Writing the Walls 2023 will consist of plays, poems, monologues, and stories inspired  by visual art works from the Through the Eye of the Needle exhibit and selected pieces from How We Live II. Pieces will be performed  on the Studio Theater in Exile’s stage housed at Hudson Valley MOCA in March, possibly extended into April. Images and  submission instructions are on the websites and linked eblasts in January.

A bit of history: Writing the Walls began in 2005 when Artistic Director MaraMills (STIE) and  Livia Straus,co-founder Hudson Valley MOCAcreated WTW and invited poets and playwrights to contribute original works reflective of their interaction with the art.  Until Quarantine 2020 there were yearly on-site performances at HVMOCA where the audience moved from artwork to artwork and the poets read in front of them. To keep tradition during the COVID Quarantine STIE and HVMOCA produced Climbing the Walls and Writing (Off) the Walls online.  In 2022, STIE became formally housed in the HVMOCA’s black box, complete with stage, sound, lights, projection,and seating.

For the 2023 Writing the Walls performances will be in the theater to take advantage of having a theater space that allows us, in the spirit of Through The Eye of the Needle Exhibit, to weave performance genres.  

Submissions are based on inspiration from HVMOCA’s upstairs gallery juried exhibition, Through the Eye of the Needle, and certain pieces from the How We Live II exhibit in the Main Gallery. Please select 1 image. Attached are PDF images of the artwork in the exhibitions chosen for inclusion and the submissions directions.

Through the Eye of the Needle opens on January 21 and closes March 18,2023. If you want to see the works, let the front desk you are there as a Writing the Walls writer for one free admission.