Finalists of the 2022 National Poetry Month Poster Contest for Students

Andrew B., Grade 11, Needham, MA

poster submission

The candle in my piece represents the wick in each poet that grows and stays lit. Each individual has their own poem, their own candle, that represents a story in a field of flames. It represents their fight for equality—their fight for freedom. As long as the candle stays lit, this burning passion can do nothing but grow. The more candles there are, the stronger the flame. A single candle provides brightness but together, candles expel the dark. There is a poem in each candle because each candle is a person with their own story and their own struggle.

Leila C., Grade 10, Orange, OH

poster submission

For this artwork, I read over the poem "In This Place (An American Lyric)" by Amanda Gorman and loosely based the imagery after the words. There were multiple locations around America mentioned where big demonstrations are held, and most of my ideas are based on them. There were a lot of natural feelings and fluidity that I felt while reading the poem, so I believe the design I made fit very well. I wanted to incorporate some architecture as well as other aspects of the locations mentioned. That is where the idea of the buildings came from, as well as the trees. Looking at images of these locations helped to spark my inspiration. I felt that the waves of the water that I included and the swirls fit with the fluidness and openness of the words. I added signs for the mentions of the protests, representing all of the places and causes mentioned. I feel like the colors that were chosen fit well with the piece and what is being portrayed. I wanted the colors to have a darker tone but still be uplifting to fit with the piece. I generally work with darker color palettes so it was somewhat natural anyway. I wanted the colors to flow into each other like the words and the verses of the poem did. I wanted to include contrasting colors as well, to represent the contrasting verses or lines in the poem. Overall I feel that the artwork fits great with the poem.

Stephanie C.L., Grade 11, Yonkers, NY

poster submission

My artwork explores the hard and difficult experience many Central American immigrants have had to endure while on their journey to the United States. ‘La Bestia’ is a piece of hardships and terror. I derived this inspiration from a book I read last month. ‘We Are Not from Here’ by Jenny Torres Sanchez is a heart-wrenching read that describes the experience of three young teenagers from Guatemala, in quest of safety and a better life in the United States. In Amanda Gorman’s poem, the line “the undocumented, the undeterred” illustrates the message I portrayed.

The train used in this piece is called ‘la bestia.’ When migrants aren’t able to afford a bus ticket or a smuggler, they board the freight train from southern Mexico to the U.S. border to avoid immigration inspections. The ‘Death Train,’ also known as ‘La Bestia,’ is named after the perils that traveling on it carries. Many people have perished or had limbs amputated as a result of falling from the train. Traveling through Mexico on foot or on ‘La Bestia’ is fraught with dangers such as sexual assault, gang violence, and kidnapping. Migrants are stranded on top of trains with nothing to grab onto.

My parents left Mexico in search of a better life. They grew raised in impoverished ‘pueblos’ with insufficient means to maintain their families, forcing them to immigrate to the United States in order to find employment and send money to their family, frequently doing multiple jobs. Their journey lasted a week. They climbed steep and dangerous mountains, their water supply was cut short and had to result in drinking water from a stream. But they never lost hope, praying and having faith in God to help them throughout their journey. I have witnessed my parents’ dedication to their jobs and their effort to provide for a better life for my siblings and myself.

Lena G., Grade 10, New Rochelle, NY

poster submission

Poems, in their complete essence, are manifestations of human creativity. I find that poetry doesn’t always need to conform to a stereotype of literary complexity (not to disregard the many that do, and beautifully so). More so, poems can be simple things that move, live, and breathe. They’re the stories written in our smile lines and the creases between our eyebrows, and the ones tracing our thoughts and words. They’re embedded in the songs we fall apart to, the places we’ve been, and in the soft, pulsing hum of our existence.

Amanda Gorman’s “In This Place (An American Lyric)” encapsulates the idea of the presence of poems in the deliberate work of human hands and in all the places walked upon by those before us. It speaks to the way stories founded years ago are still carried in these places, and how they can guide us and remain beacons of hope as we move forward together.

Just as much as poetry can remain intangible, it can also take on a tangible identity. In my mind, A Celebration of Human Creativity calls to light this recurring theme of poetry existing physically and abstractly. Poetry can be the detail within a piece of architecture, the colorful stores and imagination of its creator, or, essentially, both. Pillars can speak of strength and resilience, and colors of diversity and of joy. Ultimately, I wanted to depict something that represents an expression of human originality, vision, and expression- through both the tangible and the intangible.

