Tonight was a groundbreaking evening at The Nelson-Atkins Museum Of Art which hosted a rather AWESOME event drawing a great number of people from a wide cross-section of Kansas City.
The BOLD.NEW.POETS. - ART of The Spoken Word offered a showcase of artists from across the area displaying a vast array of talent.
Organizers Terance Williams and Desiree Rodgers seen here in this first photo have been producing these shows for less than a year and already the reaction from local poetry fans has been overwhelming.
"We've had some really great crowds and people like what we've been doing," Mr. Williams noted. "Every show has been drawing a larger audience and I've been surprised at what a positive reception that we've received."
Speaking with Mr. Williams outside of the Atkins Auditorium he continued, "What we want to do is to make sure that spoken word art is part of Kansas City's culture. We want to foster not just audience members or participants but inspire members of our movement."
Take a look at just a few images from the evening . . .
This poet and organizer of the show calls herself Sapphire . . . And she read a really deep poem about suicide that totally bummed me out.
Monica was a Christian poet who offered a collection of verses about the challenges of living a faithful life in the postmodern age.
A man calling himself SINCERE offered some really great and very clever urban poetry that earned the best reaction from the crowd.
The best poem from SINCERE was a thoughtful missive about an everyday scene from urban life that told a story about a junkyard dog and offered a clever twist.
The spoken word art of James Nunn was certainly worth a listen and he seemed to be a crowd favorite as well.
In little more than a month The Bold New Poets are planning another show dedicated to African-American History at The Crown Center Screenland Theater which will consist of a great many dedications and tributes to great African-American Artists.
For me, this evening was a great glimpse into one of the more interesting things happening in Kansas City and I look forward to covering more of these events when time permits.
STAY TUNED . . .
You need another blog where you can post stuff like this without subjecting people to all of the haters.
ReplyDeleteCandy ass.
ReplyDeletewas there, pretty good time.
ReplyDeleteArt of the "spoken word"? Do you mean reciting something you've memorized? How is that art?
ReplyDeleteWhat a drag.
ReplyDeletefreedom of speech....it's a beautiful thing..especially...when it's placed on stage...
ReplyDeleteAll of these black folks in these pictures, and not one holding a mop or a broom. Jeez...
ReplyDeleteShouts out to the Desiree Rodgers and Terance Williams for bring positivity into the city and giving people the opportunity to express themselves boldly. To the Performers, Hats off. It takes a lot of courage and intestinal fortitude to get on stage and give yourselves to the the people. To all the negative people leaving ridiculous comments, God bless you.
ReplyDelete"Monica was a Christian poet who offered a collection of verses about the challenges of living a faithful life in the postmodern age." Best of luck to her, she has a difficult job.
ReplyDelete"Haters" have nothing to do with the fact that niggers ruin everything, including this shit, that passes for "art".....Art, it isn't.
ReplyDelete8:39 - You have no class and I doubt you know anything about art. It's also doubtful that anyone would want to see you on a stage doing anything.
ReplyDeletePray for racists...I'm Amayzn, one of those poets you defamed with your comments. What you don't notice is we are a mix of backgrounds including Christian, Hebrew, Blacks and whites. Maybe what you don't see as art is the moat beautiful thing to us. Races and backgrounds able to find a connection is art. We were in the right place at the right time with the right reason. Perfectly imperfect the way true art is. Maybe instead of looking at it from your stand point look at it from ours. It doesn't take much courage to stand behind bigotry and a computer screen shouting racial slurs. Standing in front of a crowd filled with people who may or may not agree or like what you say and still doing what you love? That's courage. Try it sometimes.
ReplyDeleteFuck that!! I won't even try karaoke.
ReplyDeleteThe only negative comment from Tony was for the WHITE bitch. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteroses be red, violets be blue, if i had a edumakashun i wouldn't have to rob yo ass!
ReplyDeleteThey should have remade 'Tarzan' while they had all those extras handy.
ReplyDeleteA great show. Lots of talent and a wonderful night for Kansas City poets!
ReplyDeleteGreat job Terance.
are there any links on the web to let us hear them?
ReplyDelete