Call for Poets: Seeking Westchester County Poet Laureate 2024-2026
ArtsWestchester has initiated a call for proposals to help them find and appoint the next Westchester County Poet Laureate. The Poet Laureate program embraces both written and spoken poetic traditions and aims to promote poetry as an artistic medium that can “serve underrepresented voices and offer a space for personal reflection and healing.”
The Laureate will engage and connect with the local community and other local poets through front-facing programs and readings throughout their three-year tenure. Required programming includes at least two public readings each year, the presentation of an original poem at a County event each year, three community events per year, during which community members have the opportunity to write and/or share their own poems, and the development of a “humanities project” that brings poetry into the lives of Westchester County residents and visitors. A stipend of $30,000 over the three-year term will be awarded.
A selection panel will make a recommendation to the County based on the applications and subsequent interviews initiated by the panel, which may include professional poets, County representatives, and members of ArtsWestchester’s staff or board. The selection of the Poet Laureate will then be approved by the County.
The deadline for submissions is October 2.
About ArtsWestchester
For more than 50 years, ArtsWestchester has been the community’s connection to the arts. Founded in 1965, it is the largest private not-for-profit arts council in New York State. Its mission is to create an equitable, inclusive, vibrant and sustainable Westchester County in which the arts are integral to and integrated into every facet of life. ArtsWestchester provides programs and services that enrich the lives of everyone in Westchester County. ArtsWestchester helps fund concerts, exhibitions and plays through grants; brings artists into schools and community centers; advocates for the arts; and builds audiences through diverse marketing initiatives. In 1998, ArtsWestchester purchased the nine-story neo-classical bank building at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue which has since been transformed into a multi-use resource for artists, cultural organizations and the community. A two-story gallery is located on the first floor of ArtsWestchester’s historic building on Mamaroneck Avenue. artsw.org
