Image + Word book

Iowa Youth Writing Project Image + Word Summer Workshop 2013

INTRODUCTION In the summer of 2013, nine artists came together for five days to dream in images and words.

They called themselves the Nine Children of Apollo, after the Roman god of art and music, because their talents could not be contained within one genre or medium.

Inspired by the image and word journals of Dan Eldon and Linda Barry, these artists assembled their own collages where words and images played. With William Blake as a muse, they explored oppositions in their writing and, through relief printing, cut beyond surfaces to explore the infinite hidden in a simple block of linoleum.

Eventually, their talents took them beyond two dimensions. Inspired by the shadow boxes of Joseph Cornell and the Year Boxes of Fluxus Artists, they constructed mysterious boxes from found objects and words. Then they travelled to an art gallery and, in that temple of imagination, began a dialogue with the paintings, photographs, and sculptures around them. As voiced in stories and poems, their responses crossed the boundaries of space and time.

On their final day together, the Nine Children of Apollo held a salon. There, surrounded by walls filled with the words and images that had sprung from their time together, they discussed the new forms they had created.

This catalogue is a partial record of that week, of that final exhibit. Witness the birth of a new collective of artists — the Nine Children of Apollo.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Jaya 6 Lauren 10 Maureen 14 Kevan 16 Mae 18 Michelle 20 Adeline 22 Hae-Joo 24 Taylor 26 Acknowledgements 28 About The Iowa Youth Writing Project 30

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JAYA I’ve always been a little bit impatient. That’s why I prefer visual art over writing. It takes too long to put the words together and you always need several drafts. With something like drawing, mistakes can be worked in and fixed along the way.

Left: “Sun,” Shadow Box

I’m also a big fan of nature (except bugs!) and most of my art is in some way related. I also prefer winter over summer, which is shown in my print.

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JAYA Left: “Winter,” Linocut

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LAUREN Art makes me: passionate, proud, relaxed, sometimes angry, reminds me of myself, and sometimes happy.

It also is something that I want to keep to myself, more often than not.

And it’s not always about feelings, it can be about a fantasy.

Honestly, my favorite things to draw are abstract drawings, faces, and bodies, and sometimes just eyes.

“Untitled,” Pages from Image + Word Journal

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“The Night vs. the Day”

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LAUREN

Linocut

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MAUREEN Page from Image + Word Journal

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Writing is my life & I love doing it and having fun coming up with stories. Drawing to me is like going to a museum and writing down what I like about it.

I like to go to an art museum and look at drawings.

Drawings make me feel good when I am upset.

Shadow Box

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Kevan Right: Pencil Drawing

I am neither primarily a writer or artist. I am both.

Depending on how I feel or what I have just done, that’s what impacts my work and whether I am going to write or draw. It just depends.

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Left: “Difference,“ Shadow Box I’ve always enjoyed making all types of art. I got the inspiration for my box from things that I like doing (dancing, reading, listening to and playing music) and from the quote “again but with a difference.” I tried to use that as a theme while creating my box.

MAE

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MICHELLE I’m sort of a perfectionist.

I always want everything to be perfect. I think my journal was a way for me to escape my “perfect thinking.”

It gave me a chance to just do whatever I wanted and that’s why I really enjoyed making this journal. It’s disorganized and messy because I wanted to get everything down and fill it up completely. This journal sort of captures my crazy side.

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Left and Right: Pages from Image + Word Journal

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ADELINE Writing for me is more than just a passion. It’s life. It’s my way of getting through things. Poetry, fantasy, any sort of genre. Writing is like self-expression. It always helps me to see things clearer or calm down when I am angry.

Right: Shadow Box

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“Ballet Lessons,” in collaboration with Ryan North’s Dinosaur Comics

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Hae-Joo

Eleven years ago, when I was two, I was drawing with crayons and markers in little—or big—swirls.

Today, in 2013, I am still drawing. However, my style has greatly changed.

It began just as a thing I did sometimes, that is, drawing. And, even though I loved drawing, it wasn’t something I did often. Then slowly, as I developed an interest in anime and manga, drawing became one of my favorite things to do in my free time.

Shadow Box

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“Trapped by Wealth,” Shadow Box

TAYLOR I am not the kind of person who puts all of my feelings into art and lets my emotion out onto a piece of paper. To let emotion out I do a lot of physical activity like swimming, dancing and running.

I don’t enjoy making up stories as much as I like writing about myself (sounds selfish, right?). I do not keep a diary though, it just sounds like too much work—never losing it, keeping it secret, and just constantly writing in it. So I guess too bad for the world, if I suddenly die, you will not know the story about my life through a diary. You just have to meet me now and talk to me.

