06/03/2026
The Belfast Poetry Festival is proud to host an open mic this coming Friday, June 5 at Waterfall Arts in Belfast, Maine to open a weekend of events as part of the art center’s latest exhibit “Home & Away: A trans text(iles) exhibition.” This is a project of Transmissions Quilts, which hires trans artists to create gift quilts for individually nominated trans recipients. Rooted in the long tradition of quilting as a marker of life transitions, the project expands that lineage by centering trans lives, relationships, and geographies.
“Home & Away” is part of a New England tour sharing quilts and additional artwork by Northeast-based artists, with a focus on how storytelling manifests through both language and fabric. The exhibition brings together quilts, poetry, oral histories, and interdisciplinary works that explore the intimate relationship between text and textile—story and stitch, memory and material. Participating artists include Travis Clough, Dan Toomre, Maddy Magnuson, Danika Azevedo, Joey Dehais, Abby Meyeroal, Nailah Taman, Jordan Lister, Alyson Fraser Diaz, Lune Ames, Lunilah Project, and Cordy Joan. “Home & Away” is presented in collaboration with Trans Poetics Archive, Out in the Open, and the Belfast Poetry Festival.
Workshop schedule:
• Transmissions/Lunilah Text(ile) Workshop* Hosted by Lunilah
Saturday, June 6 | 10 AM–1 PM
Open to self-identified trans community members only.
• Hand in Hand: Poetry and Contact Improv Workshop Hosted by Sampson Spadafore and Lou Hoecker
Sunday, June 7 | 10 AM–1 PM
Free and open to everyone.
An ADA-accessible portable restroom will be available on site near the gallery entrance. Workshops will take place in the Clifford Gallery on the ground level of Waterfall Arts. Masking is welcome to support community health and safety. Attendees who are feeling sick are encouraged to stay home.
The open mic takes place as part of the opening reception of the exhibit (5-8 p.m.) and will begin at about 6 p.m. Lou Hoecker headlines. Sign-ups available at the reception!
