Poetry and art workshops announced
Words & Pictures, a Memorial Contest in honor of Rebecca Eddy is getting underway with a series of workshops. Poetry and Art workshops will be offered for participants in the month of July.
“We have entirely revamped the contest this year,” said Library Director Liz Metzger.
This year, entries will be accepted in poetry and art. There is also a theme for the contest. This year’s theme was selected in cooperation with the Canal Town Museum in celebration of the birth of the Erie Canal and Canastota’s Canal Engineer Nathan Roberts. The theme for 2017 is “Canals Connect Communities.” Using the
Using the theme, participants should create a poem and/or an artistic rendering to enter the contest.
The contest participants must live in the MidYork Library region which includes Madison, Oneida and Herkimer counties. Judging will be held in three divisions: Grades K – 6, Grades 7 – 12 and Adults. Poetry Judging will be completed by Rachel Guido deVries and the Art Judging will be completed by Pamela Lynch.
Optional workshops are being offered for the contest. Michael Czarnecki will be leading the poetry workshops. Theresa Gena will be coordinating the art workshops. The workshops will be held for each of the three age groups. Sign-ups for these workshops are required and space is limited. While the workshops are not mandatory, all who participate must enter their work for the contest and Juried Show.
Poetry Workshops will be held during the day Tuesday, July 18. Grade K through 6 students can sign up to attend the 10am workshop that morning. Students in Grades 7 through 12 should attend the 2 pm workshop and adults are encouraged to attend the 6 pm workshop. All workshops will last approximately two hours.
Czarnecki is a poet, oral memoirist and owner/publisher of FootHills Publishing. He teaches community workshops, presents as a visiting lecturer at the college level and has worked as a Poet in Residence in K – 12 schools for 15years. He is the author of several chapbooks.
Art Workshops will be held as follows: The Grades K – 6 workshop will be held on July 12 at 10am. The workshop for Grades 7 – 12 will be held July 19 beginning at 10 am. The Adult Art Workshop will be held on July 26 at 10 am. All materials will be provided. Therese Gena is an experienced art teacher of both adults and children, with expertise in watercolor, oil and acrylic. She frequently works on art projects with students at the Canastota Central School District. All workshops will last for approximately two hours.
All entries (poetry and art) must be submitted by Friday, August 11 at the close of the business day. Poems should be one typed page and may be in any form the writer wishes. The poet’s name, grade or adult, mailing address and home telephone number should be listed on the back of the poem. Only one poem should be submitted by each poet. Artwork may take any format. Only one piece of art should be submitted by each artist. The artist’s name, grade or adult, mailing address and home telephone number should be listed on the back of each piece of artwork. Only one piece of art should be submitted by each artist.
An Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 1 pm. First and second place awards in each division will receive $25 and $10 respectively. All participants will also be entered into a drawing for a prize. One poet will win a 7” Fire Tablet and one artist will win an artist’ kit, both valued at $50. All entries will remain on display at the library for the month of September 2017.
The library is appreciative of the Eddy Family for providing funding for this annual competition. Additional funding sources for this program have made it possible for the library to offer technical workshops and a juried show. Funding for Works and Pictures comes from The Decentralized Program, a regrant program of the New York Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature and administered by CNY Arts. The poetry workshops are also funded in part by Poets & Writers with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.
The contest was organized by Joan and Doug Eddy as a memorial to their daughter, Rebecca Eddy, a local Canastota woman who died at a young age in an automobile accident. Ms. Eddy was a graduate of Canastota High School as well as a graduate of John Hopkins University. She was an athlete, an artist, a thespian and a scholar. Eddy felt a passion towards writing and also towards her community. If you have additional questions, feel free to contact the library staff at 315-697-7030. The Canastota Public Library is located at 102 W. Center Street in Canastota.