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In Print

Words Plus Images

October 1, 2020 Tagged With: poetry, Washington Street Artists Cooperative

Looking down the beach shoreline on a partly cloudy day. painting.

Artists Engage A New Form

The Co-Op Haiku

the bare strand invites
people otherwise engaged
nature bides its time

— Photo (above) and Haiku by Susan Parker

Suzanne Ravgiala described the NHK (Japanese public television) show that she happened to see rebroadcast on the local cable lineup about Haiku masters — producers invited viewers in Japan to submit haiku poetry to the show for critique and received tens of thousands of entries in response.

As Suzanne, Jenay Grant, and the other board members of the Washington Street Artists’ Cooperative (WSAC) discussed the idea, the thought to solicit poems and combine them with art seemed to fit perfectly with the group’s goals of expanding participation in art.

two nasturtium
in an orange and hazy light
kiss within a heart


— Photo (right) and Haiku by M.J. Bennett

Two nasturtium flowers coming together to form a heart shape.

The WSAC project accepted over 20 entries for the current show, a mix of original art inspired by a haiku poem or new poems juxtaposed on an image of an artist’s prior work.

The Haiku show runs from October 1 to 31 at the WSAC gallery at 108 N George Street in Charles Town. The WSAC is open Thursdays & Fridays 11 am to 5 pm and Saturdays 10 am to 4 pm.

The Washington Street Artists’ Cooperative is a non-profit organization with a mission to provide a space where artists and artisans in the West Virginia Panhandle region can create, show, share, and teach, in support of expanding interest and participation in art in the community. Information on shows and membership can be found at their website.

By Staff Contributor

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