MAKING BOSTON A LISTENING CITY, ONE VOICE AT A TIME.
In partnership with MIT Center for Constructive Communication, I am developing a citywide art and poetry project that blends written word, audio experiences, and interactive elements. The proposal includes displaying my art on bookmarks placed in local cafés and libraries in Boston — inviting people to pause, listen, and reflect. The work aims to meet communities where they are, spark conversation, and make art an everyday encounter.
Bookmarks will be placed in Boston Public Library
GBH Studio
Beginning February 2026
Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
In Partnership with the MIT Center for Constructive Communication
THE LISTENING WALL
- Magnet Poetry
About:
This January, the Poetic Artiste is curating an open mic and panel discussion centered on storytelling, listening, and collective expression. At the core of the experience is The Listening Wall, an interactive installation designed to evolve through community voice.
One side of the wall features black-and-white magnetic poetry, where short haikus begin as fragments and shift as stories are shared. The reverse side is a blank canvas—an open surface for handwritten notes, poems, reflections, and responses. Using provided markers, cuttable magnetic sheets, sticky notes, and other materials, participants are invited to leave their mark in their own words.
As an artist, I listen closely to what is spoken and felt, allowing those moments to shape the work in real time. The Listening Wall becomes both archive and living poem—a space where individual stories gather, overlap, and transform into collective meaning.
Theme: Seen, But Not Held
What happens when artists are celebrated for what they create, but not fully seen for who they are? This theme explores the distance between artistic recognition and human connection.
Key Words: Inorganic Energy | Connection | Transactional | Value | Perform | Proof | Business | Platforms | Power
THEME:
Community | Art x Artists | Funding
Roots and Rhythm
I feel supported
in spaces —
created by my peers,
by Black and Brown hands,
intentional spaces,
where no agenda hides,
just room to breathe,
to move,
to be.
Spaces where we gather,
not for show,
but to hold each other,
to take care —
of ourselves,
of the whole.
Here, we are seen,
we are heard,
we are home.
- Poetic Artiste
Join Us
Saturday January 17th, 2026
La Sala
2379 Washington St, Roxbury, MA 02119
6:30pm - 8:30pm
Open Mic | Panel Discussion | Art | Networking | Meet & Greet | Listening Bar | Raffle |
Complimentary Art | Giveaways
Voices & Visions
Art Collection
This collection will live on exhibition throughout 2026 in a local business suite. Before its installation, the work will be shared publicly at A Poetic Night: RealTalk@Boston Edition, allowing the community to experience the work in conversation, poetry, and dialogue.
Moderator
Trev Woods
Host of the Global Renaissance Podcast
