Poetry Lights Up "Opa-locka Light District"

By Bianca Marcof, the Miami Times

Jul 6, 2021

More than 100 poems – including "Love is an object” – were created and collected in community poetry workshops, for consideration for “Opa-locka Light District.”

(Courtesy of O, Miami/Gesi Schilling)

Poems written by Opa-locka residents are lighting up the city’s streets.

The “Opa-locka Light District,” a new public art installation created by O, Miami and the Opa-locka Community Development Corporation (OLCDC), is broadcasting the voices of residents of all ages while illuminating streetscapes to increase pedestrian safety.

Ten city street lamps along Opa-locka Boulevard now project short original poems onto sidewalks and edifices that include the historic Harry Hurt Building, city municipal buildings and La Granja Supermarket, among others.

“Justice is a force,” is one of six poems written by children and youth that were selected for inclusion in “Opa-locka Light District.”

(Courtesy of O, Miami/Gesi Schilling)

The idea for the project, which had been in the works for more than two years, came from former OLCDC arts manager Ashley Cover. Adrienne Chadwick, current arts manager, executed it.

The poems were collected during workshops led by O, Miami in area community centers and schools; poems by three adults and six youth were selected to be featured in project. The works address the topics of democracy, public safety, transportation and infrastructure.

“We were thrilled to hear the voices of Opa-locka residents,” said O, Miami director P. Scott Cunningham. “And we’re grateful for the chance to broadcast them back to the community through a public art project that promotes safety and civic pride.”

According to Chadwick, more than 100 residents participated in the workshops.

“Getting to the final product was one thing,” she said. “But it’s also meaningful to have this opportunity for residents, both children and adults, to learn how to use poetry and writing to express themselves.”

She attended a workshop herself, where she said participants began by thinking of an idea to inspire their creativity.

“Poems have flavor” can be seen steps away from Opa-locka’s La Granja Supermarket.

(Courtesy of O, Miami/Gesi Schilling)

“They started us off with a concrete idea of what reminded us or inspired us about Opa-locka. Once we learned how to use the technique that they were teaching, they allowed us to write more, to become inspired by our own thoughts and make more poems during the workshop,” she said.

The city’s street lamps had to be modified by Miami-based Maker Faire and Moonlighter Maker Lab in order to project the poems while withstanding any outdoor issues like rain.

“What they realized was that they needed to use a certain kind of projector, because using a film over it wouldn’t make it water resistant – they had to get the poems etched directly into the lenses,” Chadwick said. “They did a really good job of curating the poems to align with where they’re located. For instance, there’s one poem that talks about mangos and that one is right in front of the La Granja grocery store, so it’s perfect.”

“Happiness,” a poem now projected across an Opa-locka sidewalk as part of a public art installation.

(Courtesy of O, Miami/Gesi Schilling)

Projections will be up into the fall, according to a press spokesperson. The Miami Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation all provided funding.

Chadwick has enjoyed seeing how people in the community are reacting to the project. She shared the moment a crew of about 15 elementary school children on bicycles rode by the projections.

“They were so cute because they were riding their bikes through the projections, so you can see the words reflecting off their bodies as they went by. And they’re asking all these questions like, ‘What are you doing, how are you doing this, who made this, can you take a picture of me?’

“It was just so heartwarming to observe the point of change when these projections appeared right in downtown Opa-locka,” she said. “It’s so meaningful, you know, providing this tiny dose of joy for the residents through something new and unexpected in their community.”

The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.