Penn State Harrisburg will host a two-day residency with Brandon Leake, an award-winning spoken word poet, artistic educator and speaker, Feb. 26 and 27.
MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — Penn State Harrisburg will host a two-day residency with Brandon Leake, an award-winning spoken word poet, artistic educator and speaker, Feb. 26 and 27.
Leake, the season 15 winner of “America’s Got Talent,” is the founder and CEO of Called to Move, an artistry organization that works to help young people with personal development through poetry.
His creative mixture of art, charisma and passion has taken him around the world as a speaker and performer, including through his “Dark Side Tour,” which promotes his first published poetry chapbook and his album, “Deficiencies: A Tale from My Dark Side,” a work rooted in transparency and healing.
As part of his residency, Leake will visit a class taught by Maria Enriquez, associate teaching professor of theater in the School of Humanities, about supporting communication through the performing arts.
His residency also includes the following events:
-
11:30 a.m. Feb. 26: Keynote speaker at the Black History Month Luncheon.
-
4-5:30 p.m. Feb. 26: MOSAIC, a workshop with the Multicultural Academic Excellence Program (MAEP), in the Mukund S. Kulkarni Theatre, Student Enrichment Center. Through this workshop Leake will help students identify portions of pride in their own cultural heritage while also taking time to acknowledge the beauty and importance of others’ cultures. The workshop is open to students, faculty and staff. RSVP on Engage.
-
9-11 p.m. Feb. 27: Leake will be celebrity host at the Open Mic Jam and Poetry Slam, featuring student talents and a closing performance by Leake. Students can sign up to attend the event for free on Engage. Limited free tickets are available to the community and may be reserved by emailing [email protected].
