Talking With Poets: Megeen Mulholland, Charlie Rossiter, and Jennifee at Art Associates Gallery

Thom Francis introduces us to Poetic License and three poets – Megeen Mulholland, Charlie Rossiter, and Jennifee – who shared their work at the first exhibit reading in 2022 at the Art Associates Gallery in Albany.

“Ekphrastic art” is defined as the response of an artist in one medium to a work of art by an artist in another medium. Its more common manifestation is in poetry written about visual art, e.g., paintings, photographs, drawings, sculpture. Poetic License is a project that turns that around, giving local visual artists an opportunity to respond to the work of poets.

In 2022, inspired by a project created by the Poetry Barn in West Hurley, NY & the Arts Society of Kingston (ASK), the Hudson Valley Writers Guild and the Upstate Artists Guild created their own version of this project which they called Poetic License – Albany. 113 individual poems were submitted by 62 poets; ultimately, 18 works of visual art were exhibited at the Art Associates Gallery & at Lark Hall in Albany, with 3 readings held in conjunction with the exhibits.

The Hudson Valley Writers Guild & the Upstate Artists Guild are excited to work together again to present this opportunity in 2025 for collaboration between poets and visual artists in the Capital District.

For more information on the Poetic License project, go to www.poeticlicensealbany.com