The human brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text, with the ability to process an image in as little as 13 milliseconds, and though textual imagery burns more slowly, they can be combined to affect us deeply. In this playful, four-session experience, we will explore the intersection, or “cross-pollination” of words and visual images that enhance our storytelling, evoke emotion, and spark creativity. This course is facilitated by retired writing professor, James McCullough, and local artist, Patrick Wise.
Cancellations are non-refundable within 48 hours of this event.
James McCullough, a retired NCMC professor and Petoskey native, first taught writing and literature at Petoskey High School. There, he coached the ski team to a state championship. Leaving PHS, McCullough worked for a Regional, Federal Education Laboratory in Chicago, training writing teacher-researchers in rural schools across the Midwest to use computers and the nascent internet, a project that was covered in Time Magazine. He taught one year in Alanson, MI, connecting his students to the first global discussion of the environment involving senator and presidential candidate, Al Gore. The state selected his students to attend Governor Blanchard’s environmental conference in Lansing, MI. Soon after, NCMC hired McCullough to teach writing and literature, and chair the English department. During that time, he founded the University of Michigan’s Bear River Writers Conference, now in its 26th year, and was profiled by Poets and Writers Magazine. For thirty years, McCullough taught introductory writing, nature writing, poetic form, short story, and narrative research. He developed environmental education courses on Beaver Island for NCMC students. and was selected Teacher of the Year twice. He is the author of Voelker’s Pond: A Robert Traver Legacy, which was selected by the Library of Michigan as a notable book for that year, and Echoes, a collection of outdoor essays with Deep Wood Press. A twenty-year contributor to Traverse Magazine, McCullough also published essays in The Bear River Review; Blue- The Michigan Magazine; The Dunes Review, and The American Journal of Fly Fishing.
Patrick Wise is a full-time painter based in Northern Michigan.
He holds a Master’s degree in Painting from Wayne State University and has taught drawing and painting at several colleges in the Detroit area.
Inspired by the beauty of Northern Michigan, he encourages creativity and personal expression in his classes.
