Help Caleb take IC Slam Team to Compete Nationally

Hello, my name is Lisa and I'm fundraising to help Caleb "The Negro Artist" Rainey take IC Slam Team to national competition in San Francisco on July 20-23!

Will you help Caleb and our young poets get to the three-day poetry slam in California? We need your help to fund registration fees, airfare, three nights in hotel, and meals for the weekend. Cost should never be a barrier to young people participating in the arts, and with your aid, every poet on the team can compete at Brave New Voices, the national youth poetry slam.

All amounts help! We are so very grateful for your support of Iowa's young poets.

In January 2019, Caleb began inspiring high school writers to tell their stories in weekly after-school poetry workshops sponsored by the Iowa Youth Writing Project. Since that time, the young writers have honed their public speaking skills in live spoken word performances through IC Speaks and The Englert Theatre. Not stopped by the pandemic, Caleb moved workshops and performances online in 2020 to continue to inspire young poets from three Iowa City high schools to transform their pain and joy into art through spoken word poetry.

In 2021, as IC Speaks transitioned back to in-person activities and teamed up with Iowa City Poetry, Caleb continued to create spaces where poets could find community and gain confidence to write, revise, and perform their art. In 2021 and 2022, the IC Speaks Slam Team performed at statewide competitions in Des Moines and found success there. Now they are hoping to take their art to the next level.

It's time for the students to shine on a national stage! They've been invited by Brave New Voices to compete in San Francisco with other slam teams from around the country. The weekend will include writing workshops and time for Iowa City poets to learn the perspectives of other young writers from across the U.S.

The poets have poured their hearts into writing, revising, choreographing, and rehearsing their poetry. Can you help them take the next step to share their work with the world?

Feel free to donate here or use Venmo @iowacitypoetry.

Thank you for your donation!

Sponsored by Iowa City Poetry, a 501(c)(3) organization and member of The James Gang.