November 1997
Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina • 5
A few lines of Yeats to go
Poetry project aims
to alter tempo
of hurried lives
By Kelly Prelipp Look
Winston-Salem
Among the billboards and display
ads screaming at consumers, TMad
citizens may find some more pro
found sentiments — in the form of
poetry — infiltrating their thoughts
as they rush about their busy lives.
At least that’s the hope of cre
ators of a new poetry project at the
Salem College Center for Women
Writers.
t
mm
f
For friendship i
make a dhain ^^Moldsj' J
to be bound to '
others, Wo ft
that cannot move
unless they hold.
- Robert Crvcley (&. 1926)
A display poster featuring a Robert Creeley
poem greets bustling travelers at the
Piedmont Triad International Airport in
Greensboro.
“We hope to change the landscape
of our world just a little bit,” says
Annette Allen, director of the center
and head of the Poetry in Public
Places project. “The goi is to help
poetry become a living art and a part
of our everyday lives.”
To that end, volunteers have post
ed 150 posters throughout the region
at sites not normally known to
Inspire deep reflection — locations
such as a Wendy’s fast food restau
rant, a Kroger grocery store and the
Piedmont TMad International Airport
in Greensboro.
Since the first posters, featuring
10 poems, were posted in ^ptember,
Allen says, response has been over
whelmingly positive — so much so
that requests for additional posters
far exc^ the number available.
The project was launched with
$4,600 from the North Carolina
Humanities Council and
$2,500 from the Mary
Duke Biddle Fbundation.
Greg Sharpe of Sharpe
Company donated the
first batch of posters. A
new batch, featuring 10
more poems, is slated to
go up this month.
Simiiar projects have
made an impact in
London, Boston and
San Francisco. New
York City’s Poetry in
Motion project, run
since 1992 by the Poetry
Society of America in
conjunction with the
Transit Authority,
places posters on sub
ways and buses and
reaches up to 5 million
people a day.
Winston-Salem is the
first city in North
Carolina with such a
program, Allen says,
but she hopes the pro
ject win serve as a
model for others in the
state.
While current posters
feature well-known poets such as
Langston Hughes, Carl Sandburg and
Emily Dickinson, the center is hold
ing a contest soliciting original poet
ry from local artists. The 10 winning
poems will be featured on posters
next year. The deadline for submit
ting poetry is Dec. 1. Call (910) 721-
2739 for contest guidelines.
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Ex-N.C. official
to consult
nonprofits
at Mars Hill
Mars Hill
Bob Goodale, former North
Carolina deputy commerce secretary
and former chief executive officer of
Harris Teeter Inc. in Charlotte, has
been named a fellow of the Institute
at Mars Hill.
He will be based in Ralei^ and
serve as a consultant to nonprofit
organizations and communities.
The institute, based at Mars Hill
College in western North Carolina,
provides strategic planning services
to nonprofits and communities
throughout the state and southern
Appalachia.
It was created last summer with
the gift to the college of two planning
systems, valued at $1.83 million, that
were designed by college alumnus
Dan Keith Ray.
In the late 1970s, the Fbrd
Fbundation funded an effort by Ray to
design a management system that
nonprofits could use to be more effec
tive organizations.
In 1986, Ray licensed the system to
accounting firm KPMG Peat Marwick
for 10 years, and he headed the firm’s
nonprofit practice until 1991, ^\ben he
retmned to western North Carolina
from New York.
Call Pat Cabe, the institute’s man
aging director, at (704) 689-1449.
Todd Cohen
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You’ve heard of the Oscar, the Pulitzer, and the
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In recognition of those companies whose •
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tangible impact on the Durham '
community, .Mitsubishi ~
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special program. If you
know of any local compans’
that exemplifies committed
corporate citizenship, we’d like to
hear about it. The winning small,
medium, and large companies will be
granted SI,000 toward their charities
of choice, plus a crystal award
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You knmv what they .say: it’s an honor Just to be
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V'oice sour nomination for The Challenge of Excellence.
nCCHALLElMGE
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Three Diamond Lane, Durham, NC 27704
Nomination forms available online at:
WWW.inS3l.C0ni, the Greater Durham Chamber of
Commerce and I’olunteer Center of Greater Durham.
Deadline: December 1,1997.
TO SUBSCRIBE to the Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina,
call Rebecca Britt at (919) 899-3741
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