When our community yearned for artistic expression, the Kauffman Center offered that direction. A call to poets for new works to guide us, overwhelmed with the response, Kansas City, we thank you.
This spring, the Kauffman Center presented Artful Poetry, a new initiative focused on the art of writing. The call for poetry submissions was enthusiastically received, garnering over 200 submissions from writers aged 6-84.
Each entry was based on one of three prompts provided by the Kauffman Center. Poets could study a work of art and become poetic using just one of the five senses, write a poem to their future selves, or convey what community means to them.
The contest’s reach extended across metro Kansas City and beyond, with entries from Salina and Hutchinson, Kansas, to Boonville and Columbia, Missouri. Submissions came from as far away as Illinois and New Mexico.
“We are thrilled to recognize the incredible work of poets in our region and to offer competition winners the opportunity to perform their poem on the stages of the Kauffman Center,” said Kauffman Center President and CEO, Paul Schofer. “Thank you to everyone who submitted entries and to the judges who lent their expertise to our inaugural competition. And a big “Congratulations!” to all the talented winners.
First, second and third place winners were selected in the youth and adult categories. Contest prizes included a video recording of each poet performing their winning work on stage at the Kauffman Center, their poem featured on the 90.1 KKFI community radio program ARTSPEAK RADIO, publication in KC Voices or KC Voices Youth and more.
Youth category winners:
- First up: Victoria Rollins is a self-taught artist and aspiring writer. She wrote her post not just as a letter to her future self to remember where she was, but as a reminder to be gentle with the person she wants to become and not expect too much from people who aren’t there. where she is on her journey. .
- Second place: Lauren Kopitas enjoys reading, writing, playing the piano, traveling and exploring world history. She has been a voracious reader since early childhood and has cultivated a love of poetry and philosophy through her literary endeavors.
- Third place: Elwyn Patterson is a high school student in Kansas City, Missouri. She also plays the clarinet and ice skates.
Adult category winners:
- First Place: Poet tl sanders, aka Àtwist – The Language Artist, is a 2019 Poet in Residence Award recipient from the Paper Birch Landing Art Gallery, a member of the National Writing Project Writers Council, and a current director of curriculum and former elementary school , college and high school English teacher. Poet embraces the value of our shared stories and has a passion for empowering others.
- Runner Up: Erikka O’Toole is an aspiring homemaker, performing artist and social entrepreneur. She is passionate about developing space, art, and opportunities rooted in faith, family, and freedom. Her life motto comes from the Broadway musical Purlie, “Let your own dreams be your only limits.”
- Third Place: Lindsey Weishar holds an MA in Creative Writing and Media Arts from the University of Missouri in Kansas City. She writes for a variety of outlets, including Verily magazine and the Plowshares blog. His chapbook, Matchbook Night, was published by Leaf Press (Canada) in 2018.
A panel of renowned Kansas City judges, consisting of spoken word artist Glenn North and writers Maria Vasquez Boyd and José Faus, reviewed and evaluated all submissions.
“Judging this competition brought out a lot of different voices that I had never heard before in the city,” said judge José Faus. “It’s a hard thing to distill it to so few (winners) when so many people deserve it. Plus, the poetry of youth was so heartfelt and thoughtful, it makes the choice doubly hard.
At a time when humanity felt disconnected, Artful Poetry helped bring the citizens of Kansas together through the joy of writing and speaking. To see the winners’ pieces, as well as the judges’ writing tips and their own poems, visit kauffmancenter.org/artful-poetry.
Glenn North is the Executive Director of the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center and currently serves as Poet Laureate of the 18th & Vine Historic Jazz District. North is the author of City Song, a Callaloo Creative Writing Fellow, and a recipient of the Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Award. His work has been published in Langston Hughes Review, New Letters, KC Studio, Cave Canem Anthology XII, African American Review and American Studies Journal.
Glenn North is the Executive Director of the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center and currently serves as Poet Laureate of the 18th & Vine Historic Jazz District. North is the author of City Song, a Callaloo Creative Writing Fellow, and a recipient of the Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Award. His work has been published in Langston Hughes Review, New Letters, KC Studio, Cave Canem Anthology XII, African American Review and American Studies Journal.
Learn more about Artful Poetry judges Glenn North, Maria Vasquez Boyd and José Faus:
Glenn North is the Executive Director of the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center and currently serves as Poet Laureate of the 18th & Vine Historic Jazz District. North is the author of City Song, a Callaloo Creative Writing Fellow, and a recipient of the Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Award. His work has been published in Langston Hughes Review, New Letters, KC Studio, Cave Canem Anthology XII, African American Review and American Studies Journal.
Maria Vasquez Boyd is producer and host of ARTSPEAK RADIO, a weekly live show on 90.1 FM KKFI Kansas City Community Radio. Boyd is a founding member of the Latino Writers Collective, has taught at the Kansas City Art Institute and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, worked for Hallmark Cards, and served as gallery coordinator for Writers Place, Guadalupe Center, and the Mexican Museum in Chicago. . Boyd has been poet-in-residence for Present magazine, artist-in-residence for El Grupo Atotonilco, and is currently working on the community project Ojo De Dios KC.
José Faus is a painter, writer, performer, freelance teacher and mentor interested in the role of artists as creative catalysts for community development. He is a founding member of the Latino Writers Collective and sits on the boards of the Latino Writers Collective and the Charlotte Street Foundation. Faus has published two books, This Town Like That in 2016 and The Life and Times of José Calderon through West 39 Press in 2018.
