New Interactive Poetry Sculpture Debuts at WeHo Pride Arts Festival
Poet Laureate of West Hollywood, Jen Cheng, premiered an interactive sculpture, Poetry Scrabble, on Friday June 14, 2024 at Plummer Park’s Long Hall Courtyard to engage WeHo Pride Arts Festival attendees to reflect on the photography exhibition, Vitam Picturarum (Life in Pictures).
Poetry Scrabble is an interactive sculpture that celebrates different events with event-specific word tiles. For June 14th’s art opening reception, Jen Cheng curated word tiles inspired by the photography exhibit which celebrates everyday life through the queer lens, curated by Rubén Esparza and his artistic team.
Poetry Scrabble made its first appearance at the WeHo Pride Arts Festival. Throughout June, attendees at other events explored the possibilities of creating a community poem in the greater Los Angeles Area. The bottom rows were designed with accessibility in mind, for young children and people in wheelchairs to reach easily.
On June 22nd, Poetry Scrabble celebrated the LA River as part of the Summer Solstice event in Studio City, at the Richard Lillard Outdoor Classroom. Custom word magnets were curated to celebrate the history of the LA River and the poetry about the landmark.
Poetry Scrabble was also part of the pre-show games and activities at Grand Performances (DTLA), as part of the event on June 28th 6pm-8:30pm “The Poetics of Pride and Legacy.” Jen Cheng explained the inspiration for Poetry Scrabble: “As an interdisciplinary artist, I want to blend different artistic experiences, get people more actively engaged and in conversation, and make art experiences more expansive. Some people find words challenging and by making this an interactive community experience where people don’t need to worry about failing at this group game, I hope more people feel they can enjoy artistic expression and poetry. Poetry Scrabble is an event activation, to get more people feeling that arts are accessible.”
with Poetry Scrabble.
For the June Pride events, Cheng curated word magnets to celebrate LGBTQ+ life in conversation with LGBTQ poetry legends such as Allen Ginsberg, Gloria Anzaldúa, Audre Lorde, and Langston Hughes.
This is just the beginning of the interactive sculpture tour with Poet Laureate Jen Cheng. Poetry Scrabble is available for bookings with community and private events throughout the year. The interactive sculpture gets curated with custom word magnets to celebrate each specific event.
Comments from Art Curators about Collaborating with Jen’s Poetry
“I’m so excited about this [poetry sculpture]… I like things to be dynamic and outside of white box systems. This interactive physical component, in the moment, will draw you in.” –Rubén Esparza, WeHo Pride Arts Festival curator
“It was lovely to have Jen Cheng read the poem she wrote for Ted and Wrona Gall’s Artist Talk in November. It added another dimension, perspective and form of artistry to the afternoon. Wrona, who is also a writer was especially enchanted to have her work interpreted through poetry.” -Sung-Hee Son, bG Gallery curator
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Photo credits: WeHo Pride Stage (Nicolette Jackson-Pownall). WeHo Pride Premiere of Poetry Scrabble with young kid (Kayte Deioma). Word tiles sample (Katya Grigorian). Poetry Scrabble at Grand Performances (Nicolette Jackson-Pownall).
JEN CHENG 