ACA HOSTS 3rd ANNUAL “EXPRESSIONS: ART AND VERSE” EVENT FEBRUARY 18

The Addison Center for the Arts is pleased to announce our third collaboration between visual artists and the Illinois State Poetry Society. Participating poets will read poems inspired by original artworks by members of the Addison Center for the Arts. The public is invited to attend the free art reception and poetry program on Saturday, February 18, 2023, from 1 to 4 pm.

Julie Mars, the organizer of Expressions: Art and Verse 2023 explains, “This exhibition is intended to celebrate the mingling of art forms. It will showcase how visual art can inspire poetry.. Visual art evokes a personal, subjective experience within the viewer’s mind. In this art and poetry show, the poets have interpreted their inner experience of the artwork for us in their poems.”

Illinois artists exhibiting in “Expressions: Art and Verse 2023” are:

Tania Blanco, Margaret Bucholz, Susan Cargill, Benjamin Calvert III, Ashley Ehrhardt, Andrea Fox, Jeanne Garrett, Beth Gollan, Jennifer Hauser, Tony Ilivanov, Joan Ladendorf, David Morris, Hanh Nguyen, Sharon Peters, Nancy Staszak, Lyn Tietz, Ana Vitek, and Sindee Viano.

The Illinois State Poetry Society’s featured members are:

Marie Asner, Jo Balistreri, Bakul Bannerjee, CR Bolinski, Mary Beth Bretzlauf, Paul Buchheit, Hanh Chau, T. H. Chockley, Kathy Cotton, Judith Cummings, Gail Denham, Barbara Eaton, Idella Pearl Edwards, Sheila Elliott, Michael Escoubas, M. E. Hope, Mark Hudson, Judith Kaufman, Maggie Kennedy, Rafael Lantigua, Lennart Lundh, Karian Markos, William Marr, Wilda Morris, Susan Moss, Carole Novak, René Parks, Marie Samuel, Nancy Schaefer, Curt Vevang, and Rita M. Yager.

Susan Moss, ISPS President about Expressions: Art and Verse:

“In the early 1970s, ISPS began as a single chapter and became a charter member of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies in 1991. Presently, there are seven chapters throughout the state, and all are committed to creating and promoting poetry in all its forms.

ISPS appreciates the opportunity to blend art and poetry that results in a collaboration of these artistic forms in order to present a greater expressive whole.” - Susan T. Moss, President of the Illinois State Poetry Society.