NORFOLK — When Natalie Parker set out to illustrate a poem by Ted Kooser, the former U.S. poet laureate, she dug into her boxes of paper to find the textures and colors that would bring his words to life.

Her first collage illustrated parts of Kooser’s poem “After Years.” But Parker said her initial attempt was too busy.

“I started picking items off and chose the parts that really resonated with me,” the Lincoln artist said.

The parts that remained include a variety of paper cutouts as well as three-dimensional objects, such as sequins and glitter.

And if one looks closely, there’s a poem in the collage’s clouds.

“I typed the poem and ripped the paper into cloud shapes,” she said.

Parker is one of 26 artists whose work is included in “Kooser Impact,” an exhibit that includes paintings, metalwork, batik, pottery, glassware and collages that illustrate a poem by Kooser.

Kooser, the U.S. poet laureate from 2004 to 2006 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 2005, attended a reception at the Norfolk Arts Center recently where he mingled with visitors, smiled for photos with the artists and also sang their praises.

“I’m honored,” he said, referring to the fact that the artists chose to illustrate his poems. “I like them all. They’re all very interesting.”

The artists are members of IMPACT, a consortium of artists from Nebraska who exhibit their work around the country.

One of IMPACT’s goals, said Nicolette Maguire Bonnstetter of Lincoln, president of the organization, is to demonstrate to people in the rest of the country that Nebraska does have good artists.

For that reason, the shows are not often exhibited in Nebraska.

But it seems natural that the collaboration between a Nebraska poet and Nebraska artists should be first unveiled in Nebraska.

Leroy von Glan, a Norfolk artist who is a member of IMPACT and also serves on the Norfolk Arts Center board of directors, was instrumental in bringing the exhibit to Norfolk.

Bonnstetter’s painting depicts a collection of objects that she has an emotional tie to and illustrate a couple’s life together.

Titled “A Marriage,” the painting illustrates the poem “December 29, windy and cold” and includes the shoes Bonnstetter wore on her wedding day, a Chinese checkers game board, a train engine and paper dolls. The checkers, she said, represent the games people play — good or bad — while the train represents the “push” to reach outside her comfort zone.

“The paper dolls represent the end of an era,” she added.

Carlos Frey took a similar approach.

The Wayne artist said he read quite a few of Kooser’s poems before deciding to illustrate “Garage Sale.” The painting shows an older man surrounded by items he’s collected.

“He (Kooser) describes lots of objects. I decided it would be fun to make an assemblage of those items,” Frey said. “It was an opportunity to take a complex topic and distill it down and interpret it whatever way I chose. It was like putting a puzzle together.”