Gathered Dreams: Poetry, Art, & Music from the Wild Orchid Collective

The four members of the Wild Orchid Collective, a Los Angeles interdisciplinary artist group, share their music, poetry and visual art in a one-hour program that interweaves readings of poems with the dream-like photographic imagery of Holaday Mason, paintings by James Cushing and Celeste Goyer and music by composer/musician Adrian Baer.

After the performances in the Wanda Coleman Theater, join us for a book signing and reception with light refreshments.

Doors Open: 5:30 PM I Performances 6:00 PM

About the authors

Holaday Mason is a poet, fine art photographer and analytic psychotherapist. Her six poetry collections include 2024’s As If Scattered from Giant Claw Press, The Weaver’s Body, and The Red Bowl, A Fable in Poems. Holaday is the poetry editor for Furious Pure Magazine with editor-in-chief DH Dowling. Her photographic work, Urn Series and Fairytale Series, appeared in a solo show in Venice, CA in 2016. She lives in Venice with her husband, the musician & educator Adrian Baer. holadaymason.com

Celeste Goyer is a poet and visual artist living in Los Angeles, CA. Her debut collection, The Shoes of Our Guests, was released by Giant Claw, an imprint of What Books, in 2023. She edited a literary quarterly for fourteen years and her poems have appeared in Aperçus, Times Times 3 and the Columbia Review, among others. Her studio practice encompasses painting, assemblage, and collage. celestegoyer.com

Poet and painter James Cushing, born 1953 in Palo Alto CA, holds a doctorate in English from UC Irvine. In the early 1980s, he hosted a live poetry radio program on KPFK-FM in Los Angeles which gave early exposure to Dennis Cooper, David Trinidad, Amy Gerstler, Wanda Coleman, Leland Hickman, and many others. From 1989-2020, he taught literature and creative writing at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and served as the community’s Poet Laureate for 2008-2010. Cushing’s poetry collections from Cahuenga Press include Tangled Hologram and Solace. His daughter is the New York-based poet Iris Cushing. jamescushingpoetry.com

Adrian Baer is Jellybird, a multi-instrumentalist and multi-genre composer whose experimental sound collages tap into the vibrational essences of the body, spirit and emotions. Using an eclectic combination of “found” sounds and more common instruments, Jellybird’s work ranges from rock to psychedelic soundscapes to horizontal meditations that clear the mind in the tradition of ancient works and modern compositions. Recent albums include Meditations, World Set Fire, Rise, and Kali Lullabies. jellybirdla.com

Livestream: If you can’t join us in-person the event will be livestreamed on at the scheduled time of the event.

Masks are encouraged while inside our center.

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]

Event attendees are expected to behave in a respectful and considerate manner while in our space. Beyond Baroque reserves the right to remove individuals from our events, virtual or otherwise, if they are not respecting the space, fellow attendees, or performers.

Host or Publisher Beyond Baroque Literary | Arts Center