Verbalizing the Visual: Exploring the Use of Ekphrasis in Public Arts Initiatives

Poetry has been around for thousands of years, and visual art for tens of thousands. Despite cultural shifts, the rise and fall of empires, societal upheaval, and immense technological advancement, poetry and art are inventions that have stood the test of time. Where things are so often changed and replaced, there is an element of necessity when it comes to preserving the arts as a core part of our lives and culture. 

These two mediums come hand in hand through a writing style called ekphrasis. Ekphrasis, put simply, is the act of writing about art. In Greek, ekphrasis means “description.” While some forms of ekphrastic writing are rooted in the attempt to capture images in words, ekphrasis takes on a multitude of forms and shapes. There are four main types of ekphrasis; actual/ descriptive, mimetic/structural, notional, and abstracted. Descriptive, the most common form of ekphrasis, is writing about a piece of art that exists in the real world. For example, “The Starry Night” by Anne Sexton about the Vincent Van Gogh painting of the same name. Mimetic/structural ekphrasis mimics the form of the art, this is especially common surrounding music or abstract art. Notional ekphrasis is writing about a work that only exists within the confines of a story or poem, and these can be really interesting plot devices. Finally, abstracted ekphrastic writing does not exist within the confines of reality, nor writing.  

In recent years, more and more galleries and museums are starting to realize the magical result of combining both poetry and the visual arts, and are creating programs that seek to emphasize such. In 2023, U. S. Poet Laureate, the renowned Ada Limon, headed up an arts and poetry initiative for the National Gallery of Art’s John Wilmerding Symposium on American Art and Community Celebration, entitled “Poetry is a Country.” For this initiative, she gathered some of America's best and brightest poets from Hanif Abduraqb to Victoria Chang to Jason Reynolds. Each poet chose a work of art and wrote a poem inspired by that piece. The poems range from descriptive, to mimetic, to overwhelmingly personal, exhibiting the way one’s perception of art is so beautifully original. The poems were read aloud at the symposium, but are still available online today (via both website and in-gallery QR codes). The National Gallery challenges visitors’ perceptions of the collection’s pieces by guiding their own unique explorations. This collection of poems seeks to inspire viewers to write their own poems and to explore how it feels to be in direct dialogue with art. 

At my hometown museum, The Hunter Museum of American Art, the role of ekphrasis in community building has proven to be invaluable time and time again. Through their monthly programming, Vision and Verse, The Hunter has not only highlighted many local creatives but has fostered a strong group of curious individuals interested in multi-media arts but unsure how to get involved. Vision and Verse was established by the education department of the museum led by Adera Causey in conjunction with Chattanooga-based poet Erika Roberts. At Vision and Verse, local poets, and oftentimes dancers, work alone and together to share their interpretations of the traveling exhibitions. The performances are powerful and wildly discussion-spurring. With an active YouTube channel, the museum also makes every performance accessible on the internet. 

Finally, the 2021 “The Artist as Poet” at Pérez Art Museum Miami was an incredible exhibition exploring the surrealist concept of a “poem object.” A creative amalgamation of 3D, collaged, and painted pieces, this 60-piece exhibition was a work of overwhelmingly intentional curation and personal attention to detail by head curator Maritza Lacayo. Lacayo agonized over each piece to create an experience that encourages guests to truly reckon with their relationship to language, and to connect that language with the power of art. Through both contemporary and older works, this collection asks the visitors to examine and devise for themselves.  

While these are only a few examples of the museum-work being done to highlight the palpable connection between art and writing, it’s wonderful to see such a wide variety of museums and programming being established. From Miami, to Tennessee, to DC, ekphrasis is becoming a vessel of both creativity and understanding. 

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(Cover Image: The title of the Pérez Art Museum Miami exhibition in which the curatorial team explores the intersection between poetry and visual art through a 60-piece show, via Exhibition Highlight | The Artist as Poet)