local & Regional Poets!
Ekphrastic Fantastic: Art-Inspired Poetry
Featuring TWO Open To the Public Events:
1. Opening Reception & Poetry Reading, Friday March 28, 5 - 7pm
2. Second Poetry Reading Friday, April 25, 5 - 7pm
On Friday, March 28th, from 5-7pm, the Artists' Studio in the Foothills (ASiF) Art Center & Gallery will host the opening reception for its third annual “Ekphrastic Fantastic” Art-Inspired Poetry event.
Ekphrastic poetry is poetry inspired by art. One of the most famous examples of ekphrastic poetry is John Keats’ work, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”.
This annual event brings together two distinct and thriving communities of local artistsand poets for an exciting creative collaboration. A group of local poets have been invited to write poems inspired by art created by the resident artists at ASiF Studios. The works of seventeen artists and eighteen poets will be displayed side by side in the center's gallery.
At the opening reception, guests are invited for a seated presentation of ekphrastic poetry readings by the featured poets while viewing the artworks which inspired them. Published works by the poets will also be available for sale and signing.
This event is a collaboration between ASiF Art Center and the Nevada County ArtsCouncil, and is an official event of the Sierra Poetry Festival.
“Sobremesca”, Ceramic Sculpture by mariela cunquero
Detail of multiple figure family dinner scene
The 2025 Ekphrastic Fantastic Gallery show will be on display in the center's gallery through Saturday, May 24th. Artworks and poems will exhibit side by side for public viewing during open gallery hours, Thursdays - Saturdays from 11am - 4pm.
Ekphrastic poetry is poetry inspired by art. The most famous example of ekphrastic poetry is a work entitled “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats, an English poet of the early 1800's.
Participating Poets & Artists:
Artists are: Beverly Austin, Eileen Blodgett, Roseanne Burke, Kim Carlsen, Andrea Caturegli, Mariela Cunqueiro, Flo Fahrenheit , Dori Greenbaum, Cheri Guerrette, Barbara Harris, Claudia Jeffers, Michelle Jewett, Susan Michalski, Rose Paratore, Stephanie Schriver, Robin Wallace, and Denise Wey.
Poets are: Gene Berson, Catharine Bramkamp, Tiffany Taya Burke, Kirsten Casey, Katie Chilton, Judy Crowe, Kate Dumont, Molly Fisk, Betty Naegele Gundred, Iven Lourie, Donna Meares, Diane Pendola, Judie Rae, Ellen Dooling Reynard, Jennifer Smat, Susan Solinsky, Robin Wallace and Susan Warden
These events free and open to the public.
ek·phra·sis /ˈekfrəsəs/ - Greek for the written description of a work of art produced as a rhetorical or literary exercise,[1] often used in the adjectival form ekphrastic. It is a vivid, often dramatic, verbal description of a visual work of art, either real or imagined.
Thus, "an ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art."
