POETICS Projects

What we’ve studied. Where we’ve gone. What we’ve made.

  • FIELD TRIP: The Gathering Place (2024)

    Owned by Ashley Jacobs Real Estate & Design (AJRED) and operated as an Air BnB, this gorgeous bungalow is chock-full of style. The cozy entryway features bespoke painting by the previous owner, artist Lindsay Sherbondy (aka Lindsay Letters) and the rest of the home hums with yummy details like the original wood floors, detailed fireplace mantel, mullioned windows, and Craftsman built-ins (including one painted pink and styled with vintage pottery and retro typewriters). All of this was fodder for some delightful POETICS “pocket poems” focusing on imagery and object personification. (Much thanks to the AJRED team for offering this inspiring home to POETICS free-of-charge.)

  • FIELD TRIP: Scarecrows at Cannery Square (2024)

    It’s quickly become a beloved fall tradition for POETICS: a walking field trip from Northside down North Street all the way to Main Street, then east to Cannery Square, stopping along the way to marvel at (and of course write poems about!) all the Halloween decorations and original scarecrows on display.

  • FIELD TRIP: Sun Prairie Historical Museum (2023)

    In fall 2023, we were welcomed by Sunshine et al. to the SP Historical Museum, where we were given a tutorial on Ho-Chunk basket-weaving (which we later imitated with paper for our Show & Tell event in spring 2024, using bright colors traditional to Hmong people to weave together traditions of communities who are significant parts of Wisconsin’s—and Sun Prairie’s—cultural fabric).

  • FIELD TRIP: Beyond O'Keeffe at Monarch on Main (2025)

    We’ve been experimenting with ekphrastic writing over the last few years and got a chance to exercise our abilities at the Beyond O’Keeffe exhibit at Monarch on Main, curated by award-winning artist Rebecca Kautz. After we toured the art, taking in the color, the textures, the themes, the setting, we wrote poems inspired by the art. (Watch our Gallery page for more photos and poems!) Afterward we wrote some mini poems and put them into capsules for our upcoming fundraiser: POETREATS! (Stay tuned for more on those…)