No Mo’ PoMo?



Poster child: Rosemary Murphy, manager of the Philly Poetry in Motion project, with the fruits of her labor. photo: Michael LeGrand

Philly’s Poetry in Motion program is at a crossroads.

by Judith Norkin

Maybe you’ve seen Poetry in Motion (PoMo) posters on Center City buses and subways. Crammed between ads for Lasiks, liposuction and legal services, these well-designed artworks with evocative snippets of poetry provide a brief oasis from visual clutter. A moment’s peace and inspiration for passengers on the go. But it’s no easy feat to put poetry in motion, which is why the program may be coming to a halt.

For nearly two years, the Philadelphia chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), the Poetry Society of America (PSA) and SEPTA have collaborated on this project, which brings poetry to the public, via posters placed on buses and subways in spaces normally used for ads. Developed by the PSA and the NYC Transit Authority in 1992, groups in other cities, including Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago and Portland, have copied PoMo with varying degrees of success. The New York program is approaching its 10th anniversary and the Chicago its sixth, but programs in Boston and Washington, D.C., ended at the two-year mark. The way it looks now Philly PoMo may meet the same fate as Boston and D.C.

Locally, the person most involved with PoMo is Rosemary Murphy, AIGA/Philly President and principal of Murphy Design in Center City. She says the last posters will be installed by SEPTA this May and displayed through June. After that, there will be no mo’ PoMo. The reason? PoMo is a challenge to sustain. Murphy has managed it for two years and would pass leadership to someone else within AIGA/Philly, but there’s no successor in sight. "No one else wants to do it," she says, adding that AIGA/Philly is strictly a volunteer organization, and that members are all active designers with many work and personal obligations.

Compounding matters is that the program isn’t easy to run. The Poetry Society selects poetry, gets copyright permissions from poets or their estates and advises as needed. SEPTA handles installation and display. Murphy compliments her partners, but she and her committee members still have plenty of grunt work. They choose and supervise designers, coordinate print production, secure donations of paper, printing and services, and supervise all the details with PSA and SEPTA officials. It’s a big job for a non-profit, volunteer organization.

It will be unfortunate if the program derails, because, as Martha Stewart might say, Poetry in Motion is a good thing. It uses sophisticated design in the service of literature — something unique in a time when most quality design on the street is used to push products, not ideas. It has brought visibility to area designers, whose names and studio affiliations appear on each poster. It has exposed passengers to the work of fine local poets, such as Toby Olsen, Afaa Michael Weaver, Sonia Sanchez and Stephen Berg. It has also promoted the works of established and classic poets, like Dorothy Parker, Wallace Stevens, Langston Hughes, Dante and Sophocles.

Calls to the Poetry Society in NYC revealed they were unaware of the situation. "We’ve gotten a great response to the Philly program," said Brett Lauer, Programs Associate. "This is the first time I’ve heard it’s in trouble." To be fair, Poetry in Motion isn’t Lauer’s domain. "The program doesn’t have a coordinator right now," he said several times, apologetically. The last one resigned a few weeks earlier and, at the time, Lauer didn’t know when someone else would be hired. But he did know that the PSA had received positive feedback from the "215" area. "There’s a toll-free number on the posters and we get calls from people who say things like ‘I’m sitting on the subway all day, I look up and see a poem and it’s refreshing.’"

Lauer has only praise for the Philadelphia program. He says its posters are among the best, the local poets are interesting and the design is high quality. "We don’t have official contracts, but we do have an unspoken thing that around the two-year mark, when people have to start thinking about new poems and new posters, there are some changes." Lauer says Poetry in Motion doesn’t always run continuously because groups sometimes need to find coordinators or funding. Which may be what’s going on here, but whatever happens, Lauer applauds Rosemary Murphy’s dedication: "Rosemary should be given a medal, she really does a lot of work."

