Helen & Vine: Box of Rocks

Helen & Vine is a regular column that explores some of the oddities and unknown people, places, and things at the Poetry Center.

"Here we have our Box of Rocks," someone almost certainly said at some point during a tour of my new office at the Poetry Center. I don't know what I was expecting, but this is what I got:

It's a box, labelled 'Rocks.' But what's it for? Exhibitions! Exhibitions in the library require a great deal of planning and preparation, including staging. The titular Rocks are used under, behind, around books to create an atmosphere. But since the Box first came into existence, the Rocks have been joined by other exhibit mainstays such as flowers, a bag of kiln-fired sand used in our very own Grecian urn, a book used for propping up other books, a neutral canvas, etc.

    

Behind the scenes, there are little unknowns and oddities that exist in the varied and exciting work of the Poetry Center, so look out for more Helen & Vine columns in the future to learn more about the details of this space!


Sarah Gzemski is the Poetry Center's Publicity and Publications Coordinator and the managing editor of Noemi Press.

Category: 

Columns

Tags: