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Artists and poets unite in new book

A NEW book is a collaboration between artists and poets in the northwest.
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ARTIST JOAN Conway

A NEW book is a collaboration between artists and poets in the northwest.

Eight artists and 22 poets contributed work to the Summer Arts Festival juried arts show and the idea came up to do a book of the results, says artist Joan Conway.

The book is also a fundraiser for the art gallery.

“For myself, aside from being a really fun project, it’s to support artists and poets in the north,” says Conway.

“It’s hard to have a presence so it’s up to us to create our own.”

Some people in the book are very accomplished and some are very new and it gives them a chance for the experience to read in public and share their work.

“You build up confidence as you expose yourself,” said Conway.

This is the second book to come from the arts festival; the first was The Language of Trees and this book was born out of that experience.

“It was successful and exciting and inspired us to do something similar yet different,” she said.

Artist Cindy Powell said she feels connected to people who lived along the river in the past and found old photos on the library website.

She learned photo transfer from a workshop Conway held and used wood from an old kitchen cupboard from a local historical house.

The photo she used was taken right when the riverboats stopped running on the river.

And she put it all together to connect forest and trees, and the river that was all part of people’s lives.

“The river is in people’s minds a lot, in their consciousness, especially with development [projects],” she said.

Poems were placed close to photos so they could work together.

The idea and the book itself gives people the opportunity to look at a subject in different ways.

“For myself, I really get excited about the work of people, other artists and it stimulates creativity and something everybody can participate in,” says Conway.

Already since the book was put together, several poets get together once a month.

Conway would like to see an even bigger network of poets formed.

There’s a lot of the movement forward in economic growth, and art is the soul of the community.

“It creates in town an artistic presence, not just an economic presence,” says Conway.

The book has been printed in 300 copies and the first book, Language of Trees, sold out its 200 copies quickly.

For more on The Rivers Speak book launch, see City Scene.