In 2016, the Buckingham Companies began to brand their collection of properties between 9th and 10th Streets and between Meridian and Pennsylvania Streets as “Library Square,” in honor of the nearby Central branch of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library. To reinforce this connection to the library, Buckingham staged a literary competition with the Arts Council of Indianapolis and the Indiana Writers’ Center for short poems that could fit into a standard sidewalk panel. Poets were ... view more »
In 2016, the Buckingham Companies began to brand their collection of properties between 9th and 10th Streets and between Meridian and Pennsylvania Streets as “Library Square,” in honor of the nearby Central branch of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library. To reinforce this connection to the library, Buckingham staged a literary competition with the Arts Council of Indianapolis and the Indiana Writers’ Center for short poems that could fit into a standard sidewalk panel. Poets were instructed to limit their submitted poetry to no more than 10 lines long and no more than 40 characters per line, and no more than 255 characters total.
The poems are inscribed onto steel panels and set into indentations in the concrete sidewalks around Buckingham’s development called The Congress at Library Square. The first four poems were installed in early 2019: “Reading for Pleasure” by Chris Forhan; “Mathematics” by Helen Frost; “Night Kayak” by former Indiana Poet Laureate Karen Kovacik; and “Portrait of a Poet” by Vienna Bottomley. More poems are scheduled to be added in 2019 and 2020.
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