Image Courtesy of Illinois State University

NORMAL, Ill. – The artwork of Jen Bervin and poetry come together uniquely during the Drop-In Poetry event at Illinois State University Galleries in Uptown Circle, Normal.

Drop-In Poetry is a period of time where both ISU students and members of the Normal community can come in and write different forms of poetry as they walk around and react to various pieces of artwork in a survey exhibition.

Tanya Scott, curator of education at the University Galleries, explained the importance of the event for the community.

“To have a poetry hour provides an alternative way for people to be responding to the artwork,” Scott says, “they have the opportunity to sit and spend sustained time with the work through writing.”

The artwork being talked about is Jen Bervin’s Shift Rotate Reflect, which is a collection of paintings spanning from 1997 to the present day.

“It really shows the breadth of Bervin’s artistic career,” Scott said.

When it comes to the poetry hour in general, it was a very recent idea, according to Scott.

“We’ve had drawing events in the past, and I wanted start incorporating another opportunity for folks to come in and engage with the artwork in a different way,” Scott said.

These events are relatively common when put into the context of the schedule of the school year, as these poetry hours happen about every month or so.

“We had 4 drop-in poetry events scheduled this semester,” Scott said.

The next Poetry Drop-In will take place on November 18th from 1:30-2:30 p.m., with Shift Rotate Reflect slated to stay as the survey exhibition for that date.

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