Housatonic Museum of Art Presents:
Live from the POEMobile: Bridgeport Arts Fest!
July 1, 2014
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT
ROBBIN ZELLA AT 203-332-5052
Bridgeport, CT- On Saturday, July 12th at 8:30pm, the POEMobile, a beautifully hand-painted truck covered in multilingual poetry that houses an innovative, open-air text projection system, will visit Bridgeport’s Arts Fest. Led by poetry ambassador Shanna T. Melton, Bridgeport’s best and brightest poets will perform along with their verses writ large on the façade on the McLevy Building at State and Broad Streets.
The POEMobile is presented by City Lore and Bowery Arts + Science and is sponsored by Housatonic Museum of Art at Housatonic Community College and supported in part by the Downtown Special Services District, City Lights Gallery, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by the City of Bridgeport Mayor's Office and the Bridgeport Arts + Cultural Council.
The event also features music by the hip-hop and jazz fusion trio The Mighty Third Rail, an award-winning New York based trio that mixes the elements of Hip Hop poetry, beat-boxing, violin and upright bass. This bold, urban collective pushes the boundaries of Jazz and Hip Hop to define the next generation's voice. They are the winners of the 2012 Musical Theatre Matters award for BEST New Music at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland and are 2013 American Music Abroad Finalists for the U.S. State Department.
The Housatonic Museum of Art’s collection contains over 5000 works of art spanning ancient through modern times and is one of the largest permanent collections of any two-year college in the Northeast. Exhibitions and programs are funded in part by the Werth Family Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, Fairfield County Community Foundation, Target, Inc., and other individual donors. If you are interested in supporting HMA exhibitions and programs by donating to the Housatonic Community College Foundation, contact the Museum at www.HousatonicMuseum.org.
Shanna T. Melton is a visual artist, poet, community organizer, and educator. She has performed in poetry venues from New York through Canada. She is currently The Ambassador of Poetry with The Housatonic Museum of Art. Her work carries the essence of women, men, people of color, and poetry. In addition to exhibiting her paintings, Shanna is also the author of a collection of poetry titled A Voice in the Symphony and her debut CD titled, A Woman’s Song. She was honored by Bridgeport’s Black Pride as “A Woman to Know in 2011.” She plans to take her words, paintings, and ideas around the world so that people can be inspired by her work. The mission is to turn all her visions into reality. She knows that the world is the best inspiration for creativity and she would like to take in as much of it as possible. In her words, “they say the beginning of forever is in my eyes… I think I will keep them open.”