We made a Poet-Tree from found materials, draped in youth poems and metaphors! The tree resides in the new teen space of the Denver Public Library – Central Branch, complete with interactive prompts for visitors to write their own poems and attach their leaves to the piece. The original tree was built, by youth for youth, in a workshop series over the summer and has since shifted with the seasons to incorporate the metaphors, colors, and lessons of autumn.
The Denver Public Library’s “Teen Space” was unveiled in November 2024 and is exclusively for teens ages 13 to 19. This newly renovated space is chock full of activities for youth to enjoy—in addition to books and computers there’s gaming equipment, musical instruments, and studio space.
When the space opened, Art from Ashes was invited to create a 3D sculpture, so we immediately began planting seeds leading to this artistic project that has not only grown and evolved, but encouraged creativity to sprout in our community.
The Poet-tree is thoughtfully designed as a metaphor for all of our journeys as creative beings. At the library, a placard guides youth to reflect on each part of the tree as potent symbols—beginning with the seeds (our intentions) to the tree rings (our progress) to the branches (our experiences) and finally, the leaves (our culmination and change). Each season the Poet-Tree leaf colors will change, as will the writing prompts, to reflect the shifts in the natural world and within ourselves.
We had so much fun with this project, we built a 2D version to take on the road, with our inaugural run at the annual Brighton Image Summit in November. We’ve been facilitating workshops at the summit for more than a decade now and are always grateful for the chance to meet so many new youth poets.
While the original 3D poet-tree will continue to reside in the Denver Public Library – Central Branch, we’re eager to spread the seeds of future poet trees to locations across the Denver metro area. Does your school, library, or youth center need a poet tree? Let us know! We’d love to bring our workshops to you and your youth to build your own. Email programs@artfromashes.org to learn more.
