I Read the News Today, Oh Boy

The Marilyn O’Rourke Gallery at the has a new exhibition opening Wednesday. is described as a unique media exhibit. It's a collaborative show of artwork and poetry in response to headline news.

Fourteen pairs of poets and artists were chosen from a national competition and paired. Six of the artists and four of the poets are from Benicia. The other participants are from the Bay Area and Central Coast with a couple international participants.

The teams of artists and poets were paired up based on mutual interest. Teams selected one news article to translate into an experience of the human heart. The goal is to inspire people to revisit questions we hold about the role, value and consequence of the news in our society.

The show is sponsored by Friends of the Benicia Public Library under the direction of Benicia Poet Laureate Rona Leon. 

Poet-Artist Pairs:

• Poet Nils Peterson of Santa Clara with artist Rebecca Palmer of Los Altos
• Poet Valerie Ibarra of San Francisco with artist Rebecca Martinez of San Francisco
• Poet Jannie Dresser of Crocket with artist Freddy Camargo of Benicia
• Poet Barbara Mossberg of Pacific Grove with artist Stephanie Martin of Santa Cruz
• Poet David Starkey of Rome with artist Mehrdad Khataei of Tehran
• Poet Mary Rudge of Alameda with artist Jan Cook of Vallejo
• Poet Lois Requist of Benicia with artist A. Gaul Gulley of San Francisco
• Poet Maria Rosales of Martinez with artist d of El Cerrito
• Poet Sandra Lee Stillwell of Benicia with artist Katya Madrid of Benicia
• Poet Dan Cooper of Concord with artist Jose Luis Sequra Jr. of Vallejo
• Poet Donna Rudolph of Benicia with artist of Benicia
• Poet Ken McKeon of Berkeley with artist Thomas Stanton of Benicia
• Poet Joel Fallon of Benicia with artist of Benicia
• Poet Joseph Martino of Benicia with artist of Benicia

An opening reception is scheduled for June 30 at 7 p.m. and is open to the public. The show will be up until July 29.