Spring Break
Art adheres to cafe walls, accentuating the ambience
Dina Baslan
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: News
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The visual entity of the WORD! Poetry Series is now displayed on the walls of the cafe, a bustling, centralized spot on campus, said Jose Lopez, event organizer at Mosaic Cross Cultural Center.
"(Market Cafe) needs that personal feel - a student stamp on it," Lopez said. "And I felt putting artwork would do that. Not only promoting the program but showcasing SJSU students and their art."
The program, which originally started with spoken-word poetry and music, seeks to display students' talents in its different formats, held by the students and for the students on "their campus," Lopez said.
"I think there is lack of space here on campus," he said. "Not physical space but creative space where people come through and share their talents with each other."
At the beginning of each month, the program showcases the art of one new student who, Lopez said, does not necessarily need to be a professional but rather has an expression to share.
Armo Movsessian's art is featured at the cafe now through the month of May. He is a junior graphic design major.
"I want to push graffiti to new potential, to what it could be because it is such a beautiful art form," Movsessian, 22, said. "There are no rules about it, and I want people to look at it from a new perspective."
Movsessian, or "Armogedon 2057," said he has been drawing graffiti for seven years.
"I started off doing the wrong things with it," he said, "but I said, 'I really enjoy this. Let me try a different direction.' And so I'm taking something that has come from the street and hoping for it to be some gallery-type work."
On the first Thursday of each month, the program also hosts students at the Market Café, where poems on paper are heard and shared.
Christopher Temblabor, a junior sociology major, said that last Thursday was his second time taking part in the program. He said he shared a poem, and it spoke about love.
"There's something about WORD! Poetry on campus that there's a sense of comfort and gives individuals like myself inspiration," he said. Temblabor added that he usually keeps most of his writings to himself.
He said the first poem he shared amid a group of students at the cafe was about HIV awareness.
Lopez, 29, said that on average there are 15 to 20 performers with an audience of 30 to 35.
"It is a very accessible, very down-to-earth program where we want people to make part of their day-to-day routine," Lopez said. "There's a community being built here."
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