About the project

In May 2008, ten writers and ten artists embarked upon this art and writing project, hoping to find inspiration from one another. When we were done, everyone wanted to do it again! And SPARK was born.

Open to writers and visual artists of all kinds, SPARK is a participatory creativity event that takes place four times each year. The work displayed on this site represents the results of SPARK’s first round. You can view the work from other rounds, as well:

Round 1: May 2008 — YOU ARE HERE

Round 2: September 2008

Round 3: February 2009

Round 4: May/June 2009

To begin, writers sent artists a story or poem, and artists sent writers a painting or photograph. Working over just two days, each person used their partner’s piece as a jumping off point for new work of their own. For this initial round, everyone worked over just two days to create their responses and writers were asked to keep their inspiration pieces and completed works to 1,000 words or less. Other than that, people were allowed (and encouraged) to respond to their partner’s work in whatever way they wished. The goal was simply to give writers and artists a challenge, a new way of looking at the world and their work, and a chance to inspire another creative soul. Many of these people didn’t know one another, nor did they ever meet in person, but they signed on with a desire to try something new.

Some of the work here is considered final by its creator. Some is not. The goal was not to create a perfect poem or a salable work of art, so please do not judge what you see as such. In fact, I’d ask you to suspend judgment as much as possible and simply look at these groupings to consider how each person’s work influenced their partner’s.

This is a text-heavy site. If you’d like to see the work of a particular writer or artist, click on their name in sidebar. This hyperlink will take you directly to their work.

Thanks for stopping by!

Amy Souza
Arlington, Virginia