Teen creativity on display as Rain Poetry expands to Kane

By Karen Price and Amelia Spielman

Anne Cleer wanted to bring PA Humanities’ Rain Poetry project to Friends Memorial Library in Kane as a way to encourage young people to express themselves and also bring a little magic to the streets of their rural community. 

Now, for many of the youth who participated in the project, seeing their words showcased on the sidewalks around their northwest Pennsylvania town has become not just a creative accomplishment, but also a chance to become part of the town conversation and excitement around the project. They’re also finding their own community of fellow writers and creative peers at the library, even though the project is officially finished. 

“The hardest group for us to reach at the library has always been teenagers,” said Cleer, head librarian. “Oh my goodness, now they come all the time, the ones who participated, and their friends. We’ve basically doubled the number of teens who come here after school, hang out, and come on Saturdays. I never would have thought that would happen. I’ve tried everything to get these kids in here, and this is what finally worked.”

PA Humanities piloted the Rain Poetry project in Philadelphia in 2023 before expanding to Pittsburgh, Johnstown, Reading and Harrisburg over the following two years. Working with teaching artists, young people explore themes and write haiku poetry inspired by their conversations. Their poems are then transformed into public art installations created with a special invisible spray that appears only when wet. Kane is the first community in Pennsylvania to implement the project independently using PA Humanities’ Rain Poetry Toolkit, developed and released in 2025. Nine other libraries and youth-serving organizations are also doing Rain Poetry projects this year using the toolkit with support from a grant from PA Humanities. 

The opportunity to participate in Rain Poetry was presented to students by their English Language Arts teachers and attracted 13-year-old Olivia Emer, who is new to writing poetry, as well as 15-year-old Aurora Forsythe and 14-year-old Allison Walters, who have been writing their own poetry since middle school.

Nancy McCabe, author and emeritus professor of creative and professional writing at University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, led workshops at the high school and the library. The theme was the “Colors of Kane,” but students were encouraged to write about whatever inspired them. For Walters, that was environmental sustainability because she wants to go into the field of wildlife conservation. Forsythe wrote about another of her favorite outlets – skateboarding – and Emer was inspired by nature and the forest around her. 

“This was my first time dabbling in haikus,” Walters said. “I’m more of just a ‘write a poem as long as you want, no rules’ [person]. [Rain Poetry] helped me realize that I can definitely do other types of poetry [rather] than just winging it. It taught me that I can actually follow structure and still be able to create.”

For a lot of the students, sharing their work with the community in Kane, including reading aloud at the public Rain Poetry reveal celebration in May and publishing their poems in a zine taught them not to undervalue their writing or their own self-expression. 

“[Rain Poetry] taught me to be more confident and to just trust myself and what I’m doing,” Forsythe said. “And then it was really rewarding because I don’t really go out and really do many things like this, so I was really glad that I got to be a part of something like that.”

Once the poems were completed, Cleer worked with a local business called Laughing Owl Press to create stencils and decals. They installed the poems on the sidewalks in front of local shops and establishments, created a map that residents can follow to see all the poems and provided watering cans at each location so visitors can pour water to make the poems appear like magic. Poets and community members have “adopted” the watering cans at each location and refill them with water whenever they can. Laughing Owl also helped with the creation of the zines, which are available at the library.

“I personally felt really satisfied seeing my poem (installed on the sidewalk), because that’s the first time any work of mine has been somewhere where the entire town can see it,” Walters said.

Cleer said that soon after the installation was complete, she ate near the window at one of her favorite restaurants and saw residents interacting with the poem displayed on the sidewalk just outside.

“To watch the people, the families, come by and use the watering can and take pictures and then come in talking about it—it was just wonderful,” she said. “The excitement in town about it is so neat.”

After the Rain Poetry project was completed, First Lady of Pennsylvania Lori Shapiro paid a visit to the library and met the students, heard about their haikus, and saw them displayed on the sidewalk. 

“She was a lot different than I expected,” Forsythe said. “I expected her to [come] in here and [be] super serious, but she laughed with us and just made us all feel comfortable.”

The project impacted the participating teenagers in more ways than one. For Forsythe, writing haikus for Rain Poetry helped her progress past writers’ block with her own poetry book. For Walters and Emer, it introduced them to the Friends’ Memorial Public Library, a space that they now frequent. Cleer credits the Rain Poetry project’s highlighting of young voices with the increased teenager interaction at the library. 

“It’s hugely about their voice, being seen and heard,” Cleer said. “At that age, they don’t get much of that. And being understood. In Kane, sports are a big thing. If you’re not good at sports, academics aren’t exactly considered cool. This made it cool to be involved in something creative. I don’t know how to explain it. And they discovered that the library is a wonderful place to be. They can come here, sit, relax, and just exist if they want to.”

Even though the Rain Poetry project has wrapped up in Kane, all of the students who participated in the project are continuing to work creatively on their own. 16-year-old Kya Haight is working on a two-book dystopian fantasy series, Walters is writing a fantasy book, and Forsythe is continuing work on a romance book in addition to her poetry collection. Their writing means a lot to all of them and gives them a much needed outlet for navigating the world. 

“Poetry serves as a way for me to express my thoughts and feelings about myself, the world around me, friendships, community, just about anything,” Walters said. “It gives me a way to say things without saying them directly.”

On June 27 and 28, Kane will be hosting the annual “Art in the Wilds”. Not only will the poems created as a part of the Rain Poetry project still be on display during the region’s Fine Art and Fine Craft Show, but they’re going to be set up outside with music while the students pass out their haiku zines and promote the project. 

“I like this program because it was actually an opportunity that not many kids get,” Walters said. “Because I feel the biggest struggle for creating things is not having an outlet or a way to do so, so you know you can do it, but you don’t have the opportunity to. And I like this program because it’s giving opportunities to kids to show their work to others.”

Rain Poetry is part of PA Humanities’ ongoing work to spark creativity, strengthen communities, and connect people through the power of the humanities. Its expansion has been made possible with the support of Pennsylvania’s state legislators. Funding has been provided by William Penn Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Pennsylvania Rural Arts Alliance, Richard King Mellon Foundation, The Grable Foundation, The Wyomissing Foundation, with support from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, administered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth Financing Authority, and the Department of Community and Economic Development Community and Economic Assistance Program.

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