This just in:
A contest encouraging
children to illustrate the poetry of Vachel Lindsay generated 200 submissions
of turtles, crows and other colorful critters. The top 15 drawings will be
recognized at a special event May 18.
The free event includes family-friendly performances of
poetry in addition to awards for the children. Sponsored by the Vachel Lindsay
Home State Historic Site and the Vachel Lindsay Association, it takes place at
2 p.m. at the offices of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (313 S. Sixth Street,
Springfield).
The illustration contest had three divisions open to
Springfield-area schools. Children in kindergarten and first grade illustrated
Lindsay’s “The Little Turtle.” First place in that category went to Reid
Craddle of Cathedral School; second went to Sophia Cathers of Blessed
Sacrament; third went to Jada Jackson of Iles; and honorable mentions were
given to Julie Logan of Ball Charter and Josh Moore of Cathedral.
Students in second, third and fourth grades produced
drawings for “Two Old Crows.” First place went to Brady Isenburg of Rochester;
second went to Makenna Yeager of Glenwood; third went to Camryn Patterson of
Glenwood; and honorable mentions were given to Lorelei Lupo-Spinasanta of
Cathedral and Cathy Yang of Iles.
Fifth- and sixth-graders illustrated “The Spider and the
Ghost of the Fly.” Zoe Roderick of Cathedral School took first place. Second place went to Katie Carstens of Cathedral; third went
to Kaitlyn Fitzgerald of Cathedral; and honorable mentions went to Joey Gibson
and Sean Utterback, both of Cathedral.
Each first-, second- and third-place student artist will
receive copies of Lindsay’s children’s poetry, collected in “The Yellow Book”
and “The Little Turtle,” along with a Barnes and Noble gift card.
Judges for this year’s contest were Allison Lacher (UIS
Visual Arts Gallery), Marianne Stremsterfer (Lead Art Faculty at Benedictine University at Springfield) and Priscilla Weaver (Benedictine
University
art student).
“It was a pleasure to see such fine art work from the
entrants. The students were truly invested in the poetry of Vachel Lindsay, and
my congratulations to the artists, their teachers and parents,”
Stremsterfer said.
The Vachel Lindsay Home State Historic Site, operated by the
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m.
– 4 p.m. for free public tours. The home, located at 603 South Fifth Street
in Springfield, was built
about 1850. Lindsay was born there in 1879 and took his own life there in 1931.
Vachel Lindsay, known as the “Prairie Troubadour” for his
walking tours of the country, achieved national fame in 1913. Lindsay called
himself a “rhymer-designer” and created drawings to accompany his poems.
He was a leading voice in the American “New Poetry”
movement, with a total published work of some 20 volumes of poetry and prose.
Lindsay and other major artists of his day championed a new language to tackle
new subjects, such as civil liberties and environmental blight.
For more information, visit http://www.vachellindsay.org/
Send poems or blog post ideas to astienstra@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in May 8-14, 2014.
