The Ballroom: Publishing Murder and Reshaping Galleries by Isabella Ferrero
Combining the elements of an art gallery, escape room, and community art projects, The Ballroom presents an interactive gallery of visual poetry, fiction, and art centered around a masquerade ball theme. Open from 6 to 8 p.m. on December 1st in Cline Library Room 131, The Ballroom pushes its viewers to walk through and discover a mystery in art and disguise.
The idea surged from a flurry of event concepts in the Creative Writing Capstone classroom, and took shape when Rochelle Cardenas, Rowan Wentworth, and I decided we wanted to do more than a typical reading or a workshop. We wanted to plan something that would not only push us, but also push our artists to think about the place of creativity on a grander scale. As event host Rowan Wentworth explained, this event “bring[s] a new style of literary event to both writers and the community of Flagstaff, in a way [we] hadn’t seen before—visual writing.”
Rather than matching an artwork with a written work that follows a similar theme, The Ballroom called on writers to make their written piece into a visual artwork. It was the best way for us to “showcase authors’ talents in both art and literary works,” especially when we considered that “most writers dabble in art,” said Rochelle Cardenas, one of the event’s planners.
Pulling at classic plots of love, murder, and deception, we figured our writers, who are from around Arizona, could imagine a world of opportunity for their art. Rowan Wentworth eagerly anticipates the way artists will cleverly work “with classic ideas—like the masked murderous lover at the fancy ball,” while Cardenas noted that there couldn’t be a better way to enjoy two well-loved things than by “combin[ing] them into an art/reading gallery.”
With the audience taking the role of the killer in a web of love and deceit, The Ballroom centers visitor interaction. Gallery visitors are invited to leave a visual mark in two group art projects that make them part of the masquerade ball murder mystery. Generating poetry and art that becomes part of the gallery is a way for us to connect viewers to the work and to emphasize the versatility of creativity in various spaces. Come experience The Ballroom on December 1st in Cline Library Room 131 from 6 to 8 p.m, open to the public at no cost. Mystery awaits you.
Isabella Ferrero, a Venezuelan Latina poet and author, studies English Creative Writing at Northern Arizona University. She is an assistant editor with little somethings press. She is currently working on her debut poetry collection about Venezuelan diasporic children’s struggle to find a “home.” You can follow along with her writing @isaferwriting.
