The eighth annual Ars Poetica exhibition will be held this year, for the first time ever, on Bainbridge Island.
A staple of the West Sound-area art calendar, the show sees poets from Kitsap, Jefferson and Mason counties submit poems to be selected by a jury for participating visual artists of all mediums to choose from and respond to in their own work — the resulting pairs being displayed as part of a joint show spread over four different venues.
The name, which translated means “The Art of Poetry,” comes from a piece written by Horace, the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus, in 19 BC, in which he advises poets on the art of writing poetry and drama.
This year, in addition to the additional novel location, the exhibition is also unique for its emphasis on photography as the corresponding medium.
In past years, Collective Visions Gallery in Bremerton, Front Street Gallery in Poulsbo, and the Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse have hosted exhibitions, where poets and artists gather to celebrate with a reading of the poems, a display of the artworks, and a slide show for the public to enjoy.
This year’s show will be hosted by the Bainbridge Public Library throughout the month of March, with the opening reception and unveiling set to take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, March 1.
A poetry reading with a slide show will begin at 6 p.m., and refreshments will be served.
The event is free and open to the public.
Participating poets this year include Amy Genova, Janetmarie Valiga, Marsha Cutting, Judy Drechsler, Diane Lee Moser, Junay Johanson, Cindy Vandersluis, Beverley West, Rebecca Rekow, Dawn Henthorn;,Kenneth Enright, Jayne Marek, Anne Kundtz and Sue Hylen. The participating photographers are Gerald Young, Pat Egaas, Genevieve Moyer, Diane Hutchings, Rob Wagoner, Norm James, Steve Hannuksela, Cindy McGregor, Paul Brians, Bob Rosenbladt, Irma Suplee, Dawn Bockus, Betsy Leuner and Adelia Ritchie.
Of the decision to focus (pun intended) on photography this year, participating poet and island exhibition organizer Sue Hylen said there was a bit of fortuitous kismet at work.
First, she attended a meeting.
“It’s never really had the focus on photography until this year,” Hylen said.
“This year I happened to go to a photo club meeting … and I looked at this group and I looked at the wall and at first I thought we could do it at the senior center, but we couldn’t because we couldn’t put the photos up in the main hall … but then the library had a space and it’s really actually been a perfect place because we have poetry and poetry and the library go hand-in-hand.”
After, the library suddenly had a cancellation of the original March show, she knew it was truly meant to be.
“It’s been a very organic process,” Hylen said. “It’s totally run by volunteers and it’s quite a process in coordinating the number of poets and the number of artists from four different venues.”
There was no overall theme or limitation put on the participants, but commonalities often inevitably emerge in cultural expressions at any given time.
Though, Hylen said, there are no obvious similarities in the poems or pictures this year.
“I really didn’t see that,” she said. “What’s nice is it’s open ended … as a poet it’s nice to be open ended and really let the muse take you where you want to go. As opposed to a theme, although themes can work, too. But I didn’t really see an overriding concern, say a political concern.”
