Creative Project

For my creative project, I created three posters that featured Black Poets. I wanted this to be something that could possibly hang in middle and high schools so I chose excerpts from poems that I thought would be appropriate for those settings. I also wanted the posters to be engaging on their own without the poems. I decided that using a collage technique would work really well with what I wanted to do. I decided to not focus on one figure but instead give a voice to several Black Poets. I think that it is really important to view Black Poets as exceptional for being poets, not just for being Black Poets. By creating these posters that could be used in schools, I am trying to normalize the work of Black Poets as classic and beautiful poetry, not just because of their race. By exposing students to these poems, it normalizes Black Poetry. 

My posters highlight the beauty of these poems and the complexity of these poems. There were so many poems and verses to choose from but I chose these poems and excerpts for why they were unique. In "The Caged Bird" by Maya Angelou, I chose this excerpt because I really felt that it communicated a lot and offered a very nice overview of the entire poem. In "Ghana Calls," I felt that it not only described the natural beauty of Ghana but also talked about a wonderful vision of hope. For my final excerpt, I felt that this poem could be used as an excellent metaphor for climate change and that I could use it with expressive imagery. 

In terms of the design for my project, I really wanted to have the poems inform the collage and the collage inform the poems that I chose. I decided to use collage because I think that it is complex and can add depth to artwork. I also really enjoy doing it so that was another reason why I chose it. The medium suited the project because these poems also have layers and depth. They are both complex and beautiful art forms. 


[Dear one, the sea] by Dawn Lundy Martin

[Dear one, the sea..] by Dawn Lundy Martin 










Ghana Calls by W.E.B DuBois 











Caged Bird by Maya Angelou
Caged Bird by Maya Angelou 

Comments

  1. RowanOctober 21, 2020 at 10:35 AM

    These collages look totally awesome, and I think that your choice to highlight the beauty and talent of these poems and poets is a great instance of this kind of representation and also reflected well in the art you made. Collage seems like a good way to represent the complexity that you see in these excerpts as well.

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  2. BiancaOctober 21, 2020 at 3:58 PM

    The images you created to accompany these poems are very vivid. I could definitely see these collages hanging in the hallway of a high school, and advancing representation of Black poets.

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  3. RyanOctober 21, 2020 at 7:28 PM

    These turned out so well! I love the visual combination of the collage style and the poetry. The images you chose fit really well with the poems (and I especially like the image you made for "Ghana Calls"). I also really like the way you spaced out the different lines. It both looks nice and emulates the spaced out and intentional way poetry is usually read.

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