Broadsided DIY (Do It Yourself)

Carli Trail reading

We have often heard from people—teachers, readers, poets, artists—who want to create their own broadsides or teach students about collaboration. We're glad to know the fun is contagious! Broadsided editor Alexandra Teague and Broadsided artist Stacy Isenbarger, who both teach at the University of Idaho, decided to dovetail their classes and create Broadsided-inspired collaborations.

Poems & art on the cafe walls

The work you see here is created—from first word to last shape, from idea to digitized reality—by these students. Other than supplying a few guidelines for "printability" and a template for the footer, Broadsided just sat back and waited (a bit impatiently!) to see the results.

The instructors have written up their process and we've shared it below. We hope that you will use this. If there is a way for us to clarify or provide further help, please let us know (broadsided@gmail.com). And don't be shy about sharing your results!

The Process

For this project, two classes at University of Idaho—Digital Imaging and Advanced Poetry—paired up to create broadsides. In preparation, students spent time considering the history of visual art and poetry collaborations, imageries' connections to open narratives, and ekphrasis (poems written in response to visual art).

Throughout the semester, we introduced students to famous interplays between visual art and poetry (e.g. Gertrude Stein's poems about Picasso, which try to replicate his Cubist techniques in poetry, and Picasso's portrait of Stein). In poetry, we also analyzed ekphrastic poems such as Anne Sexton's "Starry Night," Rainer Maria Rilke's "Archaic Torso of Apollo," Mina Loy's "Brancusi's Golden Bird," William Carlos Williams' Pictures of Brueghel poems, and Dan Pagis' "Ein Leben."

The digital imaging class worked with integrating text into their art and using text as mark-making. The poetry class wrote "sculptural," "photographic," and "painterly" poems—considering how visual techniques might be replicated, approximated, or responded to in writing. We also introduced the students to Broadsided, and helped them to consider the gamut of possible collaborations: e.g. artists working in tandem to create one piece, or artists responding to other artists across time or space.

• See two writing exercises given in class
• See two visual exercises given in class

Around mid-semester, the poets selected one poem they'd written during the semester to give to the digital imaging class, and the digital imaging students created an image to send to the poets. Each then responded to the other's work—without having conversations with the original artist/writer. We then got the classes together so the students could meet their collaborator and refine the collaborations.

The resulting pieces were displayed at a local coffee shop, where the poetry students did an opening-night reading. On the end-of-semester survey, the students in both classes were very enthusiastic about the project: describing it as "enlightening," "inspirational," "challenging," "worthwhile," "revealing,' and "dynamic."

Future Modifications

When we do this project again, we're going to allow more time for the students to meet and discuss the collaborations, as that's an area that many students felt was rushed, and it's important that students—who were in many cases presenting their work publically for the first time—have the opportunity to develop a trusting relationship with their collaborator.

Some Student Responses

• It is amazing how work can expand and grow when you collaborate with others.
• I think that it is interesting to compare the ways in which similar ideas are expressed through images and words.
• I find it interesting how you can create something from a poem or an art piece. I also feel that it's amazing how it creates something that you wouldn't think of for both the poem and the art.
• . . . through both the processes of this assignment we gain empathy and through the spirit of cooperation, we gain the needed sense of community and togetherness.

Further student comments about their collaborator's response:

• The response made surprised me in a very good way. He apparently got quite a bit out of my work which gave me a sense of accomplishment that someone had gotten so much out of what I had done.
• I was surprised by their reaction because it was the exact opposite of my intention but it was cool to hear a different interpretation.
• I was hoping they would pick up on the mood of the piece – the idea itself was pretty tough to infer from the work. They nailed it on the mood.
• My artist's response was great, in my opinion. She truly understood the point of my piece, which was reflected in her creation. Besides specific details excluded, she captured the general aura of the poem.
• I felt that they would pick up more on the emotion that I put into it....but then I realize that the sources I used were already framed for me by my personal experiences where as the poet might have been seeing it for the first time… so who knows they were probably more on the money than I was.
• The poet took my piece to a whole other level that I wasn't expecting. She added an extra element and gave my piece a real background. My piece seemed to fit really well, almost like the two were made in reverse.
• I was very curious to see what the poet would come up with so I was very surprised to see the response. It definitely made me see my piece differently because I didn't really have a story when I was making it. I was curious to see what story they would come up with for the image.
• The poet was able to pick out things from my imagery that I hadn't seen before but that completely served the same idea.
• I enjoy writing poems in response to things, like prompts, but this was probably the most unique and engaging "prompt" I've responded to. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad the original artist received my work positively.

The Collaborations

Click each to get the full pdf.

"I Gazed at the Face of the Pacific"
Artist Anna Marlin
Poet Jonah Sandford

"His Girl"
Artist Sarah Hepler
Poet Samantha Riggers

"Lange"
Artist Kelsee Morefield
Poet Carli Trail

"Me and Julio"
Artist Elizabeth Gibson
Poet Carli Trail

"Pain and Passion"
Artist Line Ask
Poet Dylan Stemp

"Robert Johnson"
Artist Hailey Hirst
Poet Ross Clifford

"Crosshairs"
Artist Lori Chrisman
Poet Ross Clifford

"Stitch"
Artist Kingmond Tang
Poet Jeremiah Akin

"Swimming to the Mountain"
Artist Anna Marlin
Poet Jared Montgomery

"Ties that Bind"
Artist Avery Worrell
Poet Kellie Gilbert

"You Can't"
Artist Laken Bailey
Poet Daniel Klismith

"ADHD"
Artist Eric Dematto
Poet Amanda McCarty

"Paradise"
Artist Line Ask
Poet Kellie Gilbert

"Memory"
Artist Josh Hust
Poet Jasmine Warne Rowe

"A Spectacle of Another's Spectacles"
Artist Tanner Riles
Poet Sophie Kopp

"Circle at the Center"
Artist Tanner Riles
Poet Carli Trail

"The Invisible Line"
Artist Elizabeth Gibson
Poet Jared Montgomery

"The Sprinting Season"
Artist Aailey Hirst
Poet Sophie Kopp

"The Guest"
Artist David Leavitt
Poet Ross Clifford

"Effigy for Godot"
Artist Jesse Clyde
Poet Jeremiah Akin

"Tonight"
Artist Laken Bailey
Poet Dylan Stemp

"Eat Me, Drink Me, Love Me"
Artist Jesse Clyde
Poet Savannah Schader

"spatial intuition"
Artist Avery Worrell
Poet Daniel Klismith

"i've been waiting to lose my mind"
Artist Kelsee Morefield
Poet Savannah Schader

"Yet the Appetite is Not Satisfied"
Artist Rob Cummings
Poet Johna Sandford

"Map"
Artist Peter Espinosa
Poet Jasmine Warne Rowe

"Swing"
Artist Kingmond Tang
Poet Jeremiah Akin

"Ferris Wheels and Heartstrings"
Artist Becca Derry
Poet Sarah Zierer

"Stepford Stripper"
Artist Sarah Hepler
Poet Amanda McCarty

"Enigma"
Artist Kaitlyn Inman
Poet Samantha Riggers