Riverviews Artspace to Open Landscape and Poetry Exhibition in September

LYNCHBURG, Va. — Riverviews Artspace will bring together visual art and poetry in a new exhibition opening Sept. 4 in downtown Lynchburg.

That Which Forms features large-scale landscape drawings by Mariam Aziza Stephan accompanied by poems from Julia Johnson. The exhibition will remain on display through Oct. 18, with a free opening reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4.

The exhibition grew from a collaboration between Stephan and Johnson dating to 2018. Stephan's drawings depict trees and landscapes while exploring the history, memory and passage of time associated with each place. Johnson wrote poems in response to the images, with the poems ultimately becoming the titles of Stephan's drawings.

Stephan is a professor of painting at UNC Greensboro and was a Fulbright Scholar to Egypt in 2010-11. Her work has been exhibited at the Weatherspoon Art Museum, Henry Art Gallery and Gezira Art Center in Cairo and is included in several permanent collections.

Johnson, a New Orleans native, is a professor of creative writing and English at Old Dominion University. Her poetry collections include Naming the Afternoon and Subsidence, and her work has appeared in The Cincinnati Review, Tin House and other publications.

Several regional organizations are participating in programming surrounding the exhibition. The Lynchburg Public Library will provide books related to its themes for a reading area inside the gallery. Riverviews is also partnering with the Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum to connect the exhibition's focus on poetry and the natural world with the legacy of Lynchburg poet and gardener Anne Spencer.

The Charlottesville-based 500-Year Forest Foundation will provide educational information about its conservation work during the exhibition.

Opening Weekend Events

A ticketed First Look Preview will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2, giving visitors an opportunity to see the exhibition before its public opening. Stephan will discuss her work and Johnson will read poetry associated with the exhibition. Admission is $25 and includes wine, beer and light refreshments.

The public opening reception will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4 as part of Lynchburg's First Friday activities. Admission is free.

Johnson will also lead an ekphrastic poetry masterclass from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 5. Participants will use artwork from the exhibition as inspiration for their own writing through examples and guided exercises. The workshop is open to writers of all experience levels and costs $35.

That Which Forms will be on display at Riverviews Artspace, 52 Ninth St., through Oct. 18. Regular gallery hours are noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, and general admission is free.

Additional information and registration for the ticketed events are available through Riverviews Artspace.