If you’ve ridden a MARTA train this month, you’ve probably seen the colorful artwork bearing verse from accomplished poets. It’s Poetry@Tech’s first off-campus foray into celebrating National Poetry Month in April.
Poetry@Tech collaborated with MARTA Artbound, the transit agency’s office responsible for public art in the MARTA system, to place the poems in trains and on digital signboards in select stations throughout the month.
“It’s really exciting because it’s so colorful,” said Victoria Chang, the Margaret T. and Henry C. Bourne Chair and director of Poetry@Tech. “And so, I feel like it gave me a lot of joy and I hope it gives the commuters and the riders on MARTA as much joy as it gave me when I saw it the first time.”
Atlanta artist Sanithna Phansavanh was excited when Poetry@Tech and MARTA got in touch about illustrating a piece by award-winning poet Mary Ruefle.
“There are no more than five words on any of the six lines, but it's bursting with imagery, mood, and poignancy,” Phansavanh said. “I wanted to capture the atmosphere and setting, with the sunset color palette and the environment, but also support her symbolism with my own, in the shadow, the cat, the flowers, the lightning bugs, and the street light.” In addition to Phansavanh, Atlanta artists Chloe Alexander, Jamal Barber, and Nick Benson produced the art accompanying the poems.
Poetry@Tech, housed in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, began celebrating National Poetry Month on campus a few years ago with yard signs, book giveaways, and other events.
Putting poetry on trains, something that’s been tried before in other cities, seemed the natural next step, said Travis Denton, associate director of Poetry@Tech.
“This is an opportunity to share them with our broader community here in Atlanta,” he said. “And when we put poetry on the trains, it’s an always-moving audience. There’s always different people getting on the train and getting off, so hopefully we’ll reach more people.”