Rain Poetry Pittsburgh

It’s raining poetry in Pittsburgh!

PA Humanities engaged children from three different after-school programs in hands-on haiku workshops facilitated by teaching artist Karen Howard. Local mural artists Shane Pilster and Max Gonzales then installed their poems in the neighborhoods where the program partners are located with a special rain-activated solution. All it takes is a splash of water for the poems to sprout up all around as if by magic.

Under the guidance of teaching artist Karen Howard, the students engaged with their themes while building literacy skills, expressing themselves in new and creative ways and seeing how their words and ideas add value to their communities.

Featured in Pittsburgh Tribune, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, CBS Pittsburgh, Talk Pittsburgh, Kidsburgh, KDKA Newsradio, MacaroniKID, and Yinz Are Good Podcast.

Sparking Imagination

Children’s imaginations were sparked through deep reflections on the theme of growth and its connection to personal and community development.

To encourage agency and a meaningful literacy experience, each individual site chose the theme for their haiku. The third- through fifth-grade students from Assemble wrote about the future, a theme they’d been exploring throughout the year. At YouthPlaces Northview Heights, the teens chose to write on the theme “Northview Nights” in order to take control of the negative outside narrative of their neighborhood after dark. The teens at YMCA Lighthouse continued their ongoing examination of cryptids by writing about the secrets and hidden places of their community of Homewood.

Under the guidance of teaching artists, workshops were YouthPlaces, Assemble, and YMCA Lighthouse. The workshops teach children that the humanities are an exciting means of imaginative self-expression that builds meaningful relationships and can make change in their neighborhoods. They also got to flex their social emotional learning skills as they collaborated with mentors and community members.

Featured Poems

What will the future bring?
Nobody will know till then
I hope it is nice

-Miko H

My eyes keep closing
In my room lying in bed
Time to sleep, good night!

-Marlaya J

Laughter in the night
As moths dance around porch lights
We got that on sight

-Zyanna J

Cars cruising slowly
Looking at the stars and moon
Listening to crickets

– Zy’Onia, Taewoe, & Ray

Chip kingdom is fun
Nacho-boings and slyinggods
They are cool and rad

Chris B

Protective and Earthy
And helpful tree shaped tunes
Healing Harmonies

Layla J, 14

A rainbow that’s yours
Consuming your life of lore
Life is does give more

Gabrielle C, 16

Mysteriousness
Never usually seen yet
Concealed in plain sight

Ziann W, 16

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“I really enjoyed seeing the kids work together when they broke off and were writing their own haiku. It was cool to see them take their own initiative and see their creativity come out.”

- Tany Haynes, Afterschool Coordinator/ Assemble Educator

“I saw the excitement in them. It was really nice to see them excited about creating these poems, even when they were very rowdy. If someone wasn’t in that space you would have thought they were arguing, but they were just excited about getting their poems together and creating them. And it was great to hear the conversation between them. It was amazing to see them talking without the phones, not texting but actually communicating with one another.”

- Leanna Lyle, YouthPlaces Site Manager

“Rain Poetry is the most exciting project I have worked on in a very long time. I find it exciting because it is innovative, original and gives our youth autonomy. The idea of working with young people and teens is a challenge I eagerly accept. Everyone has a voice, and the opportunity for these young people to express themselves can be life-changing. It gives them confidence that their thoughts are important.”

- Karen Howard, lead teaching artist

Events and Information

All of our reveal celebrations are now complete! Thank you to all our partners who joined us in celebrating the incredible work of Pittsburgh’s youth.

We’re compiling all the haiku together into a fully designed book that we’ll launch later this year.

Haiku from the Rain Poetry Project

Rain Poetry Locations

Workshops
Assemble (Garfield)
YouthPlaces (Northview Heights)
YMCA Lighthouse (Homewood/Brushton)

Nelson Mandela Peace Park
5162 Broad St, Pittsburgh, PA 15224
(corner of Broad and Evaline Street, Garfield)

YouthPlaces Northview Heights
*Parklet at 525 Mt. Pleasant Rd, Pittsburgh PA, 15214
Please note that Northview Heights is a Housing Authority City of Pittsburgh secure community. Visitors will not be permitted past the entry station without prior approval.

YMCA Homewood/Brushton
7140 Bennett St, Pittsburgh, PA 15208
Installation can be found along the sidewalk that runs between the building and the parking lot at the back entrance.