Jennifer Ball (L), Leizel Rafanan and Noelle Schmidt are getting a first-hand view of how poetry can be propagated outside of campus. They’ve been doing research, making petitions, asking for letters of support, refining the idea and writing the proposal.
Yesterday we met with Joel Barton, a former member of Manina’s class who is now, by chance, a member of the LAC board. He gave us an idea of what a good presentation consists of, as well as the kind of information we should know, much of which we had not thought of.
Here’s what we have now, going by what the St. Paul, Minnesota version of our arts council told us of their experience, and from injecting our own ideas:
LAC would set up a yearly city-wide contest for people who would like to get their poems imprinted. Of probably five poems selected each year, two or three might go to the city’s grade 11 and 12 English students. The rest would go to anyone else. A panel of volunteer judges, composed of poets, English profs, etc. would select the winners. (The first contest in St. Paul brought in more than 2,000 poems.)
One of our own ideas is that a committee of gung-ho volunteers, responsible to LAC, would be set up and have as its prime function keeping the city excited about the project from year to year. It would also select the panel of judges.
Once the poems are selected (all short ones, of course), they would be turned into stamps. In St. Paul each stamp is designed in terms of font, letter size, etc, then the letters are cut from plastic and built onto an aluminum frame, five frames per year. A stamp supervisor, in his own van, follows the repair crew from one repair site to the next, making sure the cement is of the right consistency, and stamping in the poem. If there were, say, one hundred repairs made in a year, at random locations, then each poem would be impressed in the sidewalks twenty times in twenty random places before it is retired.
City office staff would organize and co-ordinate. Other than setting up the contests and promoting them, they would liason with the committee, and also make sure all residents near each repair would receive advance warning via flyers so they could refuse to have a poem in front of their residences if so desired.
The finishing touch would be a map added to the city's website with locations of all the poems so citizens could plot tours by car, bike or foot. Additional information about the poems, poets and the project would be included.
Jennifer Ball has taken responsibility for gauging citizen enthusiasm for the project. She made up the petition as well as a draft letter of support. Please make use of this letter if you would like to support the idea. Just sign it as is or use it as a template to write your own. And please sign the petition below, if you haven’t already.
Thanks, Stan Burfield
organizer,
London Open Mic Poetry
Below is a draft for a letter of support for the Sidewalk Poetry Project. You are welcome to edit, modify, use this as a template, or write your own letter to suit your thoughts and perspectives. We ask that letters include your signature if possible. If not possible, no problem. You can return the letter to us, by e-mail. If you have an electronic version of your signature saved, you can copy and paste it into the letter and then send it (but if you don't, no worries--send it with your typed name and email address); or you can print it out, sign it, scan it and send it. We will include your letter in the appendices of the proposal document. Thank you for your support.
Dear London Arts Council,
I am writing to show my support for the Sidewalk Poetry project proposed by the London Open Mic Poetry organization. I believe that this is an exciting creative project that will benefit the community of London in many ways.
The project offers an opportunity for the city to support literary culture throughout all areas of the community. It opens new doors for engagement with poetry for all demographics, making it accessible and adding a new dimension to readership. The project will help develop interest in poetry for younger generations by bringing it into their lives outside of the dictated school atmosphere, and allowing them to discover poetry on their own terms, making it a part of their lives as they read the same poems regularly while they grow up. The project will also foster community involvement in the arts, and offer poets the honour of making a lasting impression upon their city.
I believe that this project is an excellent opportunity for this city, and I eagerly await the chance to witness it unfolding in the future.
Sincerely,
(If you want to use regular mail (must be received by Nov. 30th), send it to me and I will include it in the documentation at the presentation:)
Stan Burfield
Apt. 1104-112 Base Line Rd. W.
London ON
N6J 1V4
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION HERE.
From Facebook: likes...12...Tina Pickard, Danielle Dam and 10 others1 share
Comments
To read the comments from Facebook, press "Read More" below...........
Lei Raf Stan, Thanks for getting us pumped up. I'm feeling good about this presentation already!
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:11 · Edited
Stan Burfield ha ha. Just in writing this I arrived at something to discuss: whether the city or the committee should be responsible for the contests. We had assumed, I think, that the committee would be, but maybe not. If we can't figure it out, it's another thing to leave to the city to decide on.
