A collaborative project between Stephen F. Austin State University student poets and artists will culminate in the opening of the “Third Annual Pen & Pigment Show” at 6 p.m. Friday, March 25, in Griffith Gallery, located in Griffith Fine Arts Building, Room 208.
For the project, advanced poetry students each wrote a poem that was inspired by a partner-student’s digital print, and the typography students each created a digital print that was inspired by a partner-student’s poem.
The 28 poems and art pieces will be hung side-by-side for the exhibition, and the opening will include a poetry reading.
SFA faculty members Christine McDermott, assistant professor of English, and Peter Andrew, professor of art, said the project enabled their respective students to see how similar the two groups are.
“The students realize that the different disciplines (art and writing) actually share a common understanding and vocabulary, that they are engaged in the same process, but use different mediums to achieve their goals,” said Andrew.
“Although they worked without contacting each other, it was thrilling to see how often the poet got the message the artist intended to convey and vice versa,” McDermott said. “Human concerns often transcend media.”
The exhibition, which is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts, School of Art and the Creative Writing Program within the Department of English, will run through Wednesday, April 20. It is sponsored in part by Nacogdoches Junior Forum and the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts.
Regular hours for Griffith Gallery are 12:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. Admission is free. For more information, please call (936) 468-1131.
