The Department of Arts & Culture and the Carver Community Cultural Center (CCCC) will host a screening of 2020-2023 San Antonio Poet Laureate Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson’s  The Echo Project Film series on Thursday, October 20th at the Little Carver Civic Center.  The event is free and open to the public and will include screening of 10 short films honoring community elders created by local poets, live poetry readings by Vocab and other poets as well as musical entertainment.  Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and refreshments will be served. The Little Carver is located on the CCCC campus at 226 N. Hackberry (SATX 78202). Parking is available adjacent to the campus.

In 2012, San Antonio became the first major Texas city to appoint a Poet Laureate - Dr. Carmen Tafolla (2012-2014).  The Poet Laureate initiative has led to a greater appreciation and understanding of poetry and helped preserve and express our culture through the written and spoken word. Ms. Sanderson is San Antonio’s fifth Poet Laureate, her term began in 2020 and will end in March 2023.  During her term Ms. Sanderson has participated in over 100 events, programs, projects throughout San Antonio, Texas and the US. The Echo Project is Vocab’s Signature Poet Laureate Initiative and was funded by a grant from The Academy of American Poets.  The initiative connected San Antonio youth with community elders to honor them and record oral histories.

The CCCC celebrates our diverse cultures with emphasis on African and African American heritage. It was originally erected in 1918, as a community center for African-Americans. prominent entertainers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Louis Armstrong performed there. The City of San Antonio renovated and reopened the building in 1977, as the CCCC. It now operates as a multicultural, performing and visual arts center under the Conventions and Sports Facilities Department.