Stepping beyond the “frame” of a piece of visual art can yield rich rewards in our creative processes! Rather than finding common ground with a piece of art’s subject matter, we’ll take a peek behind the scenes and consider ways we can apply some aspect of the craft visual artists use to expand our poetic toolbox. Each week we’ll examine a single piece of art, and one or two paired poems which reflect the visual artist’s technique by writers including Gwendolyn MacEwen, Chana Bloch, Rochelle Hurt, Paul Guest, Chen Chen, Marge Piercy, and Tarfia Faizullah, as well as brief articles from websites such as My Modern Met, This Is Colossal, and The Jealous Curator. Example artworks will range widely in period and medium, and optional alternative works and readings using the same technique will be provided, so you don’t get stuck if you aren’t inspired by a particular artist. You’ll be encouraged to post your fresh drafts if you like for light criticism and positive peer feedback in the weekly forums. By the end of class, you’ll have generated 7-8 new poems, and have a few new tools to find inspiration in any gallery.