Based in Brooklyn, New York, with a dedication to the whole planet, Climbing PoeTree harnesses creativity as the antidote to destruction through their award-winning spoken word, boundary-breaking music and multimedia hip-hop theater.
Co-creators Alixa Garcia and Naima Penniman have independently organized more than 30 national and international tours, taking their work from South Africa to Cuba, the U.K. to Mexico and throughout the U.S., including 11,000 miles toured on a bus converted to run on recycled vegetable oil.
Climbing PoeTree has stirred crowds at diverse venues from the Brooklyn Academy of Music to the United Nations, Harvard University to Rikers Island Prison. They have been featured alongside powerhouses such as Alicia Keys, Janelle Monáe, Erykah Badu, Little Dragon, Talib Kweli, Maxwell, Madonna, Goapele, Rising Appalachia, T.I., Dead Prez and Angela Davis, who writes:
"Each time I have the pleasure of attending a performance by Climbing PoeTree, I feel enriched, renewed and inspired. Alixa and Naima insist that poetry can change the world—and it is true that the urgency, power and beauty of their words impel us to keep striving for the radical futures toward which they gesture."
The performance
Who: Open to the public
When: Saturday, Feb. 10, 6–7:30 p.m.
Where: SEEC Auditorium
The workshop
Who: Students
When: Sunday, Feb. 11, 12–4 p.m.
Where: Main Campus (location to be shared once registered)
RSVP: Due by Feb. 8
Climbing PoeTree's art is a tool to expose injustice and make a better future visible, immediate and irresistible.
The Feb. 10 performance is being held in conjuction with the Front Range Eco-Social Solutions Conference. It is free and open to the public.
The student workshop
Garcia and Penniman use art as a tool for catalyzing action, cross-pollinating solutions and getting at the root of the unnatural disasters we’ve inherited.
In this interactive workshop that integrates performance and storytelling, Climbing PoeTree will share models of how creative interventions can be used to strengthen our movements for social and climate justice. Participants will interact with and contribute to a tapestry of thousands of hand-written stories, exercise the visionary muscle of the imagination and unleash collaborative power to build bridges of empathy across the walls that try to divide us.
The Feb. 11 workshop is offered for CU Boulder students only. Cost is $25; lunch is included. Reduced rates and limited scholarships are available. The event will be held on Main Campus (the location will be shared with registered students). Register by Feb. 8.
