Artistic Collaborations
IN THE MIST: Giving Voice to Silence
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Photography by Russell J Young
Poetry by Margaret Chula, Cindy Williams Gutiérrez, Diane Holland, Andrea Hollander, Paulann Petersen, Donna Prinzmetal, and Penelope Scambly Schott
In this book, photographer Russell J Young's mist-clad landscapes and urban moments are accompanied by poems from seven esteemed Oregon poets. Together image and word evoke stillness. A wholeness emerges from what is both hidden and revealed in the mist: silence, memory, breath.
"An artists' collaboration of word and image, the photographs and poems of this book quietly multiply the profound and fertile silence that Thoreau suggests is, ultimately, the deepest philosophy... As in the intricate margins of a medieval illuminated manuscript... the photographs and poetry of this collection amplify each other and invite us as readers and viewers to enter a near-sacred space."
—MEG ROLAND, Professor of English, Marylhurst University
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In the Mist event at Literary Arts featuring poetry reading and slide show of Russell J Young's photographs accompanied by original piano composition by Reneé Michele
EMERALD HEART: Poetry & Music from Tenochtitlan
to the Mexican Diaspora
Poetry by Cindy Williams Gutiérrez
Music by Gerardo Calderón
Through this CD, journey to the spirit of ancient Mexico. The ancient ones say, "Poetry is the way to a pure heart, an emerald heart." Re-imagining Aztec poetry and music, Cindy performs original poems written in the mythic voices of Aztec poet-kings accompanied by Gerardo on water drums, turtle shells, seed pods, clay flutes, and wind whistles.
Inspired by rites of passage, poems featured on the CD include: "Cihuacuicatl, or Song of Women," "Xopancuicatl, or Song of Spring," "Yaocuicatl, or Song of War," "Huehuehcuicatl, or Song of a Suddenly Ancient Man," and "Miccacuicatl, or Song for the Dead."
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CD Available: contact Cindy
here to order.
GRUPO de '08: A Northwest, Collaborative-Artists' Salon
Founded by Cindy Williams Gutiérrez
with Michael Kirshner, Greg Simon, and Russell J Young
Founded in 2008, this Lorca-inspired salon is named for la Generación de ’27 (the Generation of 1927), a group of Spanish poets with a shared desire to explore avant-garde forms of art and poetry. Designed as an artist-to-artist exchange, the salon offers a forum for literary, visual, and performing artists to share, explore, and inspire multidisciplinary collaborations and cross-genre projects. Participants have included Northwest poets, short story writers, painters, photographers, sculptors, musicians, dancers, and thespians from Bellingham to White Salmon to Twisp and from Portland to Eugene to Bend.
Poet-songwriter Joaquin Lopez and actor-dancer Nelda Reyes at 2016 Salon
Soprano Beth Madsen Bradford, cellist Karen Schulz-Harmon, and sculptor Carissa Smith-Burkett at the
10-year anniversary of El Grupo de '08 Salon in 2018
