Folsom and 17th
Mission District
“I write to organize my thoughts.
I spit poems because it feels empowering
to know there is a room full of people there to listen.”
This is Luara Venturi, a local spoken word poet, as depicted by Evan Bissell.
The Intersection for the Arts’ show “Somewhere in Advance of Nowhere* youth, imagination and transformation” took place in 2008. Bissell’s paintings of young artists from Youth Speaks were put around the city as a teaser for the show. The site for each was chosen by the subject, the location being one with some personal meaning to the poet. In this case, Venturi chose the former address of Youth Speaks which used to be housed nearby.
Evan has other pieces around San Francisco depicting fellow artists. Bissell is a 2005 graduate of Wesleyan University with a double major in Painting and American Studies with an Ethnic Studies concentration. He was trained in 2011 as a circle keeper by Sujatha Baliga.
If you would like to hear Luara read her poem, you can do so at this webpage.
Nice!