MOVING POEMS PUBLIC ART PROJECT FEATURED IN
Americans for the Arts YEAR IN REVIEW
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Dianne Cripe, Office of Public Art
Arizona State University
http://herbergercollege.asu.edu/public_art
Ph: (480) 965-0951
Tempe, AZ --- June 15, 2006
A “moving” collection of ASU art and poetry was selected for the Americans for the Arts Public Art Network’s 2006 Year in Review, as one of the most successful, innovative and exciting public art projects in the United States. “Moving Poems” was one of 38 projects selected from a field of 189 entries by New York artist Mary Miss and Robert Rindler, president of the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
A blend of visual and literary art, “Moving Poems” connects art and poetry to ASU’s Tempe campus via a new vehicle of creative expression – utility carts. The project, initiated by the Office of Public Art, enlivens the environment of the large university with short, thoughtful poems and urban haiku. A larger-than-life-size image of the author is displayed next to each poem.
The 4-foot by 5-foot cart sides provided a “blank page” to students in the masters program of creative writing, and ASU Regents’ professor and poet Alberto Rios reached students through a “Call to Poets.” Rios said the exercise helped students learn “the true essence of poetry” by distilling their images to a single sentence or thought. “Carts and poets are both in the process of moving people.” Some of the winning entries include: "You have a call. It's you." “Take a long cut.” and “Like an old farmer, language drives us through the fields.”
“Communities across the country are developing innovative ways to involve artists in the design of public space,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “The Year in Review recognizes Arizona State University’s “Moving Poems” as one of the premiere public art projects in the United States for 2006.”
“There’s a perception that poets labor anonymously over their keyboards searching for the right phrase or sound,” said Dianne Cripe, director of the Office of Public Art in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. “This puts their work – and faces – out there for everyone to see and appreciate. The carts reach hundreds of people a day and give students the opportunity to, in effect, publish their work to a wide audience. Where else but on a university campus can one see golf carts featuring poems?”
Phoenix firm Thinking Caps, led by Julie Henson, donated their design services to create brightly colored backgrounds for the pithy phrases and photographs.
Funding for this project was provided by the ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing.
The Year in Review selections were presented at the annual conference, held this year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 31 through June 3. Selections are also included in an online presentation, slide set, and CD. These items will be available on Americans for the Arts’ website at www.AmericansForTheArts.org. For more information e-mail pan@artsusa.org.
The Office of Public Art, within the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, organizes temporary exhibitions of public art on campus, oversees and maintains the 18-piece permanent collection and manages the certificate in public art program. “Public Art Review,” the nationally recognized journal of public art professionals and artists, has named ASU Public Art to the “Big Ten” list of US campus public art programs
