“Poet’s Pointe” by San Antonio artists Kim Bishop and Luis Valderas, is an inviting space which celebrates visual art, prose, and incorporates San Antonio Poet Laureate (2018-2020) Octavio Quintanilla’s signature initiative. The space is defined by a curved wall which frames seven poems and seven works of art, along with three steel shade structures that resemble writing paper supported by oversized pencils. Lines of poetry cut out of the steel paper casts shadows on the concrete below, creating an interactive experience. Together, the curve of the art wall and sculptures echo the movement of the sun at this latitude and set the stage to enjoy art and poetry in celebration of the vibrant arts and culture of this neighborhood.

Bishop and Valderas invited seven multi-disciplinary artists from Council District 7 to participate in this project. Quintanilla invited six additional poets, four City Poets Laureate and two poets with ties to Council District 7. This collaboration resulted in the creation of original artworks inspired by natural elements, water, the sun, and nearby street names, Magnolia, Mistletoe, Morning Glory, Mulberry, and Huisache. The artworks and full poems are included in tile along the wall which faces Seeling Channel.

Community engagement for this Seeling Channel public art project requested the inclusion of poetry in the design. As part of the City’s Poet Laureate program, Poets Laureate are invited to create a signature initiative where Quintanilla envisioned a literary destination in a public space solidifying the partnership between the Poet Laureate program and the Public Art Division. Bishop and Valderas were tasked with incorporating poetry into their artwork and designed this space while Quintanilla curated the poets. Quintanilla hopes members of the public, poets, students, and teachers from San Antonio, the United States and beyond will come to Poet’s Pointe to celebrate poetry and be inspired to create their own poetry.