Calling all pocket poets, the Patchogue Arts Council and the Museum of Contemporary Art are infusing new energy into Poem in Your Pocket Day and invite all to participate on Thursday, April 30, for a lively combination of music, art and, of course, poetry.
The event kicks off 6 p.m. at PAC Gallery, home of Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA), 20 Terry St., Suite 116, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of National Poetry Day.
“This is our Poem in Your Pocket Day but sort of on steroids,” said Edward Schmieder, who serves on the PAC MoCA Board of Directors.
While previous Poem in Your Pocket Days have been “sweet but modestly attended,” he said, “we wanted to get more people jazzed about poetry so we decided to add junk collaging, redacting (poetry) and music to turn it into something bigger and more broadly interesting.”
In addition to an open mic where folks can spontaneously share poems, there will be two solo acts—Marbling and Voicemail—specializing in indie tunes through Ballpark Booking.
Additionally, workshops on junk collaging and creating with redacted poems will be available through teaching artist Laura Yacoubi, according to Instagram. As Schmieder explained, junk collaging uses discarded or everyday materials, like fabric scraps, to "create a mixed medial personal storytelling work.”
To jumpstart their muse, attendees also might try their hand at redacting poetry, which creates new work from published words they select.
“It’s going to be lively and buzzy,” Schmieder said of the event. Donations are suggested but not required.
In other news, Schmieder said, PAC is at the “very beginning” of fundraising for a cultural arts center serving Patchogue. The center will stand on one and a half acres of land in East Patchogue donated by Rechler Equity Partners.
For more on PAC see the website.