Colwood residents in Royal Bay have a new art display to admire, and it comes courtesy of their neighbours at Royal Bay Secondary School.
Arts and Culture Colwood Society officially unveiled its new Poetry Station Friday (May 12) at the entrance to Murrays Pond Park on Ryder Hesjedal Way near Bonaparte Street. The station displays a rotating roster of poetry produced by students at the school.
“It is important to showcase many art forms in our community, and we are hopeful that providing placement such as this will provide a unique setting for passersby to engage with the arts,” said Laura Davis, the society’s president, just before the cloth was removed, unveiling the station.
Six poems are being displayed initially, printed in unique formats and featuring a unique scannable QR code which links to an anonymous recording allowing visitors to the station to both read and listen to the works.
Christine Chase, project manager for the station, said the plan is to rotate the displayed poems every two to three months.
“We’re hoping the station will be here for many years and we will steadily get poetry from the school. It can be as a result of class projects, or it can be students who simply enjoy composing poetry on their own,” she said.
Attending the unveiling on behalf of mayor and council, Coun. David Grove said he feels the trailhead is the perfect setting for the station as the small paved seating area adjacent to the display would even allow for some poetry performances in the future.
“I think everybody has little bits of paper with poetry written on it, tucked away in a drawer somewhere, afraid to give it the light of day. I do, I have little books with poems in them. This is brilliant. It brings poetry out into a public space, and I think it will be a really good inspiration to people,” he said.