Our strongest memories are often associated with images. For that reason, collage artists and writers often use found photos as prompts—inspiration for a piece of art that builds out the single moment captured by the camera into something larger, more emotionally complex, or just more decorative. Used in this way, photos, and the art and words they inspire, can be used to make visible the abstract ideas of community, family, and home, and make real the world in which an artist or writer wishes to live, whether real or fantastical. 

In this first of two back-to-back workshops, you'll be led in a writing exercise to create words inspired by a photo that represents your community. You are welcome to use your own photo or find one in materials provided. After a short break, reconvene if you’d like for the second workshop, in which you will use your writing to inspire a collage. Participation in the collage workshop is not required. 

Laurie Marshall is a writer and artist with deep roots in Northwest Arkansas. In addition to over a decade of freelance work with various local and regional publications, her short fiction and nonfiction has been published in many print and online literary journals. She was the recipient of the 2021 Lascaux Prize in Flash Fiction, and her work was selected for Best Small Fictions 2022. She has created collage art for literary magazines and book covers and her debut collection will be published by ELJ Editions in April 2023. You can find out more at www.SeeLaurieWrite.com. 

This Spring Arts & Culture Festival event

is part of the Arts & Culture+ series.