Spring Up for Yard Art

In her poem “Spring,” Edna St. Vincent Millay asks:

To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.

Dear Edna, if you were living in San Antonio, you’d know that April comes for SAY Sí’s Yard Art exhibit. In its 14th year, Yard Art is an annual ode to spring from over 100 young, budding visual artists.

Each year has a theme, and this year’s is a celebration of San Antonio’s National Poetry Month (April!). Inspired by reading over 40 poems on nature and spring – such as “The Small Garden" by Cheng Hsieh, “Tiger Lily” by David McCord, an “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams – students have embellished chairs, created mosaics and re-purposed tools into poetic objects. A couple examples include the owl chair (pictured) by Amber Estrada, age 16, and the mosaic birdbath (pictured) by Yzavel Sanchez (age 17).

So before you storm your favorite nursery, stop by SAY Sí and take in some poetic yard art to add some magic to your own backyard. The exhibit opens today for First Friday and runs through April 22.

“The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.