Enjoy a Family-centered Poetry (and Art) Walk on C-Street
Families are invited to take a stroll down vibrant Historic C-Street – Springfield’s Commercial Street – during April and enjoy the One Read Poetry Walk inspired by this year's One Read selected title, “The Vanishing Half, by author Brit Bennett.
In windows of businesses, visitors will find a selection of moving poems and compelling artwork created by a range of America's finest African American poets and artists taken from the picture book "Words with Wings: A Treasury of African-American Poetry and Art" curated by Linda Rochelle.
Poetry Stops
Lewis Boxing Gym 434 W. Commercial St. Featured poem: Primer by Rita Dove, featured art: The Library by Jacob Lawrence
Q-Enoteca 308 W. Commercial St. Featured poem: We Alone by Alice Walker, featured art: The Banjo Lesson by Henry Ossawa Tanner
The Vecino Group 305 W. Commercial St. Featured poem: How Poems are Made by Alice Walker, featured art: Can Fire in the Park by Beauford Delaney
Historic C-Street Association at Historic Firehouse #2 101 E. Commercial St. Featured poem: Listen Children by Lucille Clifton, featured art: Underground Railroad by William H. Johnson
Chabom Teas and Spices 209 E. Commercial St. Featured poem: Women by Alice Walker, featured art: Harriet Tubman by William H. Johnson
Big Momma's 217 E. Commercial St. Featured poem: Legacies by Nikki Giovanni, featured art: Saying Prayers by Horace Pippin
Springfield Braiding Company 219 E. Commercial St. Featured poem: This Morning by Lucille Clifton, featured art: School's Out by Allan Rohan Crite
Blu Styles Barber Shop 223 E. Commercial St. Featured poem: Growing Up by E. Ethelbert Miller, featured art: Gamin by Augusta Savage
Savoy Ballroom & Dance with Me Dance Studio 224 E. Commercial St. Featured poem: Rhapsody by William Stanley Braithwaite, featured art: Celebration by Charles Searles
Cafe Cusco 234 E. Commercial St. Featured poem: Fifth Grade Autobiography by Rita Dove, featured art: Reflection by Hughie Lee-Smith
Basilico Italian Cafe 306 E. Commercial St. Featured poem: Human Family by Maya Angelou, featured art: Figurative Composition #7 by Emilio Cruz
Van Gogh's Eeterie 334 E. Commercial St. Featured poem: Night by E. Ethelbert Miller, featured art: Interior by Horace Pippin
Askinosie Chocolate 514 E. Commercial St. Featured poem: Your World by Georgia Douglas Johnson, featured art: Landscape with Rainbow by Robert Scott Duncanson GLO Center 518 E. Commercial St. Featured poem: My People by Langston Hughes, featured art: Into Bondage by Aaron Douglas
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