TEEN ARTIST PROJECT: art + poetry at Ana Roque deDuprey

Ellyzabeth Adler and Erin Peisert are working with 6th, 7th and 8th graders at Ana Roque deDuprey in Humboldt Park to create a multi-disciplinary art installation based on each student’s “Chicago Story.” We have been working with the students and their classroom teacher, Mrs. Thorngren, to write poetry that expresses their thoughts and feelings about their life in Chicago.

The final installation will feature self portraits, illustrations of the Chicago landscape and layered voice recordings of each student’s poetry in celebration National Poetry Month. Below are some of the poems they have created so far. Check out their amazing talent!



Living in the hood
being young and living in the hood
You have to watch your back
everywhere you go.
You have crack heads downtown
and gang bangers on the block
and every other day.
You hear about someone getting shot
and you don’t know if it can be your lover, your homie
or even your family.
You have people saying they love you
and act like they care
but in reality
when something happens to you
no one is really going to be there.
- Jimmy, 8th grade

YOU!
There I was looking at you.
You didn’t even move when I said Hi!
I like the way the sun reflects on you face,
while you play a song.
Then I said I love you,
my first IPOD!
- Jorge: 8th grade

Untitled

My name is James and I don’t have friends
everyone hates me
no one likes me
I gain pain everyday from all the dislike works they have to say about me
I ain’t the stupid one everyone says
me is darkness
there is no one to love and no one cares about me
my mom eft me at three years old and my father too
I was left in foster care,
I feel hopeless, like broken glass
I try to inspire myself to strive and not kill myself.
I will become a success,
I will be someone, someday,
I will go down in history,
I will do it know matter what it takes,
I will stay strong
I will take basketball to another level,
I will work hard,
I will work until I’m on top,
I will graduate from High School,
I will graduate from College, no matter what it takes,
I will go all the way, with no help or with help,
I will not let people stop me, I will be very special one day.
- Emanuel, 8th grade

Sound
sounds let out a beat,
a beat lets out the flow,
the flow lets out the song,
the song has its rhythm,
the rhythm stops its play,
there is no song,
theres no flow,
the beat went low, the sound began to hush,
now theres nothing left but a quiet sound of her breath.
- Amanda, 8th grade