Nancy DeJoy

Nancy DeJoy is an installation poet and avid supporter of the inclusion

of poetry in public art movements. She ran the first sidewalk etching

poetry project at Michigan State University and she was the initiator and

grant writer for Lansing’s first sidewalk poetry project. Her poem “Notes

on Coming Off of the Endangered Species List” appears at site 20 on the

ArtPath, another first in her quest to get poetry into public art

movements. She was a member of the mural project team at Lansing’s

downtown library mural project with Dustin Hunt, Keyante Saxon,

Marian Bryant, and Mila Lynn (Keyante’s poem is on that mural).

Nancy’s process focuses on responding to the ways that our everyday

experiences open pathways for compassion, empathy, and social justice.

She often works with current events that affect her communities in ways

that open spaces for voices that need more public attention. She has

worked with survivors of sexual violence and members of refugee

communities to support their journeys and to work for diversity and

inclusion in public art events and movements.