Poetry into Place: These Artistic Bus Stops are Inspired by Poems

A recent project from the City of Raleigh connected painter Sharon Dowell with the Carolina African American Writers Collective
by Lily Kane | photographs courtesy City of Raleigh

Next time you drive down Poole Road, you may notice something different amid the houses, greenery and sidewalks that line the street. Vibrant abstract art, in eye-catching shades of bright green, orange, lavender and blue, adorns two bus shelters and a sculptural bench along the road. Lines of poetry weave through the art, written in shades of bright pink and dark blue.

The artworks are part of the City of Raleigh’s Percent for the Arts program, an ordinance that allocates 1% of funds for eligible construction projects to go toward incorporating public art into the improvements. Kelly McChesney, the public art director for the city, said that of the variety of construction projects that were eligible under the city’s 2017 transportation bond, the Raleigh Arts Commission chose Poole Road in an effort to bring public art to all areas of the city.

“We didn’t really have any big public art projects out in that southeast, east Raleigh area,” McChesney says.

The city selected Charlotte-based painter Sharon Dowell to design the artwork. Dowell, who works primarily in large-scale art like murals, got to work meeting virtually with Poole Road area residents to talk about the neighborhood and its history. In one of those meetings, a resident shared with Dowell that the Carolina African American Writers Collective, a group that supports and fosters Black writers, had been founded there in 1995. After reading some of the collective’s poetry, Dowell decided to center the artwork around them.

Dowell chose verses from poets Valeria Bullock, Patricia A. Johnson and Lenard D. Moore to incorporate into the art. She says she chose the verses based on their relevance to the area’s history, citing a verse about sowing seeds that she placed in a spot that was once farmland. The verses, in turn, inspired the artwork.

“I read the poems, and I immediately had these visuals in my head,” Dowell says. In addition to the blocks of color painted directly on the glass of the bus shelters, Dowell designed large two-dimensional metal sculptures with patterns reminiscent of clouds, trees and spirals. The poetry verses spill from the bus shelters onto the standalone sculptures, weaving the art together.

Dowell says she cherished the opportunity to learn more about the area’s history, and hopes the art inspires passersby to learn more about it, too.

“It’s a great way for people to find out about their own neighborhoods, all the wonderful things that make a city unique and rich,” she says.