The Arts Council of Chautauqua County is calling all writers and artists to get involved with a unique creative arts project mash-up.
Here are two short poems that I'm submitting for the project. Cross your fingers and please submit your own work for the project!
Tara Lamont Eastman, a resident of Jamestown NY for the last 18 years, has been writing poetry, essays, songs, spiritual writing and painting since she was a child. Tara is married, has two children, and works in the fields of youth/family ministry and the arts. Tara has been an avid blogger for the last ten years at: lamont-uphill.blogspot.com or google: Uphill Idealist. Tara studied writing and graduated from Empire State College with a Bachelor in Arts in Writing, literature and psychology in the Spring of 2007. Tara is currently enrolled in a Certificate in Youth and Theology studies program with Princeton Theological Seminary.
(Red is a poem written in honor of Mrs. Hodak, Tara's fifth-grade teacher, that inspired and encouraged Tara in her first efforts in writing poetry.)
RED
Describe a color. It all started there.
With the color red, my fifth-grade teacher that looked like Mrs. Claus and a composition book.
That day, I passed through a door that would always lead me home.
That home was new to me then, yet now it seems to have always been.
It's a place I can always travel to, no matter where I am. It's never too far away.
To make this journey, all I need is a pencil, a notebook, and the memory of Mrs. H, my teacher,
smiling as she expectantly reads and finds what I've written on the pages inside.
(Green light is a poem inspired by the human desire to make progress while living with the tension what that looks like in daily life.)
Green Light
So many pieces to fit into place, so many options in the daily race.
There are so many reasons to want more to say, and so many seasons to live every day.
Green lights are calling me to take the next step.
Green lights are hinting of what will be, but isn't yet.
Green lights are shining from a long ways away.
Green lights are calling, while I watch and I pray.
Sometimes they are shrouded in the fog of night, and other times I squint to see them through beams of daylight.
So, caught up in all possibility of my green lights;
I press the accelerator and say, "Yes", with both my feet and my heart.
Both poems written by T.L. Eastman 2010
The Arts Council For Chautauqua County is accepting submissions for “3rd Street Canvas – An Urban Literary Trail”, an initiative that will display the writing of community members on buildings and other structures on and around Third Street in downtown Jamestown. The goal of the project is to give the community an opportunity to participate directly in a public art installation created from their own writing. The 3rd Street Canvas project will be the first art installation of this kind in Jamestown.
Submission details:
All entries must be received by February 9th to: 3rdstreetcanvas@gmail.com.
• Submissions should not exceed 125 words and can be of any genre: poetry, prose, micro-fiction, autobiography etc.
• Each piece must have a title
• A brief 4-6 sentence narrative describing the author and the inspiration behind the submission is also necessary. ( For example, “each evening’s sunsets over the lake inspired this piece”)
• Only original material will be accepted.
• Please include your name, address and telephone number with your submission
• Only two submissions per person will be allowed.
A panel of community members chaired by Catherine Way from the Prendergast Library will review the entries choosing up to 50 for downtown display. Ten to twelve of the submissions will also be visually represented by local artists. Others will be printed on the Arts Council website. No prior professional writing experience is necessary.
By submitting a writing sample, the creator acknowledges that the work may be edited for grammar and punctuation but not for content. The sample may be used in a commemorative booklet, artwork, calendar or other written or media based productions along with other
submissions and could be seen outside of Jamestown if the installation travels.
Beyond reprinting for the installation and booklet, the creator will retain ownership of the submission. Work will not be sold individually, however it may become part of a collection that may be sold to raise funds to support the arts in Chautauqua County. Credit for all work used will be duly noted.
There is no guarantee that every submission will be used. No feedback from the review committee or the Arts Council will be provided to those submitting. The chosen work will be displayed as part of the 3rd Street Canvas beginning in late March and continuing through July of 2011 and may be displayed in other installation or works of art in perpetuity.
Here are two short poems that I'm submitting for the project. Cross your fingers and please submit your own work for the project!
Tara Lamont Eastman, a resident of Jamestown NY for the last 18 years, has been writing poetry, essays, songs, spiritual writing and painting since she was a child. Tara is married, has two children, and works in the fields of youth/family ministry and the arts. Tara has been an avid blogger for the last ten years at: lamont-uphill.blogspot.com or google: Uphill Idealist. Tara studied writing and graduated from Empire State College with a Bachelor in Arts in Writing, literature and psychology in the Spring of 2007. Tara is currently enrolled in a Certificate in Youth and Theology studies program with Princeton Theological Seminary.
(Red is a poem written in honor of Mrs. Hodak, Tara's fifth-grade teacher, that inspired and encouraged Tara in her first efforts in writing poetry.)
RED
Describe a color. It all started there.
With the color red, my fifth-grade teacher that looked like Mrs. Claus and a composition book.
That day, I passed through a door that would always lead me home.
That home was new to me then, yet now it seems to have always been.
It's a place I can always travel to, no matter where I am. It's never too far away.
To make this journey, all I need is a pencil, a notebook, and the memory of Mrs. H, my teacher,
smiling as she expectantly reads and finds what I've written on the pages inside.
(Green light is a poem inspired by the human desire to make progress while living with the tension what that looks like in daily life.)
Green Light
So many pieces to fit into place, so many options in the daily race.
There are so many reasons to want more to say, and so many seasons to live every day.
Green lights are calling me to take the next step.
Green lights are hinting of what will be, but isn't yet.
Green lights are shining from a long ways away.
Green lights are calling, while I watch and I pray.
Sometimes they are shrouded in the fog of night, and other times I squint to see them through beams of daylight.
So, caught up in all possibility of my green lights;
I press the accelerator and say, "Yes", with both my feet and my heart.
Both poems written by T.L. Eastman 2010
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