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Grub Street Room 2.Workshop DescriptionThis generative workshop pairs the visual art form of collage with collage poetry. Participants will walk away with their own hand-crafted collage and the seeds of poems, deeper knowledge and experience with a visual art form, and a found poetry technique to exercise in their practice. I strongly believe that collage is an accessible artistic outlet that anyone can enjoy, and I’d love for participants to walk away from this workshop feeling empowered by this creative tool.
Below is a draft outline of the session:
—Introduction to Collage as a Visual Art Form: I will briefly introduce the concept of collage as a visual art form, its ties to Dadaist & Surrealist art movements, and how the process of collaging parallels writing a poem. I will provide examples of collages from both world-renowned and local artists to help get participants in a mindset that explores the possibilities of collage. The main takeaway from this segment is that collages give us a doorway into the surreal, which can fuel the imagination and many poems.
—Introduction of Collage Poetry: Following context on collage as a visual art form, I will transition to briefly introducing the concept of collage poetry, how this poetic technique mirrors the visual art form, and provide examples of collage poems. I will highlight the principles of found poetry and its artistic value as both a source of inspiration and a legitimate poetic output.
—Selection of Collage Materials: Equipped with context about collages and college poetry, participants will be given approximately 10 minutes to select images, materials, and text that they find compelling. They will have magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, scraps, stickers, poems, and other materials to choose from. Small chipboard canvases will be provided. Additionally, I will encourage participants to look at any writing drafts that they were not satisfied with or notes that they’ve taken and repurpose them for this exercise—picking out images, language, or phrases that can be recontextualized for collage. This is an exciting process of discovery that helps participants lean into their aesthetic preferences and intuition.
—Generative Segment-Collages & Poetry: Once materials are selected, participants will be given time to create their visual collages and compose the seeds of an accompanying poem. Participants can choose to incorporate their poems or lines from the poems on the collages directly or not. The collage materials they previously selected serve as an individualized writing prompt for each participant. Near the end of our time, I will give participants the opportunity to share what they have created with the group, whether it is lines from their collage poems, the collage itself, or both.
Instructor BioLeticia Priebe Rocha is a poet, visual artist, and editor. She is the author of
In Lieu of Heartbreak, This is Like (Bottlecap Press, 2024). Leticia earned her bachelor’s from Tufts University, where she was awarded the 2020 Academy of American Poets University & College Poetry Prize. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, she immigrated to Miami, FL at the age of 9 and currently resides in the Greater Boston area. Her work has been published in Salamander, Rattle, Pigeon Pages, Protean Magazine, and elsewhere. Leticia is also a Reader for Yellow Arrow Journal and served as Guest Editor for the EMBLAZON issue. For more information, visit her website:
leticiaprieberocha.com.