Like · Reply · 1 · 23 November at 17:20
Jennifer Amanda · Friends with Noelle Schmidt
Push the inclusion and belonging stuff as well. Placemaking and helping people connect to public space and entities. Ie- make poems = more citizen engagement ,which = great connectivity and belonging, while = a stronger and healthier community. Hope you guys are successful- would love to do something similar here in KW. Around the corner they were pouring sidewalks today and wondering how this project was doing. :D kick ass.
Like · Reply · 1 · 23 November at 17:18
Stan Burfield This is good stuff for Noelle Schmidt. She will be presenting the value of the project. Where is KW?
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:24
Lei Raf Stan, we need to meet soon to discuss the layout of presentation.
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:25
Stan Burfield Yeah. Well, you guys decide on a day and time. I'm free pretty much any time from now on.
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:25
Jennifer Amanda · Friends with Noelle Schmidt
Stan Burfield Kitchener- Waterloo.
Like · Reply · 23 November at 18:00
Stan Burfield Well, hey, if we succeed here, you should get it going there. A lot more sidewalks and a lot more poems.
Like · Reply · 1 · 23 November at 21:33
Jennifer Amanda · Friends with Noelle Schmidt
for sure. This kind of thing is totally up my alley.
Like · Reply · 23 November at 21:39
Stan Burfield Great. Now on to Toronto!
Like · Reply · 23 November at 21:40
Aldous Richards Tried to sign the petition. It asked me to sign in. Signed in with FB three times, didn't work. :-(
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:32
Stan Burfield Maybe Jennifer Ball can answer that. I'm rock bottom when it comes to teck.
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:37
Aldous Richards Well, I do have a very powerful security/blocking system on my PC, which might be having an effect...
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:38
Stan Burfield Ah. vs me with nothing at all. I think.
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:39
Linda Eva Williams Worked for me. Thats a first.
Unlike · Reply · 1 · 23 November at 17:44
12Tina Pickard, Danielle Dam and 10 others
1 share
4 comments
Comments
Lei Raf Stan, Thanks for getting us pumped up. I'm feeling good about this presentation already!
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:11 · Edited
Stan Burfield ha ha. Just in writing this I arrived at something to discuss: whether the city or the committee should be responsible for the contests. We had assumed, I think, that the committee would be, but maybe not. If we can't figure it out, it's another thing to leave to the city to decide on.
Like · Reply · 1 · 23 November at 17:20
Jennifer Amanda · Friends with Noelle Schmidt
Push the inclusion and belonging stuff as well. Placemaking and helping people connect to public space and entities. Ie- make poems = more citizen engagement ,which = great connectivity and belonging, while = a stronger and healthier community. Hope you guys are successful- would love to do something similar here in KW. Around the corner they were pouring sidewalks today and wondering how this project was doing. :D kick ass.
Like · Reply · 1 · 23 November at 17:18
Stan Burfield This is good stuff for Noelle Schmidt. She will be presenting the value of the project. Where is KW?
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:24
Lei Raf Stan, we need to meet soon to discuss the layout of presentation.
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:25
Stan Burfield Yeah. Well, you guys decide on a day and time. I'm free pretty much any time from now on.
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:25
Jennifer Amanda · Friends with Noelle Schmidt
Stan Burfield Kitchener- Waterloo.
Like · Reply · 23 November at 18:00
Stan Burfield Well, hey, if we succeed here, you should get it going there. A lot more sidewalks and a lot more poems.
Like · Reply · 1 · 23 November at 21:33
Jennifer Amanda · Friends with Noelle Schmidt
for sure. This kind of thing is totally up my alley.
Like · Reply · 23 November at 21:39
Stan Burfield Great. Now on to Toronto!
Like · Reply · 23 November at 21:40
Aldous Richards Tried to sign the petition. It asked me to sign in. Signed in with FB three times, didn't work. :-(
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:32
Stan Burfield Maybe Jennifer Ball can answer that. I'm rock bottom when it comes to teck.
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:37
Aldous Richards Well, I do have a very powerful security/blocking system on my PC, which might be having an effect...
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:38
Stan Burfield Ah. vs me with nothing at all. I think.
Like · Reply · 23 November at 17:39
Linda Eva Williams Worked for me. Thats a first.
Unlike · Reply · 1 · 23 November at 17:44