Issue Five: March 2017
“I believe art is utterly important. It is one of the things that could save us.”
Mary Oliver
We’re always on the lookout for art, creativity and inspiration and it’s exciting to see it in so many places. This winter here in the Twin Cities, the St. Paul Almanac partners with Metro Transit to unveil IMPRESSIONS, a collection of poetry and art on city buses and trains.
Attending the AWP writing conference in DC this January, enabled us to visit the Dupont Underground —a ‘subterranean arts and cultural organization’— including fantastic urban art and light installations in a below ground tunnel system beneath DC’s Dupont Circle.
On a spring break trip to Miami we discovered Wynwood Walls, a stunning display of colorful street art on storefronts, warehouse walls, doors and in the galleries of Miami’s eclectic Wynwood neighborhood.
We’ve been following from afar @BOTUBookFairies, a group that leaves books in London’s Underground stations and trains, and @piccadilly_west, a source of daily quotes, poetry and inspiration in the London tube stations. It’s exciting to know that just by paying attention, art and creativity can be found pretty much everywhere.
Which brings us to our March issue. This issue’s creative contributors span the globe, range in age from 13-21 and write about coping, communicating and culture. There’s something about these young artists and writers that enables them to get directly to the heart of things and express themselves with voices that ring true in their humor, pain, empathy and reflection.
And we’re going to keep right on being GRATEFUL to those donors who issue by issue enable us to pay our contributors and believe right along with us, that art just might be one of the things that could save us.
Molly Hill