Meet Robin Jordan, Writing Center Coordinator for Just Buffalo Literary Center (JBLC.) She’s also the person supervising the JBLC student poets participating in LEROI: Living in Color.
Robin has been involved with JBLC for eight years and has become an integral part of the writer’s workshops offered by the nonprofit. In that role she has incorporated the creative concept of ekphrastic poetry---a poetry defined by the ancient Greeks as, "... describing a thing with vivid detail."
Today the term is categorized as, "... poems written about works of art," and Robin has encouraged her student poets to experiment with the process.
Early this year, Burchfield Penney Curator, Tiffany Gaines, and I went to one of the JBLC writer’s workshops to listen to the student’s poems and talk about LEROI: Living in Color.
The groups' interest in ekphrastic poetry, along with our search for student artists to intrepret my exhibition artwork, resulted in the perfect collaboration.
Robin notes that every nonprofit can get overloaded with projects, making it important to choose carefully when and how to best engage. In commiting to LEROI: Living in Color, she said all at JBLC fully supported their engagement.
One thing she didn't anticipate is the number of groups, students, and organizations collaborating on the exhibition. It's a surprise she assesses as, "... a positive," as she and JBLC student poets look forward to the November 11th opening---an experience she imagines, “…will be one of the most energizing art exhibitions I’ve seen in a long time.”
LEROI: Living in Color Exhibition includes the work of students from Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology (BCAT,) Buffalo Public Schools (BPS,) Just Buffalo Literary Center (JBLC,) and Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center. The exhibition will be on view at the Burchfield Penney Art Center through March 26, 2023, presented by M&T Bank, with additional support from organizations and individuals throughout the Western New York community.