Instructor: Elaine Sexton
Length: 2 sessions, $320
Saturday, April 28, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (off campus)
Saturday, May 5, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (on campus)

Next spring spend two afternoons focused on paintings, sculpture, photography, and collage, exhibitions in New York galleries with an experienced poet, critic, and fine arts editor and educator as your guide. On two consecutive Saturday afternoons, you will learn to look at the latest work of leading artists with a focus on writing it about it, first in New York’s Chelsea art district, and second in a workshop on campus in Bronxville.
 
Each student will be provided with reading material to prepare for the first class a few days before it starts, with follow-up assignments to work on between the two sessions. The art day in the city (Saturday, April 28) will begin with a greeting/briefing, followed a walk and talk through a series of galleries, ending with a brief session with targeted assignments for the following week. The itinerary will based on the spring exhibits.

The second workshop, in the classroom (on campus, Saturday, May 5), will consist of thoughtful critiques, with a focus on craft, and several in-class exercises designed to explore and expand your ideas, and fine-tune drafts for revision. Every student will complete the two-sessions with tools for drafting and refining their ideas about art in poetry and prose.

Elaine Sexton is the author of three collections of poetry, most recently Prospect/Refuge (Sheep Meadow, 2015). Her poems, reviews, and artworks have appeared in journals including Art in America, American Poetry Review, O! the Oprah Magazine, and Poetry. An avid book-maker, in addition to the Writing Institute, she teaches text & image and poetry at various art and writing centers in the US and abroad, most recently at Poets House and Arts Workshop International in Assisi, Italy. She is the visual arts editor for Tupelo Quarterly (tupeloquarterly.com), and a member of the National Book Critics Circle. (elainesexton.org)

Writing Institute Registration Process:

Step 1 - Registration Information: Complete this registration form in full.

Step 2 - Payment: Once you click submit on this form, a new page will appear in your browser with a payment link. Click on the payment link, complete the required information, and submit your payment. 

Payment is required for your registration to be confirmed. If we don’t receive your payment within 48 hours of submission of this form, your registration will automatically be cancelled. You will have to complete the form again if you wish to register for the class.

Step 3 - Confirmation: Once we receive your payment, your registration will be finalized and confirmed with an email. Please keep this email for your records.  Details about room assignment, parking, and any other information relevant to the course will be emailed to registered students the week before classes begin.

If you have questions about the registration process, please call us at 914-395-2205 or email writinginstitute@sarahlawrence.edu.