Lauren K., Grade 12, Englewood, CO

poster submission

Amanda Gorman’s poem speaks to me by unveiling that history and politics, which have so often felt beyond me, are tied to our personal lives. She speaks that our stories are what shape our present and future world. I felt that depicting a crowd of scenarios and people in an attempt to represent everyone’s stories was not the right approach. Instead I chose to paint an allusion to Rosa Parks and more. Amanda Gorman’s reference to Rosa Parks in her poem immediately reminded me of my mother. In addition to the reason of the contest, I painted this piece for her. In a hard time of life, my mother found such strength and hope in Rosa Parks. Additionally, my mom’s zodiac and favorite animal is a tiger––strong and fierce. I wanted to represent my mother’s story by superimposing one idea on the other; to show that she too has the strength, fierceness, and hope of a tiger and Rosa Parks. The personalness of my piece is purposeful. Like my mother’s own story, each of us must find the poem in our lives and have the courage to not change the past, but build off of it. In juxaposing bright orange with the black and white setting of where I imagine Rosa Parks made her stand, I mean to communicate this idea of past and present; that our nation’s past is our own to create a beautiful new story off of. To me this is the meaning of Amanda Gorman’s poem.

Lara L., Grade 11, Yonkers, NY

poster submission

Before speaking about this piece, I feel it’s important to discuss what I interpreted from this poem, which was the fact that everyone in America has their own story to tell whether it’s tragic, or hopeful, or joyful. Through making a piece where the main focal point is mouths speaking out, I tried to convey those voices and their stories that they share. I decided to have mouths that vary in size because I believed a main key to the message I was trying to convey was that it's so important to listen to voices big or small. The background also plays a very important part in this piece. I decided to have newspaper clippings in the shape of a city skyline to represent the fact that most of our environment is heavily influenced by the media we see and the news that gets brought to us. By having the voices speaking in front of the newspaper clippings I tried to emphasize the importance of listening to people’s stories, because sometimes we can’t hear what people have to say due to misinformation and the media’s monopoly on our world.. As for the color scheme, I decided to go for the red, white, and blue route to bring the American theme into play, but I decided to go for more muted but still striking maroon colors when it came to the mouths themselves to create contrast and further emphasize them into the piece.

Jill M., Grade 11, Needham, MA

poster submission

When reading Amanda Gorman’s poem, An American Lyric, I immediately took note of the line ‘Tyrants fear the poet”. In terms of my interpretation, I wanted my piece to grasp that idea as a whole. Through my work, I wanted to convey the idea that through times of tension and turmoil in the country, there is constant hope and opportunity for positive change and societal progression. When putting my piece together, I put different shaped blocks with windows all around to represent a city, one being destructed by that. The simple buildings, with no intended building in mind, were made to show how this could represent any city across America. I decided to make the fire much more toned down, and to keep all the colors included toned down to draw more attention towards the flower, as that is the reigning symbol of hope in the piece. The daffodil specifically symbolizes hope and rebirth, as it is the first flower to bloom when the spring season starts. Additionally, the simplistic design of everything but the flower draws the audience's eye attention towards it, therefore also drawing their eyes towards the text next to it, that being “There’s a poem in this place-”. The goal I had when creating this piece was achieved, I felt, through the choice of color and placement of outstanding symbols to draw the audience into the hope for change and rebirth.

Caroline P., Grade 11, Needham, MA

poster submission

For the poster I created, I was influenced by the strong feeling of hope throughout Gorman’s poem. When she described scenes and events having to do with protests and struggles for the rights which we should all have as humans, I, as the reader, could feel the all encompassing strong and hopeful tone which uplifts those sections and gives them a voice by saying that there is a poem in that place - a poem which strikes fear in tyranny and gives life to causes of the people. In my piece I chose to focus on this side of the poem, and through that, focus on the hope in the struggle for a better world through equality, justice, and peace. I chose to include much of the imagery that Gorman included in her poem, such as the marches on the streets in Boston and California, the hall of Congress, those heroes among us that rescue others, and teachers and the idea and importance of education. I also chose to include imagery of my own, including the Statue of Liberty, which I feel was meant to represent the welcoming of all into our country, doves to represent peace, specific flags of causes such as the Pride flag, Women’s rights, and Black Lives Matter. I also included symbolism of science, including books and planets, and symbolism of climate change and the struggle for a greener future, which I feel is a cause for hope.

Lauren R., Grade 11, Cannon Falls, MN

poster submission

The artwork is directly engaged with the lines of Amanda Gorman’s “In This Place (An American Lyric)” in a multitude of ways. In order to reflect the words “There’s a poem in this place—” and their relationship to the American nation, the piece features four bold watercolors stripes: two red and two blue. Additionally, to embrace the poem in its entirety, situations outlined in the poem were directly incorporated into the artwork with sketches penned in around the poetry. Featuring the Library of Congress, a noble building whose collections burned twice, the bottom corner depicts a building being engulfed by flames throughout which papers are strewn. Similarly, portrayals of the efforts of Jesus Contreras saving Texas flood water victims and the marches led by undocumented Californian students fighting to be heard can be found on the borders of the piece. Eloquently described by Amanda Gorman and recreated in ink, Charlottesville's tiki torches can be found just as well as a single mother working against the odds to bring education to the students she cherishes. Rounding out these beautiful examples of the American spirit are iconic American symbols - the very things that go hand-in-hand with the extraordinary history of people and events that make America the place that Gorman expresses her hope and love for in poetry. From bald eagles to the Constitution and from Mount Rushmore to the American flag, the piece works to distill the American spirit, as described in poetry, into a simple yet complex work of art.

