RunDSM

On Saturday, November 15, the poets of Movement 515 had the opportunity to share their truth at a performance for the Wonder of Words Festival. Huge shout-out to Eduardo Arana for his mad skills on the camera. Follow him on Instagram here!

On Thursday, November 6, the poets of Movement 515 had the honor of sharing the stage with poet+performer+librettist Douglas Kearney at Drake University. Shout-out to the Comparison Project and the Coalition of Black Students for sponsoring the event!

(All photos courtesy of Eduardo Arana. Follow him on Instagram @eduardoarana_photo)  

Shout-out to the East squad for taking the title at the October 30 slam! You did good! You did real good!

On Thursday, October 3, 2014, RunDSM held its first school v. school poetry slam! Students from North, East, Roosevelt, and Hoover participated, with the Huskies taking the win! Shout-out to Eduardo Arana for capturing the truth and passion of our poets. Follow him on Instagram here!

Shout-out to Jasmine Mans for joining the RunDSM + Drake University family this week. We were challenged + moved. We will “read more,” and vow to “make other people’s problems as important as our own.” Please keep sharing your truth, Queen.

We are excited to announce our new format for Movement 515 workshops during the 2014-2015 school year. All spoken word poets will have the opportunity to meet twice weekly, Tuesdays at their home high school and Thursdays at the Des Moines Social Club! We’ve also added a new street art workshop led by Ms. Cassie Kendzora, allowing youth to “get free” and express artistically. All middle and high school youth in Des Moines Public Schools are welcome to attend. Join the movement today!

Huge shout-out to these beautiful dreamers for getting free with us today! We always love working with these incredible youth + Des Moines’ “I Have a Dream” foundation. We hope to see your faces in one of our crews this school year. Much love.

Once in a blue moon, there are moments in life where your heart skips a little beat and you have to pinch yourself to make sure you are living in reality. And yesterday, we had one of those moments. We are humbled to share that RunDSM was awarded a $70,000 grant from the United Way of Central Iowa to fund yearlong Movement 515 Spoken Word + Street Art programming for youth in Des Moines Public Schools. With this money, we will bring in national and local teaching artists, purchase equipment to establish a RunDSM student deejay and necessary supplies for our visual artists, fund workshop + venue space across our city so our youth can be fully immersed in artistic spaces, and create a summer spoken word + street art camp, hiring back former Movement 515 poets and artists to keep the magic alive. This funding comes as a result of our youth having the courage to use their powerful voices, speaking up and out about issues that matter. They will play an integral part in determining where and how this money is spent, and learn the importance of management and organization. Please continue supporting United Way and the beautiful young people of our city.

All photos courtesy of Emily Lang / RunDSM