Have an 'Ekphrastic' Valentine’s Day at Heights Arts

Field Note #08 Citizens & Borders, by Sai Sinbondit.

Art, poetry and music warm Heights Arts this February. Valentine’s Day weekend starts with a free artist talk and poetry event followed the next day by a music performance, both in the nonprofit's gallery on Lee Road. 

On Thursday, Feb. 14., at 7 p.m., Heights Arts offers a free artist talk and poetry event focusing on the work of the artists participating in the current exhibition, VIEW-points. The series of gallery talks, Ekphrastacy: Artists Talk + Poets Respond, offers an opportunity for exhibition artists to share insights on their work.

"Ekphrasis" means that one form of art is used to describe a completely different form of art in order to illuminate an idea or help an audience understand the spirit of the work. The Poetry Foundation defines ekphrastic poem as “a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art. Through the imaginative act of narrating and reflecting on the 'action' of a painting or sculpture, the poet may amplify and expand its meaning.”

Heights Arts explores this idea on the fourth Thursday of each of its group exhibitions.

The public is invited to hear the exhibition's artists, G.M. Donley, Michael Loderstedt, Wendy Partridge, Sai Sinbondit and Rebekah Wilhelm, speak about their process and intentional reads of the work. Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate Damien McClendon, and invited poets Raja Freeman, Quartez Harris and Kai Flowers follow, sharing their poetic responses to the corresponding works.

The following evening, Feb. 15, at 7 p.m., the public is invited to join No Exit New Music Ensemble for an intimate evening of music as it performs the second part of its spotlight on Cleveland composers with world-premiere works by Greg D'Alessio, Keith Fitch, Chris Auerbach Brown, Buck McDaniel and Nasim Khorassani.

For more information on upcoming events and other community arts offerings, visit www.heightsarts.org or call 216-371-3457.