Submitted photos The Brown County Historical Society, the Grand Center for Arts & Culture, and the New Ulm Public Library are asking people to write and submit poems based on five pieces of art, including “The Nightwatchman Spins a Yarn” by Frank Hurley pictured here.

NEW ULM — Art inspires art, and “Inspiration” is the local theme this April for National Poetry Month.

The Brown County Historical Society, the Grand Center for Arts & Culture, and the New Ulm Public Library are once again partnering for National Poetry Month to bring awareness to the power of words.

Last year, the three organizations partnered to create the Downtown Poetry Path. During April, submitted poems were displayed in the windows of cooperating businesses. Around 300 poetry submissions were received.

BCHS, The Grand and the Library are putting out the call for more poems this year, but with a different theme.

New Ulm Library Program Director LeRoy Harris said this year’s theme is “Poetry Inspires.” The idea is that each submission will be inspired by another piece of art.

Five works of art, including paintings and photographs, were selected as the source of inspiration.

The five artworks selected are “Zodiac” by Alphonse Mucha; “Breezing Up (A Fair Wind)” by Winslow Homer; “The Nightwatchman Spins a Yarn” by Frank Hurley; “Two Women by the Shore” by Henri-Edmond Cross and “Unripe Plum Blossoms by Sakakibara Shiho.

The submitted poems must be inspired by one of the artworks. The five works can be viewed in an online gallery on the library’s webpage (https://www.newulmmn.gov/562/Participate-in-National-Poetry-Month).

Harris said these works were chosen as they express strong emotion and iconography that could inspire great poems. The artworks were also taken from a variety of time periods and different parts of the world.

The hope is these works will inspire area writers to create some wonderfully diverse poems. However, inspiration goes two ways. A work of art can inspire poetry, but poetry can also inspire art. For this reason, BCHS, The Grand and the Library are also accepting original artworks inspired by poetry.

Five poems were selected. The poems are “Drifting on the Lake” by Wang Wei; “Claudal” by Miguel Angel Asturias; “Quilting” by anonymous and “The Storm” by Anna Hempstead Branch.

The work of art must be two-dimensional. This includes drawings, paintings, photographs, prints, or relief or textile work. The idea is to show the poetry cycle. Just as images inspire words, words can inspire images.

The poems and artwork will be displayed digitally as a document or image file, and then the work will be posted on Facebook and Instagram where it will remain visible through the month of April.

The New Ulm Library will organize the submissions into a slide show that will run in the Fred Johnson room.

The Grand Program Manager Tamara Furth said one of the goals for this year’s poetry month was to make it accessible to the public. The poetry path was accessible to those who could walk downtown. The online process will ensure everyone can see the work.

All submissions will be sent to: newulmpoetrymonth@gmail.com with the subject line: “National Poetry Month submission” to allow for digital display.

Print submissions may be turned in at The Grand, the Brown County Historical Society, or the New Ulm Public Library for scanning.

Those interested in participating must meet the following guidelines:

1. Participants must be 6th grade and older.

2. Participants will either submit a poem that was inspired by art or art that was inspired by a poem.

3. Participants may submit only one entry (either a poem or a piece of art).

4. Artwork will be limited to 2-dimensional work.

5. Poems and artwork will be submitted digitally – we will use Facebook and Instagram as social media platforms.

6. Deadline for submission is Friday, March 31 by 12 noon.