After several conversations with Lauer, a surprise call came from Alice Quinn, newly appointed Executive Director of the PSA. Quinn was calling from her desk at The New Yorker, where she is a poetry editor. Her job at the Poetry Society would begin the very next day. But when she heard what was happening with PoMo/Philly, she was alarmed. So alarmed that she called this reporter before her official start date at the PSA. "The Philadelphia program is very important to us," insisted Quinn, who emphasized that its success was a priority.

While Quinn’s comments are reassuring, from what Murphy has described, things aren’t that simple. "The AIGA chapters that have run Poetry in Motion longer are bigger than ours. Chicago has nearly [1,200] members. We just have 400. We’re a volunteer organization," she said. Ric Grefé, AIGA’s Executive Director in NYC, says that’s common. "Only 10 to 20 percent of the members in a chapter participate in its programs." In a group the size of Philly’s, that means only about 40 to 80 people — some of whom are already coordinating other AIGA activities.

If AIGA/Philly calls it quits, is it the end of the line for PoMo?

Perhaps not.

There’s no rule saying AIGA/Philly has to be involved. In Portland, OR, Literary Arts, Inc. and Starbucks work with AIGA. In Amherst, MA, UMass takes the lead role. In NYC, contributions from the MTA and Barnes & Noble make the program possible. Alice Quinn says it’s "lovely" working with designers. "Our relationship with AIGA is one we cherish. We are enormously grateful for their generous sponsorship of this program and for Rosemary’s hard work in Philadelphia." But Quinn says the PSA will try to find some other way to keep the program going, if necessary.

But that might not be so easy. According to Murphy, the estimated market value of design, paper, printing and ad space for PoMo was between $300,000 and $500,000. Quinn questions that figure, but John Cooley, Sr. of Innovation Printing, which donated $50,000 of printing services, said Murphy’s estimate is about right. He took part in the program to showcase Innovation’s high quality printing services to designers, his primary market, but said he wouldn’t do it again. "It’s a big investment and we don’t have the press time. Each printer should take a turn in helping the design community."

Mead Corporation gave a one-time paper donation, and it’s unknown whether sponsors Comcast and IP Graphics would participate again.

However SEPTA, a key partner, remains enthusiastic. Barbara Siegel, SEPTA spokesperson says, "We think the program is great." According to Siegel, public response has been positive. "We’ve gotten calls from people who say the posters have made their ride more pleasant. People like it and we feel it’s improved the environment." Asked if SEPTA would continue to support the program, Siegel says emphatically, "Yes." She thinks it’s a win-win situation for SEPTA. "It gives folks something pleasant to ponder and might make their trip go more quickly."

Poetry In Motion designers also speak highly of the program. Mark Willie of Willie-Fetchko Graphic Design in Center City, who designed Emily Dickinson’s "‘Hope Is the Thing with Feathers," said the project was interesting. "It’s terrific outreach and it’s appropriate for AIGA since it combines design with literacy, but it was complicated for the chapter." Frank Baseman of Baseman Studio in Jenkintown, agreed: "You could stretch out and express yourself and the visibility was nice." Kelly Beh of Red Tettemer Design in Narberth, who illustrated Robert Creeley’s "For Friendship," said she’d do another poster. "It was a great chance to be creative." But like others, Beh says it was a mammoth job: "I really give Rosemary a lot of credit. She made this happen."

Can AIGA/Philly and the Poetry Society keep the program on track? Will another partner come aboard?

For now, the future of Philly PoMo is uncertain. But there have been some promising developments. In early conversations, participants weren’t fully aware of each others’ activities. By the end of the week — perhaps prompted in part by this inquiry — their phone lines were humming and everyone was talking. It’s too early to say whether PoMo is heading toward a derailment or just a detour, but Murphy eventually hinted that AIGA might rally. "I don’t want to rule out AIGA’s staying involved." And Quinn, whose goal is to keep the program on track, said despite the obstacles, the PSA would not give up. "SEPTA riders deserve this terrific program."

To learn more about Poetry in Motion, or to find out how you can help, contact the Poetry Society of America at 212-254-9628, or visit www.poetrysociety.org.