In preparation for our A Day in Black History celebration at the museum this Saturday, we wanted to share some insight into the world of Artis Burney’s Cosmic Poetry Sanctuary. Last year for Juneteenth, Artis and the Cosmic Poetry Sanctuary performed on our campus and was a highlight of the day. This upcoming Black History celebration, we eagerly anticipating the Black History Living Wax Museum, which will be a poetic interpretation of key figures in Black History. We are so grateful to have creative spirits like Artis in our community and knowing more about his background just makes The Cosmic Poetry Sanctuary even more special.
OOMA: When did you first realize you wanted to be a poet? What started your interest in written and spoken word?
Artis: I realized I wanted to be a poet when I was about five years old. The first time I read the lyrics to a Sade song.
OOMA: What is the Cosmic Poetry Sanctuary and how did it form?
The cosmic poetry sanctuary is a social experiment about peace and love. The BP oil spill basically killed my job. The world was afraid to come here. While I was making plans to leave radio I was having ideas about what I could do to not just help myself but help my community. I wrote poetry about and imagined a safe place. Since, dirty water and storms from climate change was exactly what had taken my career, I wanted to create a real time artistic vision as an example of my views on extractive economies. I started clearing land originally as a stress release. And then as I cleared I had so many “wow” moments. Every time I would clear a new space, and carve a path to a new tree, I found myself saying wow and I wanted to share it with somebody. I invited some friends and they could see my vision too, so I kept working. I learned new new terms like “land stewardship”, food desert, and more importantly spoke to my community and they expressed similar concerns about water and energy.
OOMA: Cosmic poetry sanctuary seems to draw a lot from the natural and spiritual realm- what is important to you about bringing these topics to Biloxi, MS?
AB: When I think Cosmic Poetry I think about God’s voice and how according to most holy books everything around us was spoken into existence. Additionally, before the organization and the space had a name my friends and I would do open mic poetry there. We forage with Lynda Baker there and teach. My family goes back on paper to 1735 on the land. My spirit feels connected to it.
OOMA: With your event at OOMA I see you are going to do a Living Wax Museum Black History Program, what will this entail?
AB: it entails representatives from the cosmic poetry sanctuary and members of our community getting together and we share with each other a person that we think is important in the history of Black people in America.
OOMA: What excites you the most about returning to the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art for this program?
AB: The opportunity to perform live art inside of my favorite art museum on the Mississippi Gulf Coast always excite me. I’ve been performing at the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art since about 2007. I’m in love with the wow moments just like every other person that appreciates the artistic spirit. The Ohr-O’Keefe and Cosmic Poetry Sanctuary always delivers the wow moments.
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