Event - My Word(s) – These are the tools I trust Opening

My Word(s) – These are the tools I trust Opening

02.23.20, 2:00 pm

Image credit: Pablo Delcan, detail, Free Verse Magazine 2016

Please join us for the opening of the Community Partnership Exhibition My Word(s) – These are the tools I trust, on Sunday Feb 23, 2-5pm. 

 

My Word(s) – These are the tools I trust presents text-based art and creative arts programs produced by participants of Free Verse. Initiated in 2012, Free Verse is a poetry workshop, working artists program, publishing house, and magazine that works with people in NYC Department of Probation waiting rooms to turn “waiting time into creative-time.” Poets share experiences with the criminal justice system, family shelters, racial profiling, among other critical social issues. While focused on serving those stuck waiting in probation centers, all workshops, open mics, inclusion in the magazine, and book-making are open to the public. The project has also evolved to offer participants job opportunities as teaching artists as part of a Working Artists Program. 

 

SCHEDULE:

2-4 pm: Create and exhibit your original graphic and visual poems inspired by Free Verse’s What’s Your Story? ten word story poster project.

3:30-4 pm: Open mic

 

Free Verse, dedicated to addressing economic inequality, is an initiative of poet, playwright, translator, and actor Dave Johnson. Serving as Poet in Residence for the NYC Department of Probation for eight years, Dave teaches writing and performance workshops, curates events, edits Free Verse publications, and creates employment opportunities for court involved clients and poets.

 

My Word(s) – These are the tools I trust is the title of a poem by Free Verse participant Azalea Fairley.

 

This exhibit and associated public programs are supported in part by Nancy Pantirer – 81 Leonard Gallery, NeON Arts, NYC Department of Probation, Poets & Writers, and Teachers & Writers Collaborative.

 

My Word(s) – These are the tools I trust is presented as part of Queens Museum’s Community Partnership Exhibition Program, which provides opportunities for cultural and other nonprofit organizational partners to develop and mount short-term exhibitions based on their programs and our collaborative projects.