Literati & Open Mic Mansfield - hosted at Mankind Murals Studio

Mankind Murals invites you to explore the creative potential of " The Light Within” the theme we will share in this very special July edition of Literati & Open Mic.  Literati is about creating a space for local literature, spoken word, and local artwork, started by Llalan Fowler at the once upon a time at Main Street Books here in Mansfield. As we begin a new chapter of Literati in 2022, here at the Mankind Murals studio in downtown, we aim for a sense of reclaimed culture and human connection.

Imagine you are a firework, (probably not in the Katy Perry way,) but maybe in a poetic way…

‘The Light Within’ is about expressing what sparks us, igniting us to a fuse, and let it go rising up in the falling darkness.  As the inner shades of color and shadows fall within, there is brilliance just waiting to happen.  The sparks we create with the heart and mind are not just there to be literature, it’s here to be lit!  Let us go rising up to the peak of a story arc, a rising action in that falling darkness happening all around us.  Let us express both the brilliance and the colors of our truth in the emotion and empathy we share.  Let us celebrate one of the most bombastic gestures of our freedoms, let’s make space for speaking our minds and saying a thing out loud.  We should be more than a new beginning, and a fool, and a dreamer, and proud.  We continue this journey, with a sense of rising up further and farther than the horizon, taking us to the secret place we all go, when it’s just us and our creative flow, where we can express the light within.

Mankind Murals invites you to explore the creative potential of standing tall and "Proud like Mountains,” the theme we will share in this very special June edition of Literati & Open Mic.  Literati is about creating a space for local literature, spoken word, and local artwork, started by Llalan Fowler at the once upon a time at Main Street Books here in Mansfield. As we begin a new chapter of Literati in 2022, here at the Mankind Murals studio in downtown, we aim for a sense of reclaimed culture and human connection, through literature, poetry, word, and music.

The theme tonight is Proud like Mountains, which can encompass many things including personal achievement, as well as Pride month, being proud of who you are as a person.  So, let’s talk about it.  When have you had to stand tall?  What makes you proud?  What journeys have you been on, that you’ve reached a new perspective?

Mankind Murals studio invites you to consider the creative possibility of dreams and reason to look deeper into the subtext of our waking narrative. Dreams have a way of opening us like a book of nearly every genre. And in the range of surreal experiences we have in our sleeping dreams, we learn more about the mysteries of our ever-unfolding minds.

The waking dream is just as elusive, like the flashbulb of an idea.  That spark that stuns you in a moment of temporary brilliance, and has the possibility to resonate long after.  May you write them, and create your dreams into existence.

What may come of mankind and our dreams? The conflict we have with the sleeping and waking dream is nearly the same. Ideas must be chased down, wrangled into reality. We have to work on our dreams, and sometimes tirelessly.  Dreams cannot be pinned down, as long as we wrestle with them. Dreams are as much within us, as they are just nearly beyond us.

And so we gather to share “What Dreams May Come”.

Mankind Murals Studio invites you to consider the creative possibilities of the fool.  Celebrating our inner muse, through poetry, prose & music on April 1st 2022.  We open up and expand upon the history of "All Fools Day", the fool as a groundbreaking character in Shakespeare, as well as the fool as an archetype in tarot and character shown in different illustrations and art.  As we can all relate to the fool, in our own various stages of life, especially at the new beginning of a journey.  We share stories of such moments of being a fool.  We find love for the fool who can speak great empathy, truth to power, through parody, song, and lyrics that amuse us, make us laugh, and lift our spirits.

As we begin a new chapter of Literati in 2022, aiming for a sense of reclaimed culture and human connection, it's time to bring back a platform for literature and the spoken word.