PA Humanities is engaging children from across Pennsylvania in a hands-on community poetry activity facilitated by local poets and teaching artists. This innovative project started in Philadelphia in 2023, when we engaged elementary school students from five neighborhoods to learn about haiku then write their very own poems. Selected haiku were installed on the ground in public spaces, including neighborhood parks and libraries, with a special rain-activated solution that allows the poetry to appear like magic just by adding some water!
The beauty of Rain Poetry is that it not only gives young people the opportunity to explore their voices and express themselves through poetry, but also transforms everyday spaces into opportunities to engage with the humanities and foster learning and conversation. Each installation gets its very own community reveal celebration, inviting families, friends and neighbors to connect and celebrate the work of young people.
Rain Poetry expanded to Pittsburgh and Johnstown in 2024, and Reading in 2025!
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PA Humanities engaged children from five Philadelphia neighborhoods in a hands-on community poetry activity facilitated by local poets and Youth Poets Laureate. Haiku created by students grades 1-5 were installed in public spaces by Tiny WPA with a special rain-activated solution. They are inspired by the theme, “What helps you keep growing?” The initiative included local community events and a citywide celebration at the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Our next stop for Rain Poetry was Pittsburgh in the spring of 2024. We partnered with Assemble (Garfield), YouthPlaces Northview Heights and YMCA Lighthouse Project (Homewood/Brushton), three dynamic afterschool programs that serve a wide variety of youth. Our teaching artist, Karen Howard, worked with students ranging from elementary school to high school, writing on themes that mattered most to the youth and their communities. Check out our Pittsburgh page to learn more about the individual sites and partners.
Rain Poetry also came to Johnstown in 2024. We partnered with the Children’s Book Festival, Cambria County Library and Bottle Works to host workshops for children and teens led by teaching artists Aspen Mock, Denise Urban and Eric Schwerer, and their poems were installed outside the Bottle Works and in the library’s Storywalk along the Johnstown Greenways Trail.
In 2025, we partnered with Reading Public Library to host bilingual workshops at St. Peter’s School, Lauer’s Park Elementary School, and the main branch and Northeast branches of the library. Berks County Poet Laureate Adrian Perez-Roman – aka Apito – and Caitlin Johnson, youth services supervisor at the library, guided students to explore the theme “the colors of my city” and their work will be installed and displayed through the fall.
