Ekphrasis in the Gallery: Writing in Response to Art

Sheldon’s Hyphen American: Intersections of Identity exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the American experience and on “Americanness” itself through paintings and photographs. This generative writing experience offers participants the opportunity to deepen those reflections through guided exercises designed to clarify what they see, what it means to them, and how those insights might become a poem, story, or brief memoir.

How does an artist’s work reflect the American experience? And in what ways does “Americanness” reveal itself through art in the presence of heterogeneous “American” identities? As the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding, the exhibition and catalogue for Hyphen American: Intersections of Identity explore these questions by showcasing how identity is presented and interrogated in visual art.