Mackenzie R., Grade 12, Peachtree City, GA

poster submission

My piece encompasses the message of the poem by the representation of minorities and some different people that make up the population of the United States. The symbols on the jeans are all intended to represent a certain group of people in the United States. Different religions are depicted by the cross, star of David, and crescent and star. Important issues concerning gender are also depicted on the jeans with the symbol for gender equality and all different gender identities represented. The rainbow patch on the right side of the jeans represents the LGBTQ community, and the fist in the bottom left portion of the jeans is representative of the Black Lives Matter movement. Finally, the peace sign is depicted on the jeans to depict the idea that there should be peace and equality among all people in the United States. All the symbols on the jeans come together to represent the United States specifically with the inclusion of the American flag in the girl’s hand. The poem conveys the message that the United States is defined by the people’s devotion to creating equality and inclusion of all people, so I decided to encompass this idea with the inclusion of different minorities and bringing them together into one group, Americans, with the depiction of the American Flag. I intentionally chose the colors of the woman’s clothing to represent the United States and stand out from the brown background of the city in order to convey the message that the United States is not necessarily about the physical place but about the people. Therefore, I wanted the woman to be distinctive against the background to emphasize that the line “There is a poem in this place” refers to the woman and the people represented in the symbols of the jeans and American flag, the people of the United States, rather than the physical city in the background.

Kristen S., Grade 11, Yonkers, NY

poster submission

“In this place” is a poem referring to the weight of memory, racial insults, and mistreatment from others. As the poem switches between many perspectives on how different but similar this country can be viewed, it allows the story to reveal that there is always some shining hope in a very dark place. My piece tells a story of those public art performances usually at small restaurants or bars. The place where people can speak or perform their experiences; allowed to connect with others emotionally with their art. This building shines brightly beyond dull buildings exaggeratedly booming with pure joy and lively banter among other people. Having a safe space to speak in for people to feel comfortable sharing their experiences with each other is especially important in today's time. America is viewed from many different perspectives, positive and negative, it could be terrifying for others knowing to be in a country that does not accept you for anything you do. A place where you can feel safe, free of judgement, and feel connections. My color scheme indicates how important this building is compared to everything else, to show how alive this place is and how it explodes with happiness. Everything else is supposed to be muted so the attention on the building is not pulled away.

Joan W., Grade 12, APO, Armed Forces Pacific

poster submission

For this poster, the line “There’s a poem in this place—“ was interpreted to mean that places spark a sense of a story. This picture is meant to be an example of what such places may look like. The train, trees, tracks, mountains, and edelweisses (a flower that apparently is related to adventure) is meant to spark a sense of adventure, and every adventure is a story.

The pastel color palette and soft-colored line art is meant to convey a sense of calm. The sun was not outlined because it is not important to include in the picture. However, it was added to justify giving the entire piece (besides the edelweiss flowers) a warm, yellow undertone. The sun also breaks up the flat color in the background, making the drawing more visually interesting. The loose coloring is meant to give off a relaxed vibe. These elements create the effect of a storybook illustration, which adds to a feeling that there is a story that comes with the place.

The colors used are meant to also cause the viewer to think of nature. This supports the adventuring theme of the piece, being that the forest and mountains (nature) are often associated with adventure.

This picture is supposed to convey that there is an unknown story to go along with the scene. Whether the viewer interprets the story to be one about adventure or something else entirely, the storybook style accomplishes the goal of making the place seem connected with a story.

Emily Z., Grade 11, Needham, MA

poster submission

I composed my piece off of the idea that there is a history of ruined opportunity and more opportunities in urban areas, no matter how run down or abandoned they may seem. The lines in the poem that specifically resonate with this theme and the idea I am trying to express are the opening line of “there's a poem in this place-” and the addition of the line “there's a poem in America.” This I feel shows that urban and run down areas are a reminder of opportunities that went astray. It also represents the nature and natural history of America that has been left behind due to the urban and colonization of the land that indigenous people used to live off of and create their own cultures and experiences off of. The great American poem represents the vast history we have created for ourselves as Americans and the journey that our country has taken in order to thrive and succeed in the eyes of our rich and industrial focused leaders. The underpass that is depicted in the photograph is taken from a highway on the way to Rochester, New York. It was filled with graffiti and I knew that it was the perfect place that showed the American public’s history and ideals around this place. The leaves that make up the words are taken from a mountain in Massachusetts that show that there was history to America and its land before development of this great nation brought it to the nation it is today.

Finalists of the 2022 National Poetry Month Poster Contest for Students

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