Beneath New Skies

Joelle L.

• Artist Statement

  My poem Beneath New Skies explores the quiet, unseen hopes carried by immigrants, specifically my parents. I wanted to capture the dreams that guided their journey to America. To begin, I did a ten minute free-write to figure out what sensory details and emotions I could incorporate with their stories. From there, I shaped the images into my poem. Writing this poem helped me understand how their sacrifices created space for my voice and my future, and this poem is my way of honoring where I come from and imagining the calm, hopeful life my family continues to build.

• Creative Statement

  To me, creativity means finding new ways to say, show, or understand something, and it's using your curiosity, imagination, and personal experience to create something original.