The "Raining Poetry" art installation hides poetry in plain sight—the words of poets like Langston Hughes are stenciled on sidewalks around Boston and only revealed when water is added.
Cristela Guerra reveals the art installation "Raining Poetry," hidden around Boston.
According to Guerra, Mass Poetry, a Boston nonprofit that supports local poets, stenciled poems by the likes of Langston Hughes or one of three Massachusetts poets on concrete sidewalks with a "biodegradable water-repellent spray." Thus, when water, such as rain, is added to the mix, the poems appear "as if they fell from above."
"The stencils first appeared on Park Street on April 1 in honor of National Poetry Month," reports Guerra. "Most recently, four poems were added on May 13. The Mayor’s Mural Crew traveled around the city installing the pieces one by one."
Sara Siegel, program director for Mass Poetry, is quoted directly in the article expressing the hope that "everyone in the state will encounter a poem in their daily lives at least once or twice a month." This program is designed to help make that happen, while also adding a bit of magic to the encounter.
Astute Planetizen readers will remember a similar art program in Seattle, where public art adjacent to bus stops only appear when it's raining.
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