Spoken Word of Tulsa
was started in roughly 1997 / 1998 by Nancy Harris - with the vision to form an organization which could support the forming of a Tulsa poetry slam team to compete at the yearly National Poetry Slam event held by PSI.
Over the next 7 years, Nancy and I, as well as an entire community of local poets, writers, and performers would work tirelessly to bring poetry to the masses.We held open mics and poetry events at the Deleware Playhouse, Mayfest, the Nightingale Theatre, Harwelden Mansion, Club One, Curly's, Tulsa Arists Coalition, Gypsy Coffee House, The Bowery, Living Arts of Tulsa, All Souls Unitarian Church, the Transit Bar, the Loft Coffeehouse, Greenwood Cultural Center, just to name a few of the local venues.
Our youth program has gained much praise and respect in the Tulsa Community and continues to be a source of inspiration and education for young Tulsans.
SWOT's most recent official event was held in conjunction with the Tulsa Peace Fellowship and Market on 18th on June 28, 2003 on the bank of the Arkansas River, at the field near west Tulsa's skateboard park, and was called, "RiverJam". We brought together folks of all walks of life, and celebrated diversity and culture with an outdoor arts&crafts fair, and a full day of music from latin and afro-cuban beats to exotic middleastern dancing, to folk, hip-hop and spoken word.
This event was the culmination of what is possible in Tulsa - all cultures and people from everywhere in the city coming together in one place enjoy life, culture, the arts, and to communicate with and learn from eachother.
I'll never forget the event, nor those who helped make it possible. |
Where is SWOT?
Well, about 9 years after its inception, SWOT lies dormant, waiting for the right conditions before it rises from the ashes again.
In the meantime, I continue to jam with Smoke, as well as support local spoken word and poetry artists all over the Tulsa area.
You may see me at a Nimrod workshop, or hanging around one of the local poetry events / open mics advertised by the Urban Tulsa Weekly.
Those of you looking for current poetry, spoken word, and art scene support might want to check out the Gypsy Coffee House, the Nightingale Theatre or Living Arts of Tulsa.
More often than not if there's something interesting going on, it'll be listed on the tulsatime livejournal community, or the YP Tulsa event calendar, or both.
So what's going on now?
Most recently I have plunged headlong in to a few other groups / projects which hold up my original vision of self-created art, DIY creativity and forever eliminating the phrase, "There's never anything to do in Tulsa" from all its citizens.
YP Tulsa
was started in Sept. 2004 and is a group of artists/designers and creative people from all professions connecting, coordinating with eachother and working together to make Tulsa the great place to live that we all envision. In 2025, Tulsa will belong to us, not the current powers that be, therefore it's our time and place to step up and make things happen here and now.
focusOn:Tulsa
is a weekly online video show (aka 'vlog' or video podcast) showcasing the unique art, entertainment, and people of Tulsa. Each episode features interviews with local artists and an overview of the event/installation.
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