APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV) – The Appleton Public Library, along with the city’s public works department, is calling on Appleton residents to submit their poems for their Sidewalk Poetry program.

This is the 10th year of the project, but the first one partnered with the library.

Community Partnership Supervisor Adriana McCleer says, “It’s an opportunity for our community to see art, to see poetry, in their everyday moments in their community.”

Appleton residents of any age can submit a poem to the library’s website for a chance to have it stamped on a city sidewalk. Up to 5 winners are chosen each year by local educators, public works officials, and a student representative, amongst others.

“They’re looking for a variety of poems that reflect the beauty of our community, the creativity of our community. There’s not one particular theme,” McCleer explains.

Poems can be a maximum of 10 lines long, including the title. The city uses the poetry not just to repair the sidewalks in a unique way, but to promote creativity within the community.

McCleer says, “When they are walking past a park or they’re walking through their residential neighborhood, they have the surprise and delightful moments where they’re encountering a poem in the ground and having this open-air reading of original, local poetry.”

The last day to submit a poem is February 18th. If you are interested in visiting the poems from previous years, click here for a map highlighting each location.