In partnership with the Hattiesburg Alliance for Public Art, Jennifer Polson Peterson will launch a project that involves two components: first, a new poetry-themed mural on Hattiesburg’s public art trail. The mural will feature a line of poetry by Mississippi poet and civil rights visionary Etheridge Knight: “[T]ake your words and scrape the sky.” This line is intended to serve as a daily reminder of the possibilities of creative expression in the community. Second, a mural-inspired ekphrastic poetry challenge for students. In the fall of 2025, several teaching artists, including Polson Peterson, will hold generative ekphrastic poetry workshops at local elementary schools, inviting students to respond to one or more of the existing murals in the city. A selection of student poems will be published in an internet archive, and the student poetry will be linked to via the Hattiesburg Alliance for Public Art’s online mural exhibit. Students who contribute to the ekphrastic poetry project will be recognized at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Etheridge Knight mural in spring 2026.