See Poetry and Art on Trains, Buses, and Transit Kiosks and Our Online Store!

Clarence White
clarence@saintpaulalmanac.org
612-267-9036

SAINT PAUL (December 8, 2017) – The Saint Paul Almanac and its partners in the IMPRESSIONS Project are thrilled to announce the arrival of the last of four editions of broadsides on Metro Transit trains, buses, and kiosks as well as in the Almanac online store. Each of the six broadsides presented in this final edition is a collaboration between a poet and visual artist that pairs stunning images with engaging verse.

“IMPRESSIONS has brought people together in an amazing way over the past year,” said Almanac executive director Kimberly Nightingale. “People tell us all the time that they are thrilled to have a poem and art give them a break from the ads on the buses.”

In the IMPRESSIONS Project, Almanac brought together the work of 24 local writers and 24 local visual artists.The result was six stunning broadsides that were published and produced each quarter, 24 broadsides for the year, inside dozens of trains and buses in the Twin Cities and on bus kiosks and train platforms. Each broadside is a unique poster of a local poet’s poem combined with a local artist’s work as a reflection of that poem.

This last cohort of broadsides includes:

“This project has been a tremendous success thanks to a partnership with Metro Transit, the ad agency Intersection, and especially the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge,” said Nightingale. “We also want to thank Golden Thyme Café for hosting our community editor process. And we could not have done this without our friends at the Black Dog Cafe, Java Express in Union Depot, Golden’s Deli, Aurora St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation, and Western University-Plaza.”

Larger versions of the broadsides can be seen on posters at spots around the Twin Cities. Locations can be found on this map. Purchase your own copy in the online store. ​And they are always traveling on buses and trains!​

Make an IMPRESSION in your home or office!

Prints of any broadside can be purchased for $20 each (including shipping and tax!) or you can buy a  bundle of all 6 broadside prints for just $100.

Kelly Westhoff writes micro poems and essays about motherhood, travel, and Minnesota. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband, her son, and two neurotic min pins. KellyWesthoff.com

Theresa Bear is a 31-year-old photographer who recently moved to Saint Paul. She makes cyanotypes and creates intimate portraits of pieces of nature. She loves collaborating with other artists and sharing her love of nature to the world.

Willis Gilliard is a photographer born and raised in Saint Paul.[

Leann E. Johnson has been creating art for more than 20 years. A current resident of Minneapolis, she has illustrated for the New York Times and the Saint Paul Almanac. Her tile work is sold at The Studio Museum of Harlem and The Store at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. lea-way.com

Tim Nolan was born in Minneapolis, graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BA in English, and graduated from Columbia University in New York City with an MFA in writing. Tim is an attorney in private practice in Minneapolis. His poems have appeared in The Gettysburg Review, The Nation, The New Republic, Ploughshares, and on The Writer’s Almanac and American Life in Poetry. He is the author of three collections published by New Rivers Press: The Sound of It, And Then, and most recently The Field in 2016.

Kristi Abbott is fascinated with the use of color, pattern, and texture and tries to combine these elements in her work in an innovative and exciting way using a combination of substrates, papers, and embellishment materials. Major influences in her work include pop art and pop culture, Hollywood, music, and fashion.

Kurt Schultz lives on Saint Paul’s East Side with his wife, Karen, and their puggle, Elliott. Inspired by Lewis Carroll, Kurt penned a small collection of nonsense poems enjoyed by children and adults alike. “Pet” is the shortest of these poems.

Christopher E. Harrison is a fine artist, public artist, and designer in Minneapolis. He has exhibited locally, nationally, and internationally. Christopher is currently an arts educator at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. He creates paintings, drawings, and sculpture in his North Minneapolis studio.

Margaret Hasse started writing poems when she was a child and has never stopped. She believes everyone should be able to recite at least one poem by heart. Between Us is her fifth and most recent book.

Cami Applequist is a Saint Paul writer and artist working in variety of media. She draws, paints, collages, and photographs to create images—but also works in 3D. Her main goal as an artist is to tell stories and work with others, leading workshops and collaborating on projects.

Ursula Murray Husted spends her time making comics, teaching comics at the University of Wisconsin–Stout, daydreaming about boats, and feeding her cats. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Bryan, and daughter, Tove. She dislikes sudden loud noises and Styrofoam packing peanuts but adores regional candy and roadside attractions.

Andy Singer is a cartoonist and illustrator. His work has been published in hundreds of magazines, newspapers, and books, including The New Yorker, Esquire, The Progressive, La Décroissance (France), The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Saint Paul Pioneer Press, and The San Francisco Bay Guardian.

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