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Artwork copyright Mary Randlett. Photo courtesy of the artist, 1995.

I Dwell In Possibility: Artworks Selected by Tod Marshall, WA State Poet Laureate 2016-18

Washington's Poet Laureate Tod Marshall (2016-2018): "Like poetry, works of art can affect us in different ways. Sometimes a poem will imply a story: 'broken bowl/the pieces/still rocking' (by Penny Harter). Was the bowl dropped, thrown down in anger, accidentally bumped because someone was daydreaming about a childhood? We’ll never know, but the image resonates and language has given us a glimpse into an actual or imagined world. That’s one of the things art can do. I have chosen a wide range of works in the State Art Collection; some emphasize song-like movement of color or line; some have political resonance; some ask us to see nature in a different way; some tell us stories about the creators (or ourselves). My title for this gallery comes from an Emily Dickinson poem; I hope that you enjoy these works and that they reveal the many possibilities in which art allows us to dwell."

–Curated by Tod Marshall, Washington State Poet Laureate 2016-18 and Professor of English at Gonzaga University. (Originally published in April 2017)