PORT TOWNSEND — A celebration of art, poetry and inspiration will be open to the public Saturday at Northwind Art’s Jeanette Best Gallery, 701 Water St.
The party, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., will be set amid the Ars Poetica exhibit, a pairing of poems and visual artworks from makers around Western Washington.
On Saturday, partygoers will be able to hear several of the participating writers read their poems, which are posted in the gallery. Then the visual artists will talk about how the poems inspired their pieces, which are displayed beside the poems.
“It’s so interesting to see how painters and collage makers respond to the emotions in poetry,” Northwind spokesperson Diane Urbani said.
The artists participated in a Feb. 22 class called “Paint from Poems” at Northwind Art School at Fort Worden State Park. In the workshop, teaching artist Meg Kaczyk invited them to select a poem and explore ways of responding to it with various art mediums and styles.
All 12 of the participants, including Kaczyk, will show their finished work in the Ars Poetica exhibit.
Ars Poetica is on view through May 12; regular gallery hours are from noon to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays.
More information about Northwind gallery shows and art classes can be found at www.northwindart.org.
