As you may remember, this semester in my Intro to Fiction Writing course, as a group the students composed a town where all of thier stories and scenes would take place. Along with this, we visited the Robert & Elaine Stein Galleries on campus to see an exhibit on Community, put together by the wonderful gallery coordinator, Tess Cortes. This intersection of images, art, and community was a jumping off point for an assignment where students were to photograph something from their own communities, describe how the image inspired them, how it fit into their fictional town, and how they could use it in a story.

Here are some of their awesome images:

Ella Beloff

Dylan Dohner

Bethany Faile

Joan McPheron

Caroline Mundhenk

Along with these images were great descriptions of the characters who would sit on these benches, be inspired by these statues, see the same things differently as children or adults, and the juxtaposition of emotions these images raised for the photographers.

More than ever, I’m looking forward to reading their final stories this semester.