It’s been awhile since the DOMA Insider has posted a blog, hasn’t it? Well, the first few weeks of the semester have been a busy bunch and now we’re back on track and will make blog posts every week now! Also, I should briefly introduce myself. My name is Samantha Ehrhart and I am an education intern here at the museum this fall. I’ve never written for a blog before, so I hope readers and visitors to our page will bear with me and enjoy the updates about what’s going on at the museum this fall!

I’d like to make the first post of the semester a quick, fun one. A few weeks ago, our docents participated in a creative writing activity during one of our weekly docent training meetings. While standing in front of our Abstract Expressionist painting, Right Bird Left by Lee Krasner, docents were asked to write a short remark describing what they saw. Then they pieced everyone’s individual thoughts of the same painting together and a poem was made. Veteran docent and retired German professor Sigi Koehler said her favorite part of the activity was “…when we put the short remarks by everyone together and created one poem that seemed to blend together perfectly: 13 different trains of thought and one beautiful poem at the end.” Sigi also comments that this activity could be beneficial for students who come to the museum with a specific request and only wish to view a limited number of artworks.

Director of Education Tania Said said, “The best part was the group erupting in spontaneous applause for their efforts!” Maybe you’ll feel the same after reading it below!

A Group Response Poem To Right Bird Left, by Lee Krasner

By Fall 2014 Docents at the September 4, 2014 Meeting

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Lively, lively

Come and join

Enter this world

The colors are swirling in a dynamic dance.

Dynamic, energetic shapes and colors

Capture our attention

Colors and shapes are weaving

Through a maze of flowers and leaves.

The bold colors and shapes seem alive.

Deliberate strokes of color

Feathery, vibrant plumes of color

Bold and bright, the colors catch the light

The bright colors speak in a loud voice.

Vast strokes carry the imagination.

Eruption of internal song.

A receding sun

Searching for order amidst confusion.

Budding–The earth is coming alive as seasons progress.

My fear is that the spirit-filled image I perceive is not able to be contained.