Whitman on Walls! Harlem

Come and experience Compagnia de' Colombari's Whitman on Walls! (WoW!) Harlem at Denny Farrell Riverbank State Park in the Robert Frederick Smith Center for Performing Arts (679 Riverside Drive at 145th Street in Harlem) on May 5 at 6:30p.m. presented for FREE and open to the public in partnership with in association with , , and . Envisioned as a “Slam Poetry reading meets movie screening,” WoW! Harlem features poets and artists, including Quincy Troupe, Alano Baez (aka Not4Prophet), Michelle Y. Valladares, Jose Perez with Paul Wellington on flute, Luther D. Isler (aka THE ARTIST ANUBIS), Marquet Young (aka Markie Imani), Alex Anderson, and Peter Gomez, and others, reacting to Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” a “barbaric yawp” celebrating freedom, inclusion, and democracy.

Working with Whitman's iconic poem, "Song of Myself," Colombari created seven short films with actors and musicians around the globe, bringing Whitman’s words to life in startling and beautiful new ways intermixed with live responses from local poets and performers.

This event continues Colombari’s initiative to tour Whitman on Walls! in all 50 states in the USA by 2026, the 250th anniversary of The Declaration of Independence. All poems from WoW! are collected and shared in an anthology. Volume I was published in September 2022, and Volume II will be published in December 2023.

Compagnia de' Colombari's 20th Anniversary Season programs are made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), The Eucalyptus Foundation, and the generous support from other funders and donors.

Host or Publisher Compagnia de' Colombari