Mary Hall Surface in front of Edward Hopper’s 1939 painting Cape Cod Evening at the National Gallery of Art
Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Join Mary Hall Surface, the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, for three online workshops that explore essential elements of writing and styles through close looking, word-sketching, and imaginative response to prompts.
The sessions spotlight a diverse range of visual art chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels to deepen their process and practice. Each workshop has a limited enrollment to maximize interaction among the instructor and students.
March 5 Imagine Character
Step into the world of 16th-century Bolognese Mannerist painter Lavinia Fontana as you imagine characters inspired by her symbol-filled portraits and more.
March 12 Discover Story
Pair paintings by American Impressionist Lilla Cabot Perry with writings by Gilded Age author Edith Wharton to discover rich narrative possibilities.
March 19 Navigate Journeys
Follow 20th-century Spanish Surrealist painter Remedios Varo into her beautiful, mysterious imagery to explore characters’ outer and inner journeys.
Surface is a teaching artist, playwright, and theatre director and producer. She presents workshops nationwide in creative writing, reflective writing and drama as a Kennedy Center teaching artist and museum educator. She was a faculty member at Harvard’s Project Zero Classroom.
3 sessions
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