The Writing Across Borders interactive exhibit opening at Summit ArtSpace celebrated Kent State University Wick Poetry Center’s award-winning Traveling Stanzas project and its innovative outreach, which places highly qualified teaching artists (many of whom are creative writing students at Kent State University) in area classrooms and community centers. Traveling Stanzas: Writing Across Borders is an ongoing, community arts project, which weaves the visual arts and poetry as a means to engage in a deeper and meaningful conversation with one another. The event showcased the rich diversity of refugee and immigrant populations of Akron, Ohio’s North Hill community through poems and visual design, and served as a catalyst to launch this traveling exhibit nationally and worldwide.
From the Judges
Kent State University's Traveling Stanzas: Writing Across Borders showcased a creative approach to bringing multiple stakeholders together. This event highlighted the doubled-impact that grants and private philanthropy (matched gifts) can have and stayed true to its mission of creative expression and inclusive excellence. The team did a great job of bringing oral histories and lived experiences to life for immigrant and refugee populations and including the local community in the event. A solid example of post-event impact with securing additional grant support and the nationwide traveling exhibit.
