Ekphrastic Writing Workshop: Discovering Canada's Art

A Two-Part Ekphrastic Workshop: Discovering Canada’s Art
 
When the American comedian Steve Martin curated a touring exhibition of Canadian painter Lawren Harris, it was the first time many outside experienced artwork from Canada. Yet we have untold riches in our art story! This generative writing workshop is an opportunity for writers to get acquainted with Canada’s remarkable, diverse visual culture. 
 
There will be an overview or “highlight reel” of important moments coast to coast from the beginning until today. Then we will take a deeper dive into five works selected to inspire your writing, learning about the artwork and artist and working from inspiring exercises.
 
Canadian art history has it all: kooky, quirky, flamboyant artists who did things their own way; abstract art movements; a range of different indigenous art cultures; scandalous muses and collectors; records of oppression and triumph over adversity; pioneering perspectives; multicultural art histories; and mysterious moments that keep hold on the national psyche. Come and discover a world of art that can forever inspire your ekphrastic practice.
 
Our experience this far doing these workshops is that the previous two-hour time frames seems too short. We are extending the workshop sessions to 2.5 hours as we tend to go overtime anyhow! This will allow an unrushed session with plenty of time for discussion, sharing and a short stretching break roughly halfway. We will try this out and see if it works better- we have consistently and pretty much unanimously found the two hours of our first workshops was too short! We try to be interactive, supportive, and flexible so that everyone feels comfortable.
 
Part One
Saturday, November 13, 2021
6 to 8 pm EST
 
Part Two
Saturday, November 20, 2021
6 to 8 pm EST
 
$30CAD each
$50CAD for both