The Illustrated Old Testament

On Sunday, June 5, 2022 at 5 PM, artist Sam Robertson will give a presentation of The Illustrated Old Testament and be joined by poets whose work reinterprets ancient religious figures and stories. The Illustrated Old Testament is Robertson's 8-year endeavor which resulted in the creation of 257 paintings inspired by the text of the King James Old Testament. It’s published with 11:11 Press as a 520 page hardcover with all the paintings existing alongside the entire text of the Old Testament. Sam intends to sell the book door to door, dressed as a Bible salesman from the 1970’s, recording his interactions with people in a performance art piece intended to be made into a podcast. He will present a snippet of that work in progress, show and discuss 25 paintings, and answer audience questions. He will have books and prints for sale at the event.

Watch this short documentary about Sam's project to learn more.

Samuel Robertson

Sam Robertson is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His work has been featured in Berfrois, The Star Tribune, MPLSart.com, Eau Claire’s Volume One, and MinnPost.

I.S. Jones

I.S. Jones is a queer American Nigerian poet and former music journalist. She is a Graduate Fellow with The Watering Hole and holds fellowships from Callaloo, BOAAT Writer’s Retreat, and Brooklyn Poets. Her works have appeared or are forthcoming in Guernica, Washington Square Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, The Rumpus, The Offing, Shade Literary Arts, and elsewhere. Her honors include the 2021 Kemper K. Knapp Fellowship as well as the Hoffman-Halls Emerging Artist Fellowship. She is currently the Director of The Watershed Reading Series with Arts + Literature Laboratory and is Editor in Chief at Frontier Poetry. Her chapbook Spells of My Name was published by Newfound in 2021.

Photo credit: Nicholas Nichols (@maruneboy)

Rita Mae Reese

Rita Mae Reese is a recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, a Stegner fellowship in fiction, a “Discovery”/The Nation award, and a Pamaunok Poetry Prize, among other awards. An animated video from the title poem of her first book, The Alphabet Conspiracy, was showcased at the Association of Independent Commercial Producers Midwest Trade Show. Her second book, The Book of Hulga, was selected by Denise Duhamel for the Felix Pollak Prize in 2016. She designs Lesbian Poet Trading Cards for Headmistress Press, is a member of the bluegrass band Coulee Creek, and serves as Co-Director of Arts & Literature Laboratory.

Rebekah Denison Hewitt

Rebekah Denison Hewitt holds an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was a Martha Meier Renk Graduate Fellow. Her poems and essays have appeared in Narrative, Poetry Northwest, and the Rumpus. She lives in Wisconsin with her family and works as a school librarian.

Frank Ortega

Frank Ortega has been awarded residency fellowships at MacDowell, Edward F. Albee Foundation, Jentel Foundation, Karolyi Foundation (France), Dorland Mountain Colony, Millay Arts, The Studios of Key West, a Poetry Fellowship from New York Foundation for the Arts, was a Commendation Winner from The Poetry Society of the United Kingdom and Finalist for the Mississippi Review Prize.

His work has appeared in The Madison Review, Colorado Review, Seneca Review, Oberon, Mississippi Review, Paris Lit Up, BRAND (UK), New Millennium, Honor (a zombie comic book series), California Quarterly, Atlanta Review, the anthology I Go to the Ruined Place (Lost Horse Press), etc.

He has performed in NYC at everything from the Poetry Society of America & New York Public Library to Nuyorican & CB's313 as well as over twenty times at The Moth in NYC. He has just... Read More

PLAN YOUR VISIT

Arts + Literature Laboratory is located at 111 S. Livingston Street #100, Madison, Wisconsin, 53703.

Our galleries are open Tuesday through Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday noon to 5pm, and other programs take place throughout the week. Please check the events calendar and education section for details.

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