More Poems Appear Underfoot in Takoma Park
In most places, sidewalks can’t speak but concrete imprinted with poetry shares local stories in Takoma Park.
Fourteen poems by local children and adults have been stamped in city sidewalks, including three poems in new sidewalks on Belford Drive and Belford Place. Two more poems have been stamped outside the Takoma Park Community Center as part of the library renovations.
The City’s Arts and Humanities Division organized the project and created an online map at bit.ly/3wuxH1F, with icons and photos of the poems to encourage walking and biking on a 4.5-mile looping route across the city.
More than 150 local residents submitted their original poems in a poetry contest in 2021, and a committee of local poets picked 10 children and 10 adults as the winners who ranged in age from 6 years-old to seniors. Each winner received a $100 prize and an opportunity to have their original poem stamped in a local sidewalk, using a customized metal plate with raised letters that is pressed into wet concrete. You can read all of the poems at bit.ly/sidewalkpoetrywinners.
“This project has been a fun way to highlight the creativity of local residents and emphasize that anyone can be a poet,”
Arts and Humanities Coordinator Brendan Smith said.
Takoma Park has the only sidewalk poetry program in the D.C. area that was inspired by a project organized by artist Marcus Young with Public Art Saint Paul in St. Paul, Minn. Sidewalk poetry has since spread to other cities across the country from Key West, Florida, to Santa Clarita, California.
The sidewalk poetry project is part of the Arts and Humanities Division’s Public Art Works initiative, which incorporates public art into public works projects to locate public art more equitably throughout Takoma Park.
“It’s rare to be able to add an artistic touch to basic concrete so we are happy to participate,” Public Works Director Daryl Braithwaite said. “The thoughtful and playful sentiments expressed in the poems will have a long life on our sidewalks.”
This article appeared in the January Edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. Check out this article and more on the City webpage.
