Even as you are gearing up for the Royal City Literary Arts Society's poetry workshop on Jan. 29, note that a brand new poetry event series has just launched in the city.
Called the Poetry Floodlight Series, the event is a platform for emerging and established poets to read out their verses in front of a crowd, and in a studio that hosts BYOB paint nights every weekend.
Arrieta Art Studio, which opened in the summer of 2022, has evolved from just a venue that promotes local artists, to one that hosts illustration and drawing workshops, life model drawing sessions, lino-cut printmaking classes and social events such as board game nights.
And now, it's hosting a poetry series too.
“We wanted an event based on poetry because it's performance, and also art,” said Mishel Arrieta, owner of the studio.
“So it kind of gets two things done at once.”
As per the event statement, it "stands in response to the ongoing and widespread loss of accessible creative spaces where art thrives. We endeavour to make this a regular series where Canada based poets can showcase new, old, and evolving works."
The series is organized by APT POP Gallery — a non-profit art initiative that Arrieta runs with her friend Ben Pilger, an educator with school district 40 (New Westminster), and a multi disciplinary artist.
Through APT POP, the duo has organized art pop-ups around New Westminster; some of which have included poetry, said Arrieta.
For the poetry series, Pilger and Arrieta put out a call for poets to submit their work, on BC Alliance for Arts + Culture — a non-profit organization that connects the province’s creative community.
They received about 30 entries.
“We went through whoever submitted their work, and decided to give a chance to emerging poets. We also had a couple of people we had known from past shows who were a little bit more established; we had them join as well.”
When they organized the first poetry event on Dec. 10, Arrieta noted candidly, “we hadn’t had anything planned. We kind of said, ‘If it goes well, we’ll plan another.’”
The December event went well; the January edition was even better, she said.
“We actually ended up having more people than we anticipated. There was nowhere to sit or stand. We were jam-packed.”
Given the reassuring response, Arrieta has now decided to make the three-hour poetry session a recurring one.
“We have decided to commit to one every month,” she said.
“And then, possibly multiple in the future.”
If you would like to share a poem, reach out to the Arrieta Art studio (707 Front St.) by sending some examples of your work via email to [email protected]. The next Poetry Floodlight event is on Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. It will follow the opening reception of an art show by New West Artists. Poets who perform at the event can receive donations from audience members through the gallery or through their own provided donation sites. As the events are not paid/ticketed at the moment direct support is encouraged at any of the readings.
