POETIC PEOPLE POWER to Celebrate 15 Years of Art and Activism

Poetic People Power celebrates the impact of art and activism at its 15th annual show at the Helen Mills Theater on October 14th. This anniversary show, Agitate: 15 Years of Poetic Action, presents the creative work, stories, and positive change that have resulted from this poetic community.

In a time when funding for the arts is threatened and the value of art is questioned, Poetic People Power demonstrates that art can inspire, educate, and encourage people to make meaningful change. This spoken word show features the best poetry from their past shows by artists Tara Bracco, Erica R. DeLaRosa, Philippe Garcesto, Karla Jackson-Brewer, Sugar Johnson, Shetal Shah, and Natalia Vargas-Caba.

This one night only event will be held at the Helen Mills Theater, located at 139 West 26th Street in Manhattan. Tickets are $15 online at BrownPaperTickets.com and $20 at the door. Tickets can also be purchased by calling 1-800-838-3006. The show starts at 7 PM.

For 15 consecutive years, Poetic People Power has creatively explored social and political topics, offering insight and solutions to issues that affect our everyday lives. Founded in 2003 by writer Tara Bracco, this project has been using the expressive art of poetry to present timely shows on topics such as climate change, universal health care, the global water crisis, inequality, and time poverty. Past shows include Tapped Out: Words About The Water Crisis (Bowery Poetry Club, 2009); Price Check: How We Became a Culture of Consumption (Producers Club, 2010); Invisible Chains: Inequality in America (Wild Project, 2013); Closed: NYC Shuts Its Doors To Artists (Theater 80, 2014); #AntiSocial: The Dark Side of Social Media (Wild Project, 2015); and Take Your Time (Theater on Waverly, 2016).

Tara Bracco (producer) is the founder of Poetic People Power. She has produced 15 spoken word shows in New York City, and she has been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine; Time Out New York; The Brooklyn Rail; and The Huffington Post. She has performed her poetry and spoken about art and social change at colleges, festivals, conferences, and theaters. As a journalist, her work has been published by Cosmopolitan, American Theatre, MSN, Condé Nast Traveler, BUST, and Clamor. She is a recipient of the 2015 Appreciation Award from Images and Voices of Hope. In 2009, after producing a show about the global water crisis, she cofounded the international nonprofit The Project Solution, which serves 25,000 people in 11 countries.

More information at www.poeticpeoplepower.com.

Pictured: Tara Bracco. Photo by Mark Rywelski.