Poetry Archives - The Arts Center https://theartscenter.net Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:54:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.7 https://theartscenter.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/TAC_C_COLOR-150x150.png Poetry Archives - The Arts Center https://theartscenter.net 32 32 Portrait Essays: A Writing Workshop https://theartscenter.net/event/portrait-essays-a-writing-workshop/ Tue, 19 May 2026 21:00:00 +0000 https://theartscenter.net/?post_type=tribe_events&p=2495 In this multi-disciplinary, cross-generational writing and art workshop, we’ll pull from several tools and practices–portraiture, poetry, writing, and journalism–to get curious about the people we don’t know, and the people we thought we knew.

Bring a photograph or image of someone you want to know more about. It can be of an individual or an individual in a group but must include the person you want to write about. Something that represents that person or makes you ask questions. It can be a historical figure or a passing fancy or an intimate acquaintance.

Bonus points if it’s a person from a different generation. Extra, extra bonus points if it’s a person you disagree with ideologically.

Over the course of the workshop we will use writing prompts, artistic perspectives, and even journalistic interviewing to practice curiosity, listening, and understanding to dig deeper into who that person is, why they do what they do, where they come from–and in the process, maybe even learn a little bit more about ourselves, and all of us in our flawed and beautiful human lives.

Participants will come out of the workshop with a working document, the tools, and next steps to continue their quest into deeper understanding and listening.

Cost: $40-$60 sliding scale Register online at  https://bentoncountymuseums.org/events/portrait-essays-writing-workshop/

]]> Corvallis Poetry Marquee https://theartscenter.net/corvallis-poetry-marquee/ https://theartscenter.net/corvallis-poetry-marquee/#comments Mon, 11 Aug 2025 21:57:27 +0000 https://theartscenter.net/?p=1059

Corvallis Poetry Marquee

About The Poetry Marquee

The Corvallis Poetry Marquee has been a celebrated community project for over 25 years. With the help of Linda Modrell, then a Benton County Commissioner, and David Livingston, the defunct Midway Drive-in Theater sign was installed in 1998 on a building at the corner of First and Madison Avenues. Once the sign was in place, David Livingston continued to maintain the sign and agreed to display poems selected by The Arts Center.

2026 Selected Poets

Congratulations to the 2026 winners selected by Oregon Poetry Association President, David Goodrum. The following poems will be installed on the Corvallis Poetry Marquee throughout the year.

Flight

Don’t you wish you could open a book,

spine splayed, pages fluttering, 

heft it above your head so pages 

turn into wings as you clutch covers 

front and back, and let it lift you 

up, up, up?

Ann Farley – Beaverton, OR

My Cat

My cat sits, meditating on the sink, 

water swirling down the drain. 

I sit, contemplating the cosmos. 

What difference?

Tim Hicks – Eugene, OR

Afternoon Slump

Walking east at 4 PM

my shadow

drags me along

feet first

Lana H. Ayers – Newport, OR

Along the River

Grass and leaf, salmon’s leap, eagle’s soar— all 

born in fire and rock, ice and flood. Water the

start of all that breathes. When you look for 

your way along the shore, do not discount a place 

of wild reeds. So much is nurtured in the tangle.

Louise Barden – Corvallis, OR

Visit the Poetry Marquee in Person

Enjoy the most recent poem by going to 134 Southwest 1st Street, Corvallis, OR — the sign is hung on the South side of the building. Take a moment to walk inside and order some Sugar J’s Ice Cream as well!

Call for Poets Guidelines

  • Each author may submit only one application per call (2 poems)
  • Poems must be 7 lines or less.
  • Each line can have no more than 50 characters.
  • Two poems will be selected. Selected poems are installed in the fall and spring, weather permitting.

The call for Poetry Marquee poets is currently closed.

]]> https://theartscenter.net/corvallis-poetry-marquee/feed/ 1