By Emily Pawlowski | A&E Editor
In the library galleria, a unique project is on display for all to see.
The Drawing II and Poetry Writing classes presented their second annual collaboration, with poems inspired by art and art inspired by poetry.
Associate Professor of English Dan Bowman said that the collaboration was one of the best he has seen.
"The work was very strong - both the visual art pieces and poems - and I felt that the students truly responded to one another, which resulted in some great efforts," Bowman said.
Bowman has collaborated with Assistant Professor of Art Laura Stevenson for several semesters now.
They first worked together when Stevenson began working at Taylor. She reached out to Bowman with the idea of collaboration, and they have continued from there.
"It's great to see how sometimes doing a collaborative activity like this encourages students to creatively work with new imagery and ideas that they might not typically explore on their own," Stevenson said. "Also, it's really fun to see Taylor students creating responses to other Taylor students' work and ideas."
The goal for both artists and poets was to create something that could stand as an independent work, while still representing the original piece's theme.
For students, this served as not just a practice in studying others, but as a chance to how others view their own work.
"I enjoyed this project because it was a nice way to learn how other creatives interpreted your work," freshman Sam Dayton said.
Dayton was a part of the drawing class and created three pieces that were on display. Two were his own ideas, and one inspired by the poem "Gramms" by Mica Evans.
Sophomore Mercy Heiser, another drawing student, found the collaboration with the poetry class to be inspiring.
"This project was really enjoyable for me because the poets' work was so visually rich," Heiser said. "I hardly had read 2 lines into it before I knew what I wanted to draw."
Heiser had four pieces, two of which were inspired by poetry. She was challenged by the difficulties of preserving the original meaning of the work while still finding a way to communicate it visually.
This was Heiser's second time working on a collaborative project in Stevenson's class. She expressed excitement at the idea of future chances to work with the writing classes.
Bowman also sees a continuing tradition for projects such as these.
"The work gained notice from different people around campus, stopping people and inviting them to reflect," Bowman said. "So I'd love to continue this tradition. It seems good for everyone."
