Plinths, the heavy platforms that hold up statues and monuments, are by their very definition not made for all. Plinths for the People takes the historical plinth and turns it into a grand stage activated by the community. Kelly Kristin Jones ensures that all stories, voices, and visions are acknowledged as community members speak their truth and perform their triumphs, creating their own kind of monument.

Join us at 21c Chicago on April 15 from 2-3pm to bear witness to those who choose to stand atop the plinth, and be inspired by Maya Odim and Luis Tubens, two Poets in Residence at The Chicago Poetry Center. Plinths for the People is co-sponsored by the Chicago Poetry Center.

Kelly Kristin Jones was raised on the westside of Chicago and received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the recipient of a number of awards and fellowships including a 2022 Individual Artists Program Grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, a 2021 Illinois Arts Council Agency Grant, a 2019 Chicago Artists Coalition HATCH residency, LATITUDE residency, and Luminarts Cultural Foundation Project Grant. She was a featured artist in the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial.

The mission of the Chicago Poetry Center is to connect people and poetry, equitably engage poets with communities, and foster creative literacy in the city and beyond. More information is available at www.poetrycenter.org.

Maya Odim is a poet and dancer who purposefully mounts performance works in spaces existing outside of occidental performance bounds. Maya works as an interdisciplinary artist exploring rhythms, patterns and qualities of speech through both the written word and a developing choreographic praxis. Maya holds a BA in American Studies (Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT) and is an MFA Writing candidate at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).

Luis Tubens, a.k.a “Logan Lu”, was born in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood and raised in Logan Square. In 2014, he earned a B.A. in Communications, media and theater from Northeastern Illinois University. He is the 2017 Artists in Residence at Oak Park Public Library. Luis has performed poetry across the United States including with the GUILD COMPLEX, Tia Chucha Press, and the National Museum of Mexican Art. He has toured Mexico City in 2016 and 2018 presenting his work at the acclaimed “Show Socrates MX” (2016) and the National Book Fair of Leon GTO (2018) and featured in Puerto Rico at “Poets Passage” and “Gathering of Cities” at Libros AC (2019). He has also held workshops for the residents of the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center and students in the Chicago Public Schools. On stage, he has opened for notable acts including Saul Williams and Calle 13. He is the author of Stone Eagle (2017) published by Bobbin Lace Press, Chicago. Currently, Luis is the resident poet for ESSO Afrojam Funkbeat (2016 Best New Band and Best International Music Act, Chicago Reader) and represented Chicago in the 2014 and 2018 National Poetry Slam.