CELEBRATION of Poet Carol Ann Russell’s work “ITALIA – Passeggiata” at the Watermark Art Center

Watermark Art Center will host a program of original poetry, music and art on September 4, 2019. The event begins at 7 p.m. with a reception for the poet Dr. Carol Ann Russell, soloist Dr. Cory Renbarger, pianist Dan Will, and composer Dr. Paul Brandvik , special guest. Performance to begin at 7:30.

“ITALIA Passeggiata,” written in 1997, presents Russell’s feelings and images she experienced as a poet in residence at the American Academy (AAR) in Rome, Italy (1997, 2000).

The poem sequence, “Passeggiata,” which translates from Italian to “an afternoon walk,” was put to music by Brandvik and will be sung by Renbarger, a baritone soloist and BSU professor of music.  He will be accompanied by pianist Dan Will, a graduate of Concordia College, and adjunct professor of music at BSU.

The limited edition artwork display, in the original Folio letterpress broadside edition, features antique Italian fonts on handmade Fabriano paper,  designed and illustrated by Jauneth Skinner, and published by The Quiet Crow Press.  Skinner, a former BSU professor of visual arts, recently retired as professor of Art from Jacksonville State University, AL.

Russell’s poem was  translated by Alessandro Carrera of New York University and Franco Nasi, officer of the Italian Cultural Institute and visiting professor of Italian literature at the University of Chicago.