Broadside Project Updates
March 27, 2020 | Kate
April Here: When I first envisioned the Wichita Broadside Project, I imagined these great moments when folks would get to experience art and poetry ‘in the wild,’ in unexpected but delightful ways. I also wanted to create authentic opportunities for collaboration between artists and poets. But let’s face it. For the time being, the way Wichitan’s experience our town has shifted dramatically.
I am watching communities spring up digitally in ways that I’ve never seen before. And that means what we envisioned for this project can really grow and change. So after brainstorming with Harvester Arts, and taking into account our current situation with COVID-19 and social distancing, we’re changing the dynamics of the project.
We are cancelling our in-person April 17th gallery show. Later in the summer, we’ll discuss whether we want to do this for the fall.
We are expanding our acceptance window for the next six months. That means we want YOU, poets and artists, to continue collaborating, continue exchanging ideas. The plan then is to feature 2-3 broadsides digitally each month through October. We’ll post featured broadsides on River City Poetry AND on social media platforms. We’ll ask you to share them across your networks. Folks are welcome to print out the month’s broadsides and post them in their areas, but we’re shifting our focus to the digital world, at least for the time being.
I’ll be hosting a ‘Zoom’ mixer/collaboration the first week of April. We’ll brainstorm together other ways we can expand our reach and impact. It is my intention that the heart of this project, the exchange between poets and artist can continue.
My desire to see these posters ‘in the wild’ hasn’t changed and I hope to honor that. But right now we have a unique opportunity to create work that reflects our current experience. Submissions are already starting to come in. If you haven’t yet found a partner, maybe we can help with that during our April digital mixer.
Thanks for being a part of this journey with me. I’m really excited to see where this can go.
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