UPDATE: Galley closed until further notice. The opening reception and reading planned for April 6 has been CANCELLED.
The practice of pressing poetry into concrete sidewalks, now celebrating its fifth year in Cambridge, has quickly become a beloved expression of public art. TRA•VERSE examines its allure and impact.
At once literary, plastic, and performative—Sidewalk Poetry is unlike its cousins read in a book or heard at a slam. Poems are influenced by the context in which they are created, the manner of their fabrication, and the circumstances in which we, as readers, encounter them. This fundamentally changes our perceptions and relationships.
Let the power of a poem move you. Read from the collection of nearly 1,000 entries to the annual poetry contest in our TRA•VERSE newspaper, share your own poems, and immerse yourself in a short film by Carl Tremblay, a meditation on the elusive territory that lies below our feet and beyond the mind’s eye—that of Sidewalk Poetry.
The Sidewalk Poetry Program is a partnership of the Department of Public Works, Cambridge Arts, and the Cambridge Public Library.
Gallery 344
Cambridge Arts Council
City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor, Cambridge, MA
Gallery hours
Monday 8:30am - 8:00pm
Tuesday - Thursday 8:30am - 5:00pm
Friday 8:30am - 12:00pm
Saturday - Sunday closed
Gallery 344 is free and open to the public.
Cambridge Arts Council Public Art Program
In accordance with Cambridge's Public Art Program, one percent of construction costs for capital improvements is designated to support the inclusion of integrated, site-responsive public art. Since 1979, over 200 artworks have been commissioned into the Cambridge Public Art Collection for the enjoyment of all who live, work and visit the city.