Every two years, America SCORES Cleveland holds our Inspired Art event. It is a chance for the creative artistic community and our poet-athletes to come together, giving scholars an opportunity to see their words brought to life in the form of art including photography, paintings, and sculptures.
Each artist is given a selection of poetry written by our 3rd – 8th graders to review. Poem themes range from nature and entertainment to social justice and the concept of identity. Artists choose a poem that speaks to them and then creates a piece of artwork inspired by that poem using their chosen medium.
Artists are always amazed by the powerful and compelling poems written by our poet-athletes. “I felt London’s poem was so strong, independent, proud, and full of life. I took that feeling of love and joy and funneled it into my composition,” said Katherine Check, a new artist who was inspired by the poem “She is London,” written by London, a 4th grader from Willson School.
Art pieces this year range from fun and happy including Danielle Rueger-Mireowski’s piece inspired by the poem “Annoying Pets”, to the calm and tranquil as in the beautiful photo of The Flats by Paul Giglia inspired by the poem “Our City, Our Home”, to the more powerful and serious such as the thumbprint composed of a sample of names of individuals who have lost their lives to police violence by Gabrielle Lawrence inspired by the poem “Black Lives Matter”. There are over 50 pieces this year, something to compliment any home and appeal to any style!
All the wonderful artwork generously donated will be part of a silent auction that will go live on June 1st and run through 10:00pm on June 4th. The auction is free and open to anyone who would like to bid on the artwork. Almost all of the artwork can be shipped in the continental United States; those that cannot be shipped will be marked accordingly in the bidding platform. All proceeds from the auction will go towards ensuring SCORES can continue to provide free programming to Cleveland youth.
To wrap up the event, we will be holding a livestream program on June 4th at 7:00 pm. Join us to hear London (4th grader, Willson School) and Gregory (6th grader, Newton D. Baker School of Arts) perform their poems and talk about their time in the SCORES program. You will also get to hear from one of our amazing artist, Gwendolyn Garth, who created a piece inspired by Gregory’s poem We Need to Change. Finally, learn more about the SCORES program from our Executive Director, Debi Pence-Meyenberg. The livestream is free and will be streamed through YouTube, Facebook, and GiveSmart, our fundraising platform.
We hope everyone can join us for this event to support all the hard work our poet-athletes have put into the program this year. The silent auction will open June 1st and close at 10:00pm on June 4th, with bids on the artwork being accepted during that entire timeframe. Enjoy the livestream on June 4th at 7:00pm. To register for free to bid on all the amazing artwork, visit http://InspiredArt2021.givesmart.com.
If you have any questions about this event or SCORES please contact us at info@americascoresclevleand.org
