Artists respond to poetry
March 19 - May 4, 2026
Jeanette Best Gallery | 701 Water Street | Port Townsend
Open Thursdays through Mondays 12 to 5 PM
IN ARS POETICA — a Latin term for the art of poetry — an ensemble of poems and visual artworks get to have one lively conversation.
This all began when teaching artist Meg Kaczyk offered “Paint from Poems,” a February class at Northwind Art School at Fort Worden State Park. Each of the eleven participants chose a poem from Ars Poetica Washington’s 2026 collection, and then responded to it in their art. With Meg’s encouragement, they used collage, watercolor, acrylics and mixed media.
“I LOVE GUIDING artists through the different ways we can visually express the effect of a poem on our hearts,” Meg writes.
“Every artist in the class felt a deep kinship to their chosen poem, and explored ways to convey it,” using a range of themes, from narrative to abstract.
Together, Meg adds, poem and artwork give the viewer a fresh experience of the felt sense of the words.
JOIN US AND celebrate Ars Poetica during first-Saturday Art Walk from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. April 4 and May 2! We will also host a public poetry reading and art party Saturday, April 25, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Everyone is invited — so come explore the dialogue between art forms and the many sources of inspiration in our world.