ZU Gallery owner Jodie Jahrling is launching a new program aimed at supporting poets in Montezuma County and the Four Corners.
The program, called Patio Poets, is part of the newly formed ZU Arts Initiative. Jahrling says the nonprofit’s goal is to create more opportunities for local artists, including writers, musicians and visual artists.
“I realized that the biggest thing that was lacking in our area was opportunities,” Jahrling said. “The number one goal is to create opportunities for artists and find ways to best support them in Montezuma County.”
Patio Poets will select 12 poets to participate in its first year. Each poet will be paid $75 for one poem, with the possibility of additional royalties through a subscription program. Subscribers will receive printed poems, known as broadsides, designed to be displayed as artwork.
Jahrling says the project grew out of a desire to treat poetry as something people can return to, rather than something heard once and then forgotten.
“Why couldn’t we treat this written word as if it were a piece of art on the wall?” she said.
The program will also include public poetry readings on the ZU Gallery patio in downtown Cortez, weather permitting. Jahrling says the idea is for people walking along Main Street to encounter live poetry in a casual setting.
Applications are open to poets across the Four Corners, with priority given to Montezuma County writers. Applicants need to submit one original poem, a short bio and contact information. The poem may have been published before for the application process, but selected poets will need to provide unpublished work for the broadside program.
Jahrling says the application process was designed to be simple and accessible, including for people who are just beginning to call themselves poets.
“Even if you have just started to call yourself a poet, if you’re just exploring it now, that doesn’t mean there isn’t something worth reading there,” she said.
Applications are open through April 30. More information, including the application and subscription waitlist, is available at CortezArts.org/poets.
