Kent Cuyahoga 50

Concrete Poetry: Celebrating the Cuyahoga River through poetry and design with works that appear on concrete when wet

How do we connect to the Cuyahoga River? The flowing water touches our emotions, our communities, our environment and our history. In this 50th anniversary year of the last Cuyahoga River fire, the Concrete Poetry project invites us to reconsider and reconnect to the river and its legacy. The 1969 fire occurred at a pivotal time and helped spark the environmental movement leading to protective legislation and the sustainability movement today.

Kent State’s Office of Sustainability convened partners to create the designs. The poems are from the Wick Poetry Center’s Cuyahoga River Stanzas. The designs are from Aoife Mooney and Sanda Katila’s typography students in the School of Visual Communication and Design. Additional designs share facts about the watershed. The images that appear on the ground are meant to bring a smile, give us pause or educate.

This project is a collaboration between the Office of Sustainability, the School of Visual Communication and Design and the Wick Poetry Center. Thank you to TechStyleLab for providing the stencils for the concrete designs. Designs are installed through the Kent State University Campus and downtown Kent, Ohio. Check back as more designs are installed.

• I Like the Cuyahoga River
  

  

  • I Like the Cuyahoga River: Tyler, 4th grade student at Walls Elementary; Typeset by Kaylee Polena, Visual Communication Design student

  • View image: I Like the Cuyahoga River    View poem: I Like the Cuyahoga River

  • Location: Kent State University Aeronautics and Technology Building. View location image

• Today I am the River
  

  

  • Today I am the River: Emma, 4th grade student at Walls Elementary; Typeset by Kaylee Polena, Visual Communication Design student

  • View image: Today I am the River   View poem: Today I am the River

  • Location: Kent State University Bowman Hall north side of Esplanade bike rack. View location image

• Dear River
  

  Image

  

  • Dear River: Claire Adornato; student at Hathaway Brown School; Typeset by Leah Eberts, Visual Communication Design student

  • View image: Dear River   View poem: Dear River

  • Location: Kent State University Center for Undergraduate Excellence; view location image

• Tonight, I Mirror the River
  

  

  • Tonight, I Mirror the River: Mariah Hicks; Typeset by Morgan Kohl, Visual Communication Design student

  • View image: Tonight, I Mirror the River; View poem Tonight I Mirror the River

  • Location: Kent State University Esplanade near Business Administration Building Starbucks entrance. View location image

• I Like the Cuyahoga River
  

  Image

  

  • I Like the Cuyahoga River: Tyler, 4th grade student at Walls Elementary; Typeset by Kaylee Polena, Visual Communication Design student

  • View image: I Like the Cuyahoga River    View poem: I Like the Cuyahoga River

  • Location: Entrance of May Prentice House, Wick Poetry Center. View image location   View esplanade image location

• Untitled/What Does the River Know
  

  

  • Untitled; Andrew Furlick / What Does the River Know?; student at Hathaway Brown School; Typeset by Joseph Nanni, Visual Communication Design student

  • View image: Untitled/What Does the River Know?; View poem: Untitled/What Does the River Know?

  • Location: City of Kent: Main Street and Water Street near Pacific East corner. View image location

• Cuyahoga Watershed Population
  

  

  • Cuyahoga River Watershed Information sourced by the Office of Sustainability from ODNR's "Ohio's Lake Erie Public Access Guide Rivers Edition": Typeset Design by Aoife Mooney, Visual Communication Design assistant professor

  • View image Cuyahoga River Watershed Population

  • Location: City of Kent: corner of Main Street and Water Street, Hometown Bank Plaza corner. View image location

• The Nature is Wild Here
  

  

  • The Nature is Wild Here: Naomi St. Clair; Typeset by Julia Webb, Visual Communication Design student

  • View image: The Nature is Wild Here; View poem: The Nature is Wild Here

  • Location: City of Kent: Main Street and Depeyster Street near The Kent Stage; View image location

• River One
  

  

  • River One: Lilac Secaur; Typeset by Maya Yates, Visual Communication Design student

  • View image River One; View poem River One

  • Location: City of Kent; Main Street and Depeyster Street near Buffalo Wild Wings. View image location

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Typeset by Aoife Mooney, assistant professor Visual Communication Design; Information compiled by Office of Sustainability. View Honor pdf

Image above shows "Today I am the River" stanza by Emma, 4th grade student at Walls Elementary; Typeset by Kaylee Polena, VCD typography student; located near Bowman Hall at Kent State University

Concrete Poetry Opening Reception: Taylor Hall VCD Gallery March 7, 4-7 p.m.
An Exhibition of Student Work from Sections of Intro to Typography, Spring 2019

Exhibition on display from March 7-21 during Taylor Hall VCD Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Friday 11 a.m.-5 p. m.

An exhibition of student work from the School of Visual Communication Design's sections of Intro to Typography Spring 2019 classes. This show is a result of the collaboration between the School of Visual Communication Design, Wick Poetry Center and the Office of Sustainability. It is a celebration of Earth Month at Kent State and aims to promote awareness of the 50th anniversary of the burning of the Cuyahoga River. 

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For more information about events commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Cuyahoga River catching fire, visit:

• Cuyahoga 50
• Cuyahoga Valley National Park 2019 River Celebration
• Torch Fest
• Xtinguish Celebration