Rainier Valley Haiku competition
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Each artwork along the Link light rail Martin Luther King Jr. Way corridor started with the idea of creating a Culture Conversation. These works create a dialog about what it means to live in America in the 21st Century. Is it a melting pot or tossed salad? Is one status preferable over another? Renowned artist Roger Shimomura has created a sculpture (left) for the Othello Station plaza at Myrtle Street that addresses these themes head on. Four recognized poets have written haikus that respond to the sculpture and add their perspectives to the conversation. |
Now you have a chance to join the conversation:
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Visit Othello Station and "Rainier Valley Haiku" by Roger Shimomura
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Write a haiku responding to the art or voicing your perspectives on culture
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Submit your haiku to Sound Transit
See below for further details and learn how you can enter to have your haiku permanently displayed at Othello Station.
How To:
Sound Transit will selected 20 haiku to be permanently displayed on the light rail system wall located next to the sculpture. Entering is as easy as 1-2-3:
1. See
"Rainier Valley Haiku" by Roger Shimomura is located at the Myrtle Plaza at Othello Station, located on the southeast corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Myrtle Street. Be sure to read the haiku written by Kathleen Alcalá, Suzanne Botelli, Alan Lau and Colleen J. McElroy, located on the base of the sculpture.
2. Write
Write a haiku that is either a response to the artwork, or touches on the theme of cultural identity. Ideas to consider include
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what does culture mean to you?
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Is America a melting pot or tossed salad?
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Is one preferable to the other?
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Is it better to assimilate or preserve culture?
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How do you preserve cultural heritage 2 or 3 generations in the future?
3. Submit
Open the submission form, fill it out and send as an attachment to start@soundtransit.org.
Alternatively, print out the form and send via mail to
STart Program
401 S. Jackson
Seattle, WA 98104
Submissions may be in any language; if written in a language other than English, please provide a translation as you would like it read on a plaque. Haiku that are selected to be permanently installed will be presented in its original language with translation, if applicable.
All submissions are subject to terms listed in the submission form, and Sound Transit reserves the right to reproduce submitted haiku on web, in print materials and as permanent installations at Othello Station without compensation to the author.
The Deadline for Submissions was April 30, 2009 (extended). Sound Transit is currently working to convene a panel of judges, and 10 winners will be announced in May 2009.
Another haiku contest will be held in 2009-2010, after the Link light rail system is running. There is no limit to the number of times you may submit, but only one haiku per author is eligible for permanent installation.
ArtsCorps
Sound Transit has partnered with ArtsCorps to develop an easy-to-follow guide to building a curriculum for haiku writing. ArtsCorps developed this curriculum through a series of classes they lead at Aki Kurose Middle School during the 2007-2008 school year. Selected haiku were chosen from the class to be among the first plaques installed in the plaza.
