10am Saturday - let the fair begin...! (High school art teacher, Miah Lager's "collage poetry" booth) Notice the banners, they are made of collage materials

The Canvas Community Art Studio and Gallery hosted the first “Poetry Block Party” street fair last  Saturday, April 30th beginning at 10am to 3pm.  They received permission from the City & Borough of Juneau to close off Seward Street between 2nd and 3rd Street (which is where The Canvas is located).  The theme of this year’s block party (as they may continue as an annual event), was the writing of poetry through artistic means, whether it be the written word, visual arts, or performing arts.

Miah demonstrates the collage-making "poetry"

Most of the businesses within 2nd/3rd Street block (and 2 blocks down or around the corner) participated in the event.  They include Silverbow Bakery where you could participate in the “Baking” Haiku Contest; Big Brothers/Big Sisters poetry chain; Nana’s Estates theme hats; Capital City Weekly’s found poetry; The Plant People poet tree; Copy Express fill in the blank poems; Juneau Public Library Haikubes (“Scrabble” poetry), poetry books, library card registration and prize raffle; The Canvas word necklaces, mixed media poetry paintings, window word painting and crazy quills; Art Photography write photo-inspired poetry; Memuluck Furs beading and sewing; CHOCO in the REACH window “Tailored Words” poetry through fashion; Nail Jazz airbrushed temporary tattoos; Wells Fargo coin toss poetry; Nana’s Attic decorate hats and visors with the Hat Lady; K3Radio/UAS Media Club record poems to be read on the radio and turn in Scavenger Hunt cards for prizes; Juneau Arts & Humanities Council sidewalk chalk art contest; Hearthside Books receive 15% off all Poetry Books during the Block Party; Jewel Box drop off a “proposal poem” by 3:00pm for a chance to win a Jewel Box gift certificate; and DJ Manuel music all day, freestyle session.

Sidewalk/street art

Creating poetry writing wands

Love and friendship bubbles

The DJ played awesome tunes...especially for hula hooping

The street fair also included activities for adults...!

Performances throughout the day included the Hula Hoop Collective, Free-style Session with DJ Manuel, Spirit Lodge Drumming, The Kinetics (hip hop dance group), and Open Mic hosted by Woosh Kinaadeiyi Poetry Slam.

There were a few food vendors including the "Urban Eskimos" Gallery selling Kettle Korn and the classic Cotton Candy

Restaurants and food vendors included:  Silverbow Bakery’s beer garden; Chef Stef word cookies; Lola’s Filipino BBQ and desserts; Wild Oven organic artisan bread; Glory Hole alphabet soup; Pie in the Sky trade an original poem about pie for a free cookie; and Urban Eskimo kettle korn.

Painting body poetry

"Scrabble" poetry - roll the words and create a line of poetry (as seen in the photo below), then write your line down on a paper "leaf" and tie it to the tree for everyone to read...

An example of a line created from Scrabble poetry...

For more information on the Canvas Community Art Studio & Gallery in Juneau, visit their website at:  http://www.canvasarts.org/