Prompt for the Planet returns to the Englert Theatre in Iowa City on Sunday, bringing local artists and performers to the stage to celebrate Iowa’s environment and explore issues around it. Like the 2022 version of the event, the intent is to encourage community members to take action.
“This free event draws inspiration from U.S. Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman’s Prompt for the Planet, originally conceived in 2018 when University of Iowa student Shannon Nolan and her instructor David Gould asked Gorman to create a prompt for the rising generations to reflect on the state of the planet,” organizers explained in a news release. “Gorman’s challenge was simple yet profound: ‘Think of one element and speak in its voice through pictures and words.’ This year, the project returns with an extraordinary showcase of music, poetry, dance, and visual art, all responding to The Prompt in a way that highlights the power of art to drive change.”
Gorman concluded her prompt by encouraging artists to think of their response to it “as creating an open letter from the planet.”
In 2022, the event was called Prompt for the Planet: Community Creates. This year it is Prompt for the Planet: Community Promises.
This year’s performers include the LENA Project Earth Warriors Children’s Choir, the Quire and Joshua and Emily Culbreath of Snack Break Movement Arts. Several writers and storytellers will also perform, including Little Village Arts and Culture Editor Chuy Renteria, who will read “we are seeds but this soil is killing us,” a rumination on growing up in a small town dominated by a meat-processing facility.
This year’s event is organized by the University of Iowa Office of Sustainability and the Environment and the LENA Project. Prompt for the Planet: Community Promises is free and open to the public. It is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15 at the Englert Theatre in downtown in Iowa City.
