INTRODUCTION


Sidewalks are the blank pages of our city as a book. If you look closely, however, you see traces of text, such as Knutson Construction or Standard Sidewalk, stamped discreetly into some of the panels. I wondered if we could borrow this simple stamping idea, enlarge the stamp to a prominent size, and give our poets this everyday public space for writing.

We held a poetry contest open to all residents of Saint Paul and received more than 2000 original poems. The outpouring of verse was unexpected and heartwarming. Poems about spring and winter, mothers and fathers, love, and many other things imaginable reassured us that in Saint Paul we lead poetic lives. Through an anonymous judging process, our thoughtful panel chose twenty winners and fourteen honorable mentions. We made large stamps of the winning poems and teamed up with the city’s sidewalk maintenance program with the goal of one-hundred stampings this construction season.

It is obvious that sidewalks are important to our city. We use them, repair them, and want them to be smooth. Not always obvious is how poetry is just as




essential, if not more so. We live both in the physical world and in the world of metaphors and dreams. We should use poems more often, repair them when they are not smooth, and delight in them when they serve us well.

Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk is inspired by the universal, childish desire to draw a finger through tempting wet cement. The project also has higher-minded aspiration. Our public realm, crowded with commercial and regulatory text, could use more poetry. On our modest sidewalks, we hope to create delightful moments of open-air reading, and make public and common the beauty in our hearts as expressed by our poets. Beautiful poetry can be as present and plain as sidewalk, as grass and sky.

I am deeply grateful to Public Works and Public Art Saint Paul. I especially thank Christine, Bruce, Aki, Travis, Abe, Nic, Larry, Joanne, Carol, John, and the many friends of this idea for allowing me to write the first few pages of this very big book that is our city.
-Marcus Young
Artist-in-Residence
City of Saint Paul