Outside the Poetry Dome in Chester Park. (Photo by Jess Morgan)

Duluthians wandering through Hillside-neighborhood parks or using the bus may have stumbled upon one of Robert Wildwood’s poetry collections hanging from a tree, or in other precarious or magical places. Wildwood shares about his latest outdoor poetry display in the interview below.

What inspired you to create the poetry dome? What was your vision for the project?

The Poetry Dome is the result of a progression of public poetry projects starting in 2023, with the first Poetry Chrysalides which were cotton fabric bags tied to tree limbs with books inside wrapped in a biodegradable waterproof bag and a small sign dangling below that said, “take this book.” Then in 2024, the Chrysalis Flower, which looked like a downward pointing red flower such as a poppy and inside, were books of poetry hanging from clothes pins that people could pull out if they were brave enough to reach in. […] The [current] Poetry Dome is a walk-in roof with books suspended inside fabric pouches with a bookmark that says “please take this book, it is a gift.”

The Poetry Dome was inspired by a project in Europe I read an article about years ago where someone had made a dome and deployed it on the sidewalk and you could pop your head up into it and then there was a circular shelf inside full of free books. So you might walk by and see legs under the dome and then be curious and take a look yourself. Getting a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board to do this and be able to give the books away was awesome. I really appreciate regular readers and fans of poetry, but I also get excited to put a book in someone’s hands who maybe has never read poetry, ever. Absolutely anyone who goes for a walk in the park could end up with one of these books, maybe a person who would never go in a bookstore, and they might be introduced to a whole new world of possibilities. That’s exciting to me. One generation inspires the next generation and we all keep adding on to the many different cultures of humans living on Earth.

A look up into the Poetry Dome. (Photo by Jess Morgan)

What are the materials used to create the dome?

Green branches from rowan trees, chokecherry trees and lilac bushes from my overgrown yard. After the frame was made, the papier-mâché covering is made from a cornstarch and water recipe, using blue papers that where rescued from where I work. They are the wrappings for sterile medical instruments. At work in the clinic, we unwrap the instruments then toss the sterile blue papers in the trash, and I was like, “hey this is really nice paper, I should save these,” and a year later I had a big bag full of them. I think re-using things is the ideal way to conserve resources and reduce pollution. Eventually the fate of the Poetry Dome will be to compost the whole thing.

How did you ensure that the books will stay dry and safe? What was the process like creating the physical structure?

The Poetry Dome has survived it’s first rainfall! I did seal the papier-mâché with house paint and a clear coating on top so that lasts the entire month. If I hear about a hail storm coming I might run over there with a tarp. I don’t think it would survive that!

Having never made something like this before, it was really much more difficult than I had imagined. The structural forces at play with green branches bent into arcs and therefore each one was a spring pushing on the rest of the structure and warping it. I definitely found myself scratching my head a few times and saying, “What have I got myself into?” I tried to involve my two young children in making it, but then I realized they should not be operating branch snippers. At the time [they] were just learning how to tie knots, so that was limiting. They helped a lot with painting. Just having them doing it with me enabled me to do what I needed to do, and then when it was done, my two year old said to his mom, “Pappa made this, isn’t it beautiful?” Aw, that’s all the encouragement I need.

Did the structure turn out differently than you first envisioned it before starting its construction? What ended up being different than you anticipated?

I had a vision of this beautiful perfectly smooth dome that looked like maybe it wasn’t from this world, and what I ended up with is a dome that looks like a parent of multiple young children made it, with their vision included. I kept at it and the thing started to take shape, not the shape I had day dreamed of, but the shape it wanted to be. So now we have something that looks like a cross between a drawing from a Dr. Suess book and a Salvador Dali painting. There will be more additions as the month goes on. I have put some herbs in the dome to repel the mosquitoes that seem to love the shade!

What support enabled or allowed you to do this project? Did anyone help you prepare the structure or fund the project?

I applied for and received an Individual Artist Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board to do this project. I am so grateful for this opportunity, it is an amazing feeling to reach a point as an artist and poet where a number of strangers look at my proposal and my work and say, “yeah that sounds good. Do that, and here is some money!” My partner is a huge support as well, being the person who reads and delights in offering constructive criticism. It is huge to have that first reader perspective. The poetry in the book was greatly helped by support from the local chapter of the League of Minnesota Poets, the Duluth Poetry Chapter. Many of the poems were written at meetings during writing prompts, and the skills and inspiration of other poets was a motivational factor in the book’s creation.

What is the name of the poetry collection inside the dome? Can you describe some of the core themes included in this poetry collection?

The poetry collection offered inside the dome is called Sun Ripened Fun Ideas: Volume 1 & 2. The themes in this book are mindfulness of our actions, family experiences, community experiences, planetary environmental awareness, mental health and visions of the future.

Is this the first place people were able to encounter this book? If not, can you describe where you first shared this collection?

