Housing the Artist, by Kara Penn

​Housing the Artist
reflections on the Clyfford Still Museum

Outside, through tinted glass, crows turn 
inward in January’s trees. How the sky,
arranged in twilight’s compendium, spreads 

its mystery: smoke through the streets. 
The possibility of eternal winter twists 
her black hand inside. I know the paintings 

these rooms will house. I’ve seen them 
before—blooms of ink in a watery self. 
Someone’s opened the envelope. 

They’ll consume walls the architect 
adores, boxes on boxes, shimmering 
panels of bees, delivering their stings. 

Kara Penn

Kara Penn is the founder and principal consultant of Mission Spark, working alongside nonprofits, government, and philanthropic foundations to further the missions and social impact of their programs. Kara is the recipient of several U.S.-based fellowships and holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and MIT. She co-authored the book Fail Better, which was published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2014 and was selected as one of the best business books of the year by Business Digest. She’s participated as a 30|30 Poet for Tupelo Press, completing 30 poems in 30 days. Her poetry has been published in several journals including Studies in Arts and Humanities (SAH), The Pickled Body, Ekphrasis, Rockhurst Review, and the Meadowlands Review. Kara lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, four young daughters, and two dogs.