A Panorama of Place at Clarion University Art Gallery

Last night dozens of people crowded in the Clarion University Art Gallery for their first glimpse of Piercing the Veil: Appalachian Visions a collection of photography by Greg Clary and poetry by Byron Hoot. 

Clarion University Art Gallery Manager, Kaersten Colville-Woodruff, managed the opening and curated the exhibit. The event, introduced by Clarion English faculty and poet, Phil Terman, offered light refreshments and a live reading of five poems in the collection by Hoot including “Sanctuary of Fog” and “Jenny the Bartender”. Hoot says the reception was “wonderful” and “far exceeding expectations.” Friends, family, and fans all the way from Maine through Florida came to support the event. 

The collection provides a “panorama of place, people and interpretation through the eyes of Clary and the words of Hoot.” The two collaborators used the ekphrastic method where the photographs prompted the poetry to capture the “natural art of reality” in each moment. 

Two Boys from West Virginia

Both Clary and Hoot were born and raised in West Virginia, though both now live in northwestern Pennsylvania. They say they were “marked deeply by the physical and emotional landscapes” of their childhoods, which is reflected in their work.

The two collaborators met through the Brookville-based writer’s group, Writer’s Block Party, where they came to admire each other’s work. Both were also published in multiple editions of The Watershed Journal. 

Hoot’s poetry has also been published in the Tobeco Literary Arts Journal, North/South Appalachia’s annual anthology, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pennessence. Clary’s photography has appeared in The Sun, Looking at Appalachia, The Breeding Atlas of Birds in West Virginia and at the Red Brick Art Gallery’s exhibition celebrating the Clarion River. 

Purchase Your Copy Today!

Piercing the Veil: Appalachian Visions is available digitally on Amazon, with the paperback version dropping soon.