Popular Public Art Installation OF EARTH AND SKY Returns to Charlotte

(June 4, 2024) Charlotte, NC – Blumenthal Arts announced that UK artist Luke Jerram’s popular public artwork, OF EARTH AND SKY, will return to the Queen City as part of the 2024 Charlotte International Arts Festival, a celebration of international arts that will transform the city into a creative cultural playground for seventeen days this fall. The large-scale installation features poetry submitted by local writers on the subject of this year’s theme: SPACE. Blumenthal will host a series of free, public writing workshops in June and July to cultivate poetry submissions. Free and open to the public, OF EARTH AND SKY will be up during CIAF, which runs September 13–29. For more information about CIAF, visit charlotteartsfest.com.

 

Artist Luke Jerram said, "It's brilliant that my city-wide poetry project OF EARTH AND SKY is returning to Charlotte. Blumenthal Arts did an extraordinary job presenting the project back in 2021, connecting poets and celebrating their work to create a giant poetry trail across the city. I can't wait to see how the artwork will unfold this year!”

 

 

Charlotte has become a second artistic home for the UK-based artist, whose majestic 23-foot inflatable earth, Gaia, has previously been on display suspended from the ceiling in Founders Hall. Gaia will return to CIAF as a free exhibit adjacent to the new immersive experience Space Explorers: The Infinite, part of Blume Studios, Blumenthal’s new immersive programming in Charlotte’s emerging Iron District.

 

OF EARTH AND SKY was first commissioned by the Gloucester Culture Trust in 2020. Poetry and text created by the public through workshops and online submissions will be curated and installed across dozens of sites across the city, forming a temporary sculpture trail for the public to discover. While the landscape affects the interpretation of the text, the text in turn animates and influences the interpretation of the landscape.

 

 

When the project was presented in Charlotte in 2021, more than 200 poems were submitted to the project locally.

 

Blumenthal is calling local writers of all ages to submit original poetry for inclusion in OF EARTH AND SKY. The theme for 2024 is SPACE—which can be defined in innumerable ways. Final selections will be curated by a panel of local creatives. All submissions will be collected and published online.

 

To generate community awareness and build creative inspiration for poetry submissions, a series of free, all-ages writing workshops, facilitated by local writers, will be offered in June and July. No previous writing or poetry experience is required. 

Register here.

Workshop 1: 

Thursday, June 6

Canteen North End 

6 pm–7:30 pm

Led by local writer and Central Piedmont Community College instructor, Sarah Gallucci Hosseini

 

Workshop 2: 

Thursday, June 20

Lorien Academy of the Arts

6 pm–7:30 pm

Led by Charlotte Poet Laureate Jay Ward and Youth Poet Laureate Vanessa Hunter

 

Workshop 3: 

Wednesday, July 24

The Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture

6 pm–7:30 pm

Led by Newbery and Coretta Scott King award-winning author Alicia D. Williams

 

Click here to register for a writing workshop. Submit poems for OF EARTH AND SKY at ofearthandskyclt.com/apply-now/.

 

Follow @ofearthandskyclt for creative notes and project updates.

 

Watch the website and follow CIAF on social for updates, location details, and surprises!

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