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The Chicago Picasso by Gwendolyn Brooks

1/27/2014

August 15, 1967

"Mayor Daley tugged a white ribbon, loosing the blue percale wrap. A hearty cheer went up as the covering slipped off the big steel sculpture that looks at once like a bird and a woman."
-- Chicago Sun-Times (Seiji Ozawa leads the Symphony. The Mayor smiles. And 50,000 See.)

Does man love Art? Man visits Art, but squirms.
Art hurts. Art urges voyages--
and it is easier to stay at home,
the nice beer ready.
In commonrooms
we belch, or sniff, or scratch.
Are raw.

But we must cook ourselves and style ourselves for Art, who
is a requiring courtesan.
We squirm.
We do not hug the Mona Lisa.

We
may touch or tolerate
an astounding fountain, or a horse-and-rider.
At most, another Lion.

Observe the tall cold of a Flower
which is as innocent and as guilty,
as meaningful and as meaningless as any
other flower in the western field.

* * * *

We are reading and discussing "Chicago Picasso" during the ekphrastic poetry writing workshop at the Mozart Park Fieldhouse on January 27, 2014. Click here to find out more.

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Our Inaugural Arts Workshop Session: Gwendolyn Brooks & Ekphrastic Poetry

1/24/2014

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Monday, January 27, 2014
(6:00-7:15, 7:30-8:30 p.m.)

Mozart Park Fieldhouse
2036 N. Avers Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647

free and open to the public, all ages

You're invited to come to an ekphrastic poetry writing workshop inspired by Gwendolyn Brooks -- the inaugural session in the Chicago Heroes & Arts Journeys series at Mozart Park.

This workshop will include the following:

We will read and discuss "The Chicago Picasso," an ekphrastic poem by Gwendolyn Brooks. We will also read and discuss a few other poems by Gwendolyn Brooks.
Each participant will select a reproduction of an artwork in collections at the Art Institute of Chicago and Museum of Contemporary Art. Then each participant will write an ekphrastic poem that is inspired by that artwork. (Reproductions of artworks will be provided.)
Participants will share their poems with others in the workshop.

These arts workshops are free and open to the public, and all ages welcomed. Participants are invited to bring writing utensils and paper, although supplies will be provided if needed. Sometimes we play music and explore other art forms, so if you have a musical instrument that you'd like to bring, or if you have art supplies (e.g. colored pencils, pastels, etc.) you can bring those. We often use an upright piano during workshops as well.

Location: Mozart Park is in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood. It's on the north side of Armitage Ave. -- several blocks east of Pulaski Rd., just south of Dickens and Shakespeare Streets. Our workshop series happens in the room to the left of fieldhouse lobby; some workshop sessions may happen outside in the park, weather permitting.

Transportation & parking: Mozart Park can be reached by public transportation (such as the #73 Armitage Ave. bus, and not far from the Logan Square and Western Ave. stations on the CTA's blue line. Mozart Park has a parking lot on Armitage, east of Avers.

Registering for Chicago Heroes & Arts Journeys: You can register for this workshop series at the Chicago Park District website.

Additional info: You can contact us by clicking here. Click here to find out more about the Chicago Heroes & Arts Journeys workshop series.

Links:

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New Arts Workshop Series at Mozart Park

1/13/2014

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Chicago Heroes
& Arts Journeys

Mondays (6:00-8:30 p.m.)

Mozart Park Fieldhouse
(2036 N. Avers, Chicago)

all ages, free & open to the public

This month the Borderbend Arts Collective begins a new partnership with the Chicago Park District's Mozart Park. We are working with Mozart Park to present “Chicago Heroes & Arts Journeys,” a weekly arts workshop series.

Chicago Heroes & Arts Journeys participants find out about great Chicagoans and create writings (poetry and fiction) and music (with electro-acoustic instruments, soundscapes) that explore those great Chicagoans’ innovations and contributions. Each session will focus on one Chicago hero (someone who lived and/or worked in Chicago), followed by the creation of an artwork (poem, short story, piece of music, or multimedia artwork) that is inspired by that Chicago hero.

Chicago Heroes & Arts Journeys runs for twenty weeks. At the end of the program, participants will perform their works in front of a live audience, and they will be able to take home collections of workshop participants’ creations (CDs, books and 2D artworks).

Workshop Schedule

January 27
February 3
February 10
February 17
February 24
March 3
March 10
March 17
March 24

March 31
April 21
April 28
May 5
May 12
May 19
May 26
June 2

Chicago Heroes & Arts Journeys is free and open to the public. Please contact us to find out more, and stay tuned for updates.

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The Chicago Picasso by Gwendolyn Brooks

Our Inaugural Arts Workshop Session: Gwendolyn Brooks & Ekphrastic Poetry

New Arts Workshop Series at Mozart Park

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