Through the city's sidewalk poetry program, residents, students, workers or those who have another meaningful connection to St. Louis Park are eligible to submit up to two original short poems or excerpts to be sandblasted into sidewalks throughout the city. Poetry in all languages is welcome.

Deadline to submit: Sunday, May 19 at 11:59pm

Watch the video below to learn more about the program and hear from current poets!

Themes

Sidewalk poetry builds a sense of local identity and creates unexpected moments of pause, contemplation and reflection for pedestrians.

The poems are asked to address the following themes:

• Cultural expression
• Sense of location and local identity
• Care for nature and the environment, sustainability
• Personal and community health and well-being

Poetry requirements

• Maximum length allowed is 9 lines, including title (if there is one)
• Maximum of 26 characters per line
• Text and subject matter must be appropriate for the general public and all ages. Poems must not be offensive or condescending towards any race, religion, sex or sexual orientation. They must not be used to promote or oppose political views and must not support or condone violence towards others.
• Poetry in all languages is welcome.
• Submissions must be original poems by the person submitting, have been not published elsewhere, and the submitter is the sole creator and rights owner of the poem.
• If you are under the age of 18 or a current student in St. Louis Park K-12 schools, poem(s) must be submitted by a teacher.

How to apply

Those interested in submitting their original poetry should complete the online sidewalk poetry program application by May 19 at 11:59 p.m. There is no submission fee, and no compensation is given.

Up to two original poems or excerpts will be accepted per person.

Selection process

A jury will conduct a blind judging process, without names attached to the submittals. Selected poems will be announced in June/July 2024, and placed on the sidewalks by the end of this year.

Poems not chosen for the current project will be retained for potential use in future sidewalk projects.

Chosen poems will be listed on the city's online public art map with title, author and short description.