Program Information
Title: Sidewalk Poetry Writing Contest 2026
Program description:
Sidewalk Poetry (SWP) has been a project of Public Art Saint Paul (PASP) in collaboration with the City of Saint Paul since 2008. Originated by City Artist Marcus Young under the title of “Everyday Poems for City Sidewalks,” the name changed to simply Sidewalk Poetry after Young’s tenure as City Artist completed in 2015.
Public Art Saint Paul works with the City to promote the poetry contest and to have the winning poems stamped onto city sidewalks as part of the sidewalk replacement program in the Department of Public Works.
Any St. Paul resident can submit a short poem. Poems are juried by a panel of professional writers. In 2026, the panel will select 15 poems, to join the 86-poem collection for sidewalk stamping, for the first time in the official languages of the City of Saint Paul—English, Hmong, Karen, Somali, and Spanish—as well as in Dakota. Stampings of non-English language poems will include QR codes through which pedestrians may access translations, another first. Also a first is PASP’s partnering with Capitol Region Watershed District (CRWD) on the recurring contest, whose request for a theme of “water” is operative in 2026.
Location: Poems, over 1500 of them, are stamped throughout the City of Saint Paul with an emphasis on residential streets.
Curator of Sidewalk Poetry Responsibilities
*Create promotional content for postings and distribution by PASP, CRWD, and other interested parties.
*Communicate with jurors to collect (1) written translations of English language call for submissions into other five languages and (2) self-recorded video translations of same
*Help to promote the contest to a variety of entities with the six languages in consideration, including cultural, immigrant, art, community, academic, governmental by researching and communicating with such entities
*Coordinate logistics and promotion of SWP information session + poetry workshop event, scheduled for May 9 at CRWD.
*Respond to inquiries from the public about SWP as appropriate
*Update jurors about SWP contest submissions received during its 4-6 week window
*Fashion a poem evaluation tool, shared on the cloud
*Facilitate for jurors timely evaluation of their lot by populating shared submission spreadsheet
*Organize and lead poem evaluation retreat (likely in late July) attended by all jurors
*Correspond with SWP awardees and support issue of their stipends
Position Duration: Dates: Apr 1 – Aug 31, 2026
Schedule:
April
*PASP hires Poetry Workshop Lead: a local poet with experience facilitating poetry workshops with the public.
*PASP recruits five individuals to participate as Jurors. One for each of the non-English languages who collectively judge the English language poems. Jurors will co-create and distribute multi-lingual promotional content in collaboration with PASP
*PASP and CRWD will promote SWP and the workshop through standard communications channels and direct contact to partners and publications directly serving local literary, cultural, language, and arts communities.
*PASP sets up a submission portal to be open for 6 – 8 weeks including the following:
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- Contest guidelines,
- Submission window,
- Submission requirements,
May
*PASP opens submission window week of the workshop above, so that the workshop is offered within a few days of the submission window’s opening
*CRWD and PASP host a poetry workshop at CRWD to be facilitated by the Poetry Workshop lead.
*PASP receives City of Saint Paul’s list or map of possible installation areas.
*CRWD reviews and recommends installation sites.
*PASP confirms final list of installation locations including response to CRWD’s recommendations.
June
*PASP closes submission window
*PASP Sidewalk Poetry Manager develops submittal review process for Jurors.
*PASP hires Sidewalk Poem Designer to format poems to meet parameters for stamping.
July
*PASP coordinates jurying session in which jurors determine the 15 winners.
*PASP contacts and contracts with the contest winners, including for legal use of their intellectual property
*PASP remits stipends to contest winners
*PASP submits winning poems to Sidewalk Poem Designer
August
*Sidewalk Poem Designer submits files to fabricator and coordinates with Sidewalk Field Coordinator.
*Sidewalk Field Coordinator schedules installation windows.
Payment and Expenses
The Manager of the Sidewalk Poetry contest, 2026, will receive a $3,000 stipend for fulfilling these responsibilities. The stipend will be made in 3 payments, $1,000 paid each by mid-May, mid-July, and mid-September.
APPLY
Send resume to madeline@publicartstpaul.org with subject line: first name_last name_contest_manager2026