Thu 4/20 @ 7PM
Recently, Heights Arts, whose Cleveland Heights poet laureate program is the longest-running poet laureate program in Ohio, named Siaara Freeman as its 11th poet laureate. She follows Ray McNiece, one of the area’s best-known poet/writer/performers who served a three-year term due to the pandemic. And the role is now official known as the “Heights Poet Laureate” as Freeman will now represent University Heights in addition to Cleveland Heights.
Freeman’s first public event in her role as poet laureate is Heights Arts gallery’s Ekphrastacy, in which poets respond to the art currently on display. That include Charles Schweiger’s fabric and ceramic, Japanese-influence bird pieces, and the group show All Access, featuring work that uses accessible materials, including those typically associated with folk art, to make contemporary work.
She’ll join McNiece, Elijah Blumofe, and Rachel Wiley in reading original poems responding to the art, and some of the artists themselves will talk about their work in the gallery. The event is free and open to all.