Art on the Meadow Poetry Is Where You Find It

This workshop invites participants to find the poetry in Saugatuck’s history by transforming observations of the local landscape and its social history into works of visual and textual art. Taking the rich cultural and ecological history of Saugatuck and Ox-Bow as our starting point, we’ll explore and then transform copies of historical documents, which will be provided, into “found poems” through simple techniques of selection, amplification, and visual enhancement. Participants will leave with a hand-made work of art combining text, color, and line that reveals hidden expressive meaning in plain documents from the past, like storm reports, newspaper headlines, and ephemera regarding the history of Ox-Bow itself. No background in writing poetry or formal art training is required! Participants of all levels of experience can enjoy this process to create something new from the past. This workshop includes lunch at 1 p.m.