Monument Lab's new art book spotlights Philly poets
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Photos: Courtesy of Monument Lab
Two of Philly's prominent female poets are spotlighted in Monument Lab's new art book.
Why it matters: Monument Lab released the book, "Re:Generation," this month, spotlighting the public art and history studio's landmark national projects, coinciding with celebrations of Philly as America's birthplace.
The big picture: The initiative asked, "Which stories belong in public?"
- The book's 304 pages include Philadelphians whose stories resoundingly answered that question.
Axios Philly spoke to former city poet laureates Yolanda Wisher and Trapeta Mayson, whose 2022 "ConsenSis" project is highlighted in the book.
- The poets tell Axios the book — much like their project — is about archiving the present, and acknowledging previous decades' work that "has not gotten written about in a book."
Catch up quick: In 2022, they brought together more than 100 of the region's Black female poets for a restorative retreat in Germantown.
- They later worked with composer Kendra Butler Waters to record "Sisterly Affection," a 20-minute oral-history track centering those women's stories and Philly's cultural contributions, including shaping figures like Sonia Sanchez, the city's first poet laureate.
On Philly's unique influence: Wisher remembers putting on a poetry festival a few years ago at Philly's 30th Street Station, when a woman experiencing homelessness walked in and shouted that they didn't own the place.
- "I ended up writing a poem about it, because I just thought it was such a real Philadelphia moment," she says.
The bottom line: Art plays a huge civic role in Philly — and the community deserves to be front and center as the city celebrates the nation's 250th birthday, Mayson says.
- "We kind of say 'brotherly love,' and we whisper 'sisterly affection,'" Mayson tells Axios.