The Arts & Cultural Council of Bucks County kicks off a month-long celebration of National Poetry Month called “30 Days of Inspiration,” which premieres Thursday, April 1 on its Facebook (@bucksarts) and Instagram (@bucksarts) platforms.
A new poem paired with a new artwork will be featured daily during the month of April, curated by the Arts & Cultural Council of Bucks County “30 Days” project committee.
The ACCBC received over 250 works created by regional poets and visual artists — all of which explore what inspires, strengthens, connects, calms, or revives — from the smallest, most ordinary moments to dramatic occasions and vistas, whether narrative, lyrical, abstract, or concrete.
Project organizers, all volunteer board members of the ACCBC, note that, “So many inspiring pieces were submitted, and our final choices were based on a number of criteria including the suitability of artwork to be paired with submitted poetry. If only April had many more days, we would have been pleased to feature all.”
ACCBC member Helene Mazur’s oil on panel winter landscape “Sunshine” was accepted into the project. “I have continued to enjoy the pleasure of escaping locally to breathe fresh air and clear my head,” she said. “While nature and art have always been my ‘go to’ activities, I have never painted more in my life than in the past 12 months. I could not be more grateful for the beauty in the world around me.”
Member Helena van Emmerik-Finn’s oil on linen board “New Hope Reflection” was paired with former Bucks County Poet Laureate Corie Feiner’s “Ode to a Towpath Mule.” The painting is inspired by the artist’s love of her native Bucks County countryside; the poem is an homage to the stubborn resilience of the mules who worked the historic towpath that spans 60 miles along the Delaware River.
Member Barbara Zeitchick’s monoprint “Dahlias” is the perfect match for Doris Ferleger’s “Joy’s Thunder,” a poem written while the poet was “sitting cozily in my kitchen listening to rain turn to hail, and my feelings turn from aversion of hail to joy in hail. Quite wonderful what a turn in consciousness can do.”
Contrasting moods and mediums of Lynn Miller’s “Passions” and Dore Vorum’s “Disillusioned Angel” speak to the diversity of regional work and the complexity of the “30 Days of Inspiration” event. Poets David Mook and Nancy Scott share their love of birds, music, and memory in their poems “Great Blue” and “He Chirps Before Five.”
“The submissions and final pairings are reflective of the varied ways we all see the world and react to the arts, to language, to the sensory world, to all of the experiences in our lives,” said ACCBC Board President and committee member Ruth Anderson.
The ACCBC also sees this project as an inspiring venue to unify impactful voices of artists and poets during what remains a difficult time.
“Through the partnering of poetry and visual art, we have created evocative ways for participants to reflect on visual and literary arts and make meaningful connections of their own,” said poet and “30 Days” committee member Robbin Farr. “We are also excited to feature the talents of both beloved and emerging regional poets and artists.”
Collectors and publishers interested in specific works may reach out to individual artists and poets through contact information provided in posts. Poets and artists will hold a reading and art share Thursday, April 15 through the ACCBC “Artist Chats” program. Details about those presenters will be available at bucksarts.org in the coming week.
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