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SHORT STORY

After “Body and Soul,” by Tam Bodkin Bryk, at the Chait Gallery, Iowa City, Iowa The time is 9:13 pm. It was withering cold outside but in here, there was a comforting warmth amongst the guests. Where is here? Don’t you know? Eager voters have been planning months for this; the election party for mayor Clarence Donahugh. He was the dream for this rich but struggling town of Philadelphia. For some, though, he was too good to be true – surreal even.

Especially for his ravishing young wife, Simone, who stood waiting behind the double doors, arm in arm with Clarence.

Simone was ready to make this grand entrance with her husband. She loved him. His money was just a bonus. He was sweet, a great listener and truly the dream for Philadelphia. Maybe even someday the whole country.

The doors opened. Clarence had a wide stomach but a very intriguing smile. Simone gripped him tightly. Who could blame her, she was wearing six-inch black leather heals and a seductive skinny red dress. Just because she was now first lady didn’t mean she had to start dressing like a typical modest matron. People advised her on fashion, but ultimately shed had the final decision.

She didn’t want to be a doll. It was an agreement Clarence and she made.

Clarence said his welcomings and appreciation. Then he ushered everyone to go enjoy the party.

He had to greet everyone as he made his way down the marble stairs, even the opposing candidate who had a sour smile pasted on this tanned face Waiters offered martinis and the night was going as planned. Simone talked with her new aquaintances (wives of the city board). She would have to be “friends” with them, though they were rather dull. They were truly in it for the money.

“I just love your dress, Simone. Who are you wearing?” Leslie McHall, wife of the previous mayor Daniel McHall, asked Simone with a fake tone of interest.

“Oh, Valerie, my seamstress custom made it,“ Simone answered sounding just as interested, “and yourself ?”

“Well, this is…” Leslie tried to say, but suddenly a waitress screamed. People circled around something. What was it? Leslie and Simone walked over. Instantly, Simone started to wail. She saw her husband dead on the dance floor.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Iowa Youth Writing Project is grateful to its amazing partners from the community and university and to its many dedicated volunteers who provide one-of-a-kind opportunities to our young writers.

The IYWP’s generous community and university partners made the IMAGE + WORD workshop possible. Thank you, John Engelbrecht, for welcoming the group into PS-Z, Iowa City’s artists’ space in which so much magic happens. Thank you, Kalmia Strong and Anita Jung, for allowing the young artists to visit you at fabulous Zenzic Press where they experimented with relief printing under your expert tutelage. We are so grateful to you, Benjamin Chait, for allowing the group to roam and sprawl and scrawl inside your beautiful Chait Gallery. Collen Theisen and Peter Balestrieri, thank you for inviting our group to come play at Special Collections at the University of Iowa Library – your talk on DADA and the Fluxus Artists was surreal. And thank you so much, Louise Rauh, for sharing your artistic process and gorgeous sculptures with our young artists. You bowled us over.

The IYWP also deeply appreciates the many dedicated volunteers who

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IMAGE + WORD workshop participants created the Image + Word workshop and catalogue. Thank you Amy Heath and Leah Thiessen for supporting the young artists so warmly during our week together.

David Duer, special thanks go to you for being a constant source of inspiration and humor throughout the workshop — and for being an IYWP Superstar! The IYWP sends its deep thanks to the workshop’s co-leaders, Jenny Colville and Lisa Roberts, who dreamed up the camp over coffee one afternoon in March and made it a reality

by July. Jenny has even posted her diary about the week-long workshop on Prompt Press (promptpress.com) so that everyone can enjoy more art and writing from the Nine Children of Apollo. Thank you for creating and leading this workshop, Jenny and Lisa!

Finally, this stunning IMAGE+ WORD catalogue was designed by Lu Shen, the IYWP’s talented Graphic Arts Intern for 2013-14. Thank you, Lu, for taking the teen artists’ work and making it so beautifully visible to all.

Partners and volunteers like these are The Iowa Youth Writing Project. Huge thanks to you all for generously donating your time and talents to benefit Iowa’s youth!

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ABOUT THE IOWA YOUTH WRITING PROJECT The Iowa Youth Writing Project (IYWP) is a non-profit outreach collective, founded by University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduates in 2010, that aims to join Iowa City’s unique literary heritage with its community, empowering, inspiring, and educating Iowa’s youth through language arts and creative thinking.

It provides one-of-a-kind writing, publishing, and creative learning opportunities to Iowa’s children and teens. To ensure that all young people can participate, the IYWP provides programs at little or no cost, thanks to the time, energy, and creativity of IYWP volunteers, partnerships with local organizations and institutions, and the generosity of community members.

In July 2012, the Frank N. Magid Undergraduate Writing Center in the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts & Sciences was granted a Better Futures for Iowans award, launching a pilot partnership with the IYWP, securing, expanding, deepening, and building on the IYWP’s ongoing outreach efforts. This initiative, supported primarily by the Office of the Provost, brings the community together to work toward the common goals of social good and better futures for all of Iowa’s youth.

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www.iywp.org