September 6, 2000
'Synergy' combines art and artists
Artists and writers show collaborate effort in Traverse Area District Library exhibit
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Pat Wolff's spirit and creativity surfaced again in Traverse City this weekend.
For the author and artist who died last fall after a battle with cancer, the show "Synergy" that opened Sunday at the Traverse Area District Library was a tribute to her ability to combine two of her passions - and inspire others to do the same.
A member of both the Grand Traverse Writers' Group and the Northwest Michigan Artists and Craftsmen, two years ago Wolff challenged the members of both groups to collaborate on a project. She wanted the writers to write a story from a picture and the artists to create a picture from a story. And members of each group enthusiastically picked up the gauntlet Wolff threw down.
"I just went crazy when I heard the idea," said Mary Faith Lemrsal, a visual artist from Traverse City. "It was a nice challenge for us and that's really what I liked about the idea, it pushed us."
In the first session, the writers viewed the artists' works, more than 30 paintings in all, and went home to create stories inspired by what they saw. During the second session, the artists listened to stories by the writers, stories not related to the first phase of the challenge, and got ideas for visual artworks.
An unusual collaboration, it brought out the best of both groups.
"It is very, very interesting to see how people read something and visualize it," Lemrsal said. "And when they were reading their poetry or stories from our paintings they saw so many things."
The challenge stretched the writers, who discovered that even the same painting could draw out completely different stories.
"Two other writers responded to the same painting I did but they did sky scenes and I did something different," said Jody Clark, a member of the Grand Traverse Writers' Group. "I think the artists had something specific in mind when they painted their pieces, but often we came up with something totally different."
The challenge was the first time that painter Bonnie Rhoads of Traverse City had painted from a spoken story. Rhoads participated in both parts of the challenge, showing some of her paintings to the writers and listening to their readings to get ideas for her work. She found the second exercise very inspiring.
"As each story was read to us I could see a painting in my mind," Rhoads said. "The way I paint is either something I have seen in the past that brings back a memory or I paint from photos and change them, so this was different. Pat was so creative, it kind of rubbed off on everybody."
Because of the almost two-year gap between the project's completion and the show at the library, a number of written or visual pieces were not available for display. The show's sponsors, the Friends of the Traverse Area District Library, decided to open the show up to other works by members of either group.
The result is a varied display of multimedia works lining the walls of the library's community room. While the library showcases a different collection of artists in this room every month, this is the first time that written works have been mounted and displayed.
"We have never had this combination before, it is unique to this show," said Ethyl Kage, vice president of the Friends of the Traverse Area District Library." It sparked a lot of ideas."