A Rockford biannual gallery walk will begin with an art form that isn’t normally part of the journey.
Poetry will start the flow for this fall’s ArtScene. Mary McNamara Bernsten, the executive director for the Rockford Area Arts Council, said the idea of adding poetry to the gallery walk came from the partners that sponsor the city’s poet laureate and youth poet laureate, which are the Rockford Public Library, the City of Rockford and the RAAC.
All poetry mediums are encouraged. This includes Slam, Spoken Word and traditional poetry.
“We want to ensure that we are being inclusive of the different mediums within poetry,” Bernsten said. “Because if you look at other mediums, there are all sorts of painters. You may have a traditional oil painter, you may have a traditional water colorist. And then you may have people who do street art.”
Works presented by poets must have an art theme and five to seven poets will be selected.
“It could be a reflection on a piece of public art that you've seen in town. It could be the process of making art and what that means to the poet,” Bernsten explained. “It could mean a particular piece of art and its impact on you, that you may have at home, a painting that you have on the wall.”
Bernsten said the poems will be evaluated by a diverse and inclusive poetry review panel.
"Made up of our city laureates, as well as selected community members who are versed in poetry and also just other art expressions," she said.
Submitted work must be original and should be entered by Sept. 15. The applications and guidelines are on the Arts Council's website.
Fall ArtScene takes place Oct. 1 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Oct. 2 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. The poetry prelude will begin at 4 p.m. on Oct. 1 at Rockford’s City Hall, 425 E. State St.
- Yvonne Boose is a current corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.
