The Summer Reading Program encourages all students in the 2012 class to create a small-scale artwork inspired by the graphic novel format used in Josh Neufeld’s book, A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge and an image from “Telling Their Stories: The Lingering Legacy of the Hurricane Katrina,” a photo exhibit featured in the Tower Fine Art Gallery. Submissions will be displayed in a fall semester exhibition in the Drake Memorial Library. One artwork will be selected as “The Best of Show” by faculty from the Department of Art and Library Staff. The winner will be invited to have dinner with the author on Thursday, September 27, 2012 and will be awarded a $100 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble bookstore.
A graphic novel is a visual narrative or book in which a story is told through the use of sequential images, that may or may not include text. The pages of a graphic novel are organized into panels of images, not paragraphs of words.
The photographs included in the “Telling Their Stories” exhibition capture memorable moments in time, from immediately before the storm until days and weeks after hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.
Keeping the graphic novel format in mind, visit the Tower Fine Art Gallery and view the photo exhibit.
(The opening reception will be held on August 30 from 4-6 pm and the exhibition continues through October 12th.) Select an image that you find particularly engaging and create a fictional visual narrative through the use of sequential images. Your story and images can be about what you imagined happened either prior to the event captured in your selected photograph or what happened afterwards.
Consider the content of your story and how it relates to the photograph, the progression of images, the number and size of panels, the use of text and font style, and the use of text balloons—all of which can help communicate your ideas. Use a minimum of three panels in your visual narrative.
