INSTALLATION
Raining Poetry
Working with the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture and Boston’s Poet Laureate, Danielle Legros Georges, I implemented the Raining Poetry program beginning in 2016. Working with local poets and artists and using a water-repellent spray, I installed stenciled poems on city sidewalks throughout Boston in a handful of different languages that appeared only in the rain. The project was a huge success, with interest shown from countries around the world and a New York Magazine video featured on Facebook with over 24 million views.
I brought this program to Salem via a poetry competition for the Mass Poetry Festival in 2017 and 2018.
Raining Poetry in the News
Atlas Obscura | Boston.com | Boston Globe | Boston Magazine | CBS Boston | City Lab | Daily Mail | Fox 25 | fun on net | New York Magazine | Smithsonian | Storypick. | treehugger | Weather.com | Wicked Local – Roslindale | Boston Globe | Boston Magazine | Dorchester Reporter | Huntington News | Now I Know
Poetry on the T
Poetry on the T is a creative placemaking initiative which replaces advertisements on the T with beautifully designed posters featuring work from local poets. I oversaw seven months of placement on all four of the T lines. The series required sponsorship, and I created a media kit to share with potential partners. I partnered with outside organizations including Wellesley College, who showcased poems from faculty, staff, students, and alumni; Penguin Press for the release of a new Mary Oliver collection; and smaller sponsorships from a variety of Mass Poetry partners. Working with OutFront Media, I was ultimately able to feature 46 poetry posters.
Blackout Poetry
For The Poetry Coalition’s 2019 theme Poetry & Democracy, I hosted an event for community members to create blackout poetry from political documents, including the US Constitution, Bill of Rights, Letter From Birmingham Jail, and Malala Yousafzai’s speech delivered to the UN. Based on submissions of crafted poems and artwork, Mass Poetry selected six finalists whose work was meant to appear on the T. Because of their political nature, they were unable to be shown. Instead they appeared on Soofa kiosks throughout the city.
Prudential Center
Working with Boston Properties in 2018, I hosted a poetry competition seeking submissions on the theme of spring. After selecting winners, I partnered with Montserrat College of Art to create an installation of origami raindrops and flowers inside The Prudential Center.
PERFORMANCE
Gallery Residencies
Working with Brooke DiGiovanni Evans from the Education Department at the Museum of Fine Arts, I hosted the MFA’s first ever writing in the galleries. Modeled after the drop in Drawing in the Galleries held on Wednesday evenings, the Writing in the Galleries Residency ran for three months in 2018. I recruited three poets to lead writing-generative workshops, each in a different exhibit, for four weeks. Workshops lasted two hours and were free to all museum attendees. We saw over 350 guests at the twelve workshops, including repeat visitors and visitors traveling from as far away as Vermont to take part. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive from attendees, poets, and the MFA, and we were able to showcase attendees’ poems on Facebook.
Public Readings
At the request of Boston Properties, in summer and fall of 2017, I curated a weekly reading series showcasing three poets an evening for eight weeks in the courtyard of The Prudential Center.
Working with Boston Book Festival, I have hosted several iterations of Poems & Pints, one of the last events of the annual festival. Additionally, I created and implemented The Great American Poetry Challenge, a stop along Boston Book Festival’s 2019 Lit Crawl, held at Trident Booksellers & Café.
Between 2016 – 2019, I curated several months of the U35 Reading Series, highlighting young poets sharing their work in front of an audience, often for the first time. I hosted this event at the French restaurant Marliave, Trident Booksellers & Café, The Prudential Center, Boston Public Library’s Newsfeed Café, and Remnant Brewing in Somerville.
Sara Siegel 