ARTIST CONVERSATION: Ekphrasis with Cheryl Stidwell Parker and Wendy Vardaman

As part of our Dick Scuglik Memorial Fellowship, we present an artist conversation with visual artist Cheryl Stidwell Parker and poet Wendy Vardaman. The fellowship is awarded annually to a writer working in ekphrasis — writing about art. The writer is paired with a Door County visual artist. The two exchange work and generate new work in response. This year’s visual artist is Cheryl Stidwell Parker of Baileys Harbor. The writer chosen for the fellowship is Madison-based poet Wendy Vardaman.

Join us for a conversation with the two artists about their process creating new poems and visual art in response to what the other artist has shared. A light reception will follow. This residency is made possible by the donations of Kimberley Schey Scuglik, in honor of her late husband who loved painting and writing.

After several decades as a museum education and administrator, Cheryl Stidwell Parker has enjoyed painting full time since 2003. Her work has been included in juried and invitational exhibits throughout Wisconsin and Iowa. Cheryl notes: “My art practice is fundamentally experiement and experiential, both for the viewer and myself. Improvisation and visual jazz of color and form and inspired by varied elements based in still life as well as landscape — and influence of artists including the Nabis group Bonnard and Vuillard, as well as the Canadian Seven, Emily Carr, Jasper Johns, and Australian artist Margaret Olley.”

Wendy Vardaman (wendyvardaman.com), PhD, lives in Madison, WI, and works as a website/digital media specialist. She is the author of Obstructed View (2009), Reliquary of Debt (2015), and the chapbook (with Sarah Sadie), Rules of (dis)engagement, or Dubious perFormances (2016). With Sarah Sadie she published Verse Wisconsin, created a micro-press, co-edited two anthologies, and served as Madison poets laureate from 2012 to 2015. In addition to poetry, her creative practice has included editing, prose writing, illustration, printmaking, and design. She volunteers for arts and social justice causes as a designer, artist, and editor.