How do I start a sidewalk poetry program?

Find your partner first: an arts group and a public works department run a program together. Then use the program kit: the Pour Once resolution for the council, the funding guide for the budget, and the annual order planner for the purchase. Set a sample poem in the designer to see its price.

What cities run sidewalk poetry programs?

Sidewalk poetry programs run in cities across the country. Saint Paul, MN operates the longest-running one — Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk, run by Public Art Saint Paul with the city's Public Works department since 2008 — and the model has since been adapted in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Appleton, Wisconsin; and Zionsville, Indiana. We support new and established programs alike; contact us to discuss yours.

Do you support grant applications?

Yes. The designer prices every stamp up front, a quote holds for 30 days, and we format invoices and documentation to your grantor's requirements. The funding guide covers who funds programs, how much, and when.

How programs work

Sidewalk poetry, run by two partners.

An arts group collects the poems. A public works department presses them into panels it was already replacing. They hand the order back and forth until it's poured, and we work with both, from the first proof to the pour.

Get the program kit Request a quote

17states with programs using our stamps
1,400+stamps in Saint Paul's sidewalks, per Public Art Saint Paul
20 yearsfield record on the same stamps
1 business dayto a quote, valid 30 days

Who runs a program

Two partners, one open order.

Neither one comes first. Each checks a different half of the work, and the order goes back and forth between them until the poems are in the ground.

Public art groups

They vet the craft.

Peer programs and installed work
How the poems look, in every language chosen
Panel and poet sign-off on wording and typeface
Fit with a grant

For public art groups

Public works departments

They vet the paperwork.

W-9, insurance and tax-exempt status
Specs and durability
Price, quotes and POs
Fit with the pour schedule

For public works

Handed back and forth

Poem proofs
Payment and POs
The pour schedule
Stamp sizes

How a program runs

From resident poems to scheduled pours.

Collect the words.The program runs a call for poems in the languages its residents speak, and its panel picks them.Public art
Set and price each poem.Set each poem in the designer, where its price is on screen as you go. A free account keeps a program's stamps together in one project.Both
Approve every proof.Poets, the panel and public works see the same proof. The approved revision stays with the order, and it's the one we cut.Both
Order your way.Card, or Net-30 with your PO on the invoice for approved organizations. Tax-exempt orders welcome, and one annual order can cover the year.Public works
We cut the plates.Each plate is machine-carved from solid rigid plastic on a welded aluminum frame. Production takes at least 10 business days, then shipping.Our shop
Press on repair day.Crews press the stamps into panels already scheduled for repair, then rinse the plates and reuse them.Public works

The program kit

Everything a council needs to say yes.

Poems go only into sidewalk panels the city is already replacing. Road planners call this dig once. We call it Pour Once. These three pieces get it adopted, paid for, and bought.

New to the model? Read the guide to starting a sidewalk poetry program.

The annual order

A year of poems, one purchase.

Cities buy on purchase orders, against approval limits. So plan the year as one order: one PO, one approval, one invoice. Price it here and download an estimate for the packet.

Estimated total for the year

$1,667.70

Plus sales tax where it applies.

6 stamps, 24 × 18 in: $1,555.20
Each stamp: $259.20
Standard shipping, estimated: $112.50

Set the first poem

An estimate, not a quote. Each stamp's final price comes from its approved proof.

How the annual order works

01
Budget it once
Price the year above and put the estimate in your budget request or grant application.
02
Set every poem
Set each poem in the designer and keep them together in one project in a free account. A submittal PDF puts every proof in one package for your committee.
03
One order, one PO
Once your organization is approved for invoice terms, submit the whole year from your cart on Net 30, with your PO number on the invoice. Tax-exempt certificates are reviewed and kept on file.
04
On the shelf before the season
Order in late winter. Production takes at least 10 business days, plus shipping, so the stamps arrive before the first pour.

Case study · Saint Paul, Minnesota

The program that started it all.

Since 2008, Public Art Saint Paul has run Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk with the City of Saint Paul's Public Works department — an annual contest for residents, with winning poems pressed into panels the city was already replacing.

It is the reason this workshop exists: we've cut its stamps since its early years.

Read the full case study

1,400+sidewalk stamps installed across the city
102poems in the collection, all by Saint Paul residents
10 mina poem within a ten-minute walk of every resident

Program figures: Public Art Saint Paul

Questions

Program FAQ.

How do I start a sidewalk poetry program?: Find your partner first: an arts group and a public works department run a program together. Then use the program kit: the Pour Once resolution for the council, the funding guide for the budget, and the annual order planner for the purchase. Set a sample poem in the designer to see its price.
What cities run sidewalk poetry programs?: Sidewalk poetry programs run in cities across the country. Saint Paul, MN operates the longest-running one — Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk, run by Public Art Saint Paul with the city's Public Works department since 2008 — and the model has since been adapted in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Appleton, Wisconsin; and Zionsville, Indiana. We support new and established programs alike; contact us to discuss yours.
Do you support grant applications?: Yes. The designer prices every stamp up front, a quote holds for 30 days, and we format invoices and documentation to your grantor's requirements. The funding guide covers who funds programs, how much, and when.

The ground remembers.

Request a quote Start designing

Stamped Sidewalks, a Dimension Sign shop. Made in Minnesota.

Sidewalk poetry, run by two partners.

17states with programs using our stamps

1,400+stamps in Saint Paul's sidewalks, per Public Art Saint Paul

20 yearsfield record on the same stamps

1 business dayto a quote, valid 30 days

From resident poems to scheduled pours.

Collect the words.The program runs a call for poems in the languages its residents speak, and its panel picks them.Public art

Set and price each poem.Set each poem in the designer, where its price is on screen as you go. A free account keeps a program's stamps together in one project.Both

Approve every proof.Poets, the panel and public works see the same proof. The approved revision stays with the order, and it's the one we cut.Both

Order your way.Card, or Net-30 with your PO on the invoice for approved organizations. Tax-exempt orders welcome, and one annual order can cover the year.Public works

We cut the plates.Each plate is machine-carved from solid rigid plastic on a welded aluminum frame. Production takes at least 10 business days, then shipping.Our shop

Press on repair day.Crews press the stamps into panels already scheduled for repair, then rinse the plates and reuse them.Public works

The program that started it all.

It is the reason this workshop exists: we've cut its stamps since its early years.

Read the full case study

Sidewalk poetry, run by two partners.

Two partners, one open order.

They vet the craft.

They vet the paperwork.

From resident poems to scheduled pours.

Everything a council needs to say yes.

Pour Once resolution

Funding guide

Annual order planner

A year of poems, one purchase.

How the annual order works

Budget it once

Set every poem

One order, one PO

On the shelf before the season

The program that started it all.

Program FAQ.

The ground remembers.

Sidewalk poetry, run by two partners.

Two partners, one open order.

They vet the craft.

They vet the paperwork.

From resident poems to scheduled pours.

Everything a council needs to say yes.

Pour Once resolution

Funding guide

Annual order planner

A year of poems, one purchase.

How the annual order works

Budget it once

Set every poem

One order, one PO

On the shelf before the season

The program that started it all.

Program FAQ.

The ground remembers.