Artists and Poets Exhibit

CLOCK PHOTO / JENN TEPPER

In the back corner of the library, one might find students plugging away at final projects or adjusting the size of the periods in an essay to Times New Roman 14. Amidst all of this, an assortment of art and poetry hangs along the wall. The PSU Poets and Writers Art Exhibit is an annual exhibit in Lamson Library. Dani Cushing, a junior Art major, and Ryan Cameron, a senior English major, curated the exhibit this year. The two advertised the opportunity for those who enjoy poetry and creating art to send in their submissions. Although it is a Poets and Writers exhibit, a student does not have to be a member of Poets and Writers or even an English Major to submit their art.

Cushing and Cameron collected artwork and then assigned a certain poet to each piece. Cameron mentioned that, prior to the artists and poets meeting each other, he had an idea of which poet would be the right writer for the piece based on being surrounded by their works. “Once they had the piece, they were given the task of writing a poem or a story or really anything that was inspired from their interpretations of the visual art piece. The final product was a discourse between two pieces of art, which is something I am always curious to see,” said Cameron. The reason behind the artists and poets not speaking about their pieces until the show was so that it could be as pure and organic of an outcome as possible and so that “the artists could communicate strictly through their art,” said Cameron. 

The exhibit was successful due to the organic nature behind the idea, which shone as brightly as the lights in Lamson that were lighting up the productions on the wall.  Cameron and Cushing took quite a large sum of their time starting back in February devoted to gathering and workshoping the pieces, as well as putting together the exhibit. Cameron states, “I think it is crucial that art respond to art. I think what is great about both mediums working together is that both grow in such unexpected ways, and the unity that comes from the collaboration between artists is a special one. We live in a world that is ruled by subjectivity, with infinite amounts of possibility depending on someone’s interpretations: this exhibit is this idea on a micro scale.” 

The interpretations at the exhibit were extremely present. The faces of artists and poets lit up when they were able to view their paired productions and the moment was a true conversation starter. It is truly an interesting sight to see, especially with the knowledge that the two artists had no common thought on what type of interpretation they wanted to leave with the audience. So if a break is needed from cramming or finishing that last paragraph of a research paper, stop by the back of Lamson Library on the first floor and find some inspiration.