Sun Ripened Fun Ideas: Volume 1 & 2 was released on a full moon during National Poetry Month at Studio Cafe in Duluth on April 12, 2025 with a musical ensemble of other poets to accompany the reading from Sun Ripened Fun Ideas: piano, clarinet, harmonica, cello, and trombone. I had never done a book release like that before and it was so fun. The sparing use of instrumentation really felt like it captivated the listener and drew them into the meaning of the poems. I usually feel at least a little nervous before performing by myself, but this just felt like having fun with friends and doing something unusual that people might really enjoy.

What are you hoping people will get out of encountering this project along the trail?

I hope that people are pulled out of their routine and can for a moment stop the loop in their thinking to take in this experience and have a moment of wonder when they encounter the dome. I am hoping that the way [visitors] are introduced to the poetry in Sun Ripened Fun Ideas will give it some greater meaning as they read it, like: “this is the book I got out of that dome in the park, did fairy magic have something to do with this?” [And breaks] poetry out of the corner it’s been pushed into to, showing up outside of bookstores running wild in the streets and blooming ideas in the parks. I also hope to inspire people to express themselves in non-traditional ways, to really transgress in communicating because we all need to talk and make this world work, and pretending like everything is okay is definitely not working. Maybe someone could make a friend out of a stranger.

Did anything surprise you about the process or interactions with the dome?

Getting final approval from the city to actually do the dome was a surprise. When I first proposed it they were like, “this is a lot bigger than your previous projects” (the Poetry Chrysalides that hung from tree branches). So we worked out a version of the project that was acceptable with them. [It’s] fun to be working with city officials. That’s a new thing for me, to collaborate on a vision for a project with people who have other interests than I do. I think there are some surprises yet to come as the dome is there through the month of June concurrently with Music in the Park events every Tuesday, as a lot of people will be rolling through there.

What was the first poetry project you did outdoors? Could you describe the other places you’ve hidden poetry and books outdoors?

The Poetry Chrysalides in 2023 in Chester Park [was the first], [which] were the cotton bags with books inside wrapped in biodegradable plastic bags to keep them dry during rain. You just pulled in the string that tied the bag up, the bow knot opened and the book fell into your hands.

This summer I am doing what they call in Europe “book crossings” where you leave a book in a public place for someone else to find. I have been doing this with Sun Ripened Fun Ideas and leaving them in bus shelters and then on picnic tables during sunny weather. It feels fun to be playful with it sometimes: to drop a new book off in a dingy old bus shelter with a bookmark that says “take this book, it is a gift,” and the book is written by someone who lives in your city, and then realize[s] that the person who wrote the book was there in that dingy bus shelter and left that book for you.

Wildwood’s daughter, Beatrix, pointing at a Chrysalis. (Photo contributed from Wildwood).

Can you tell me more about your “Catastrophic Climate Grief is Real, Call Your Mom” sticker? Are there themes of climate grief within your collection? How does that theme intersect with your work and these outdoor projects?

There are a number of poems in Sun Ripened Fun Ideas that speak about catastrophic climate change […] maybe even the title of the book speaks to it in a poetic way. We have a responsibility to stop this destruction of our home. I have two young children and the world they are going to have to deal with is going to be drastically worse than the one we are living in now if we fail to stop catastrophic climate change. I hope my poems inspire people to do something and speak out. We all have to do something no matter how powerless we may feel. Together we are strong and can make the moves we need to protect future generations. So I put this bumper sticker on my e-bike that says “Catastrophic Climate Change Is Real, CALL YOUR MOM.” I was trying to make a serious subject sound also funny, but in my mind the mother you would be calling to check in with is Mother Earth. “Hey mom, how are you doing? Not so well you little s**t! Oh gosh mom, how can I help? Stop the climate change son!”

The outdoor art projects with poetry are meant to also draw people into awareness of our connection to the Earth, that we are a part of it and not separate from everything around us. We are powerful beings, we can cause changes in our environments. We can build something simple and place it on a path where other humans walk and use this to communicate and share ideas and even form or reinforce our connections. We can uplift and inspire others.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about this project that you haven’t mentioned?

This project is dedicated to Anne Flueckiger, who was a neighbor that lived down at the end of our block. She was a nerdy punk rocker who grew up to graduate college and become a guide for women’s adventures in nature […] all around the world and also locally up the North Shore. She was an important person in my daughter’s young life as we would interact with her every day while walking around the neighborhood. She would somehow magically know we were out there walking and come out on her porch to enthusiastically chat us up. A real neighbor. She was a person who liked to make friends out of strangers. She died while riding her bicycle right in the neighborhood where she lived and loved.

Do you have a project in mind for the next outdoor poetry installation?

I have been dreaming of doing a big projection like on the side of a grain elevator down on the wharf like you could see it from far away. Or on some other public structure in downtown Duluth. This would be another learning project. I’ve seen people do this, but I’ve never done it myself. Some head scratching moments ahead. I think ideally this project would be working with other people. Most of the projects I get excited about doing in the future involve a group of poets and not only me, I feel like the combination of voices makes for such a powerful statement about community.

In addition to scooping books from the Poetry Dome in Chester Park throughout the month of June, readers can find Wildwood’s second poetry book, Like a Leaf Love the Sun at Zenith Bookstore.