PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Murals, children’s programming, & creative public history projects
SOWING DESIRE
In 2022, Octavia McBride-Ahebee was commissioned by Mural Arts Philadelphia to create an original poem for a public mural that lives on a local supermarket in West Philadelphia and celebrates the rich tradition of urban gardens and fresh food in neighborhoods battling food deserts. Learn more about the project below.
RAIN POETRY
Rain Poetry is a public art project from the PA Humanities where students’ poems were literally enshrined in the ground of their neighborhood playground, making poetry a lasting part of the landscape they move through every day.
WALT WHITMAN ON WALLS
Walt Whitman on Walls pairs more than 50 actors from around the world with regional poets, including students of poet and Samuel Powell Elementary School teacher Octavia McBride-Ahebee, creating a global conversation rooted in local voices.
USING. DOING. TEACHING.
As part of the Using, Doing, Teaching Black History Project, sponsored by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and co-hosted by 1838 Black Metropolis, McBride-Ahebee was thrilled to share a creative short story inspired by the migration of 15,000 African Americans, many from Philadelphia, to Haiti following its revolution in the early 1800s. One of the most moving moments for the poet was reading this piece while accompanied by the incomparable Youba Cissokho, a 72nd-generation kora master from Senegal. His music gave the story a soul-stirring depth.