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Record of Proceedings

St. Louis Poet Laureate Task Force Meeting - May 6, 2026

Board of Aldermen Committees — Wednesday, May 6, 2026

BodySt Louis, Missouri

SessionBoard of Aldermen Committees

DateWednesday, May 6, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 13:38

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:05

Okay, good evening.

0:07

I am calling this meeting to order.

0:10

But it is today is Monday, May 4th.

0:14

St.

0:14

Louis Poet Laureate Task Force meeting coming to order at 425 p.m.

0:22

Christine, if I could have you do roll call.

0:28

Uh Nikki Smith.

0:30

Present.

0:33

Pam Garvey present.

0:37

I don't have my sheet in front of me, so I apologize.

0:41

Kyle, could you remind me of your last name?

0:43

Sure.

0:43

It's Kyle Brandt Lubert.

0:46

Okay, Kyle Brant Lubert.

0:48

Present.

0:49

And Yamani, what is your last name?

0:51

Wentz, like the word.

0:53

All right, Imani Wentz.

0:55

Imani.

0:56

Present.

0:58

You have a quorum.

0:59

You may proceed.

1:00

Wonderful.

1:02

So we're just going to approve the minutes.

1:04

So Kyle and Imani, you have uh received the minutes way back when before we did our onboarding from January 12th.

1:13

And Pam, you would have received Christine and Pam Q would have received the minutes.

1:18

Um right after our meeting on January 12th.

1:22

So hopefully the group has had an opportunity to review those.

1:25

And so if there are, are there any corrections to the meeting to the minutes from January 12th?

1:34

If there are no corrections, um and the minutes stand as approved.

1:42

Then do we need to vote on that, Christine?

1:46

Um I guess I would recommend maybe holding off on approval since Kyle and Yamani were not members and wouldn't.

1:55

At that point, at that minute.

1:57

Yeah.

1:58

Fair enough.

1:59

Fair enough.

2:00

Okay.

2:01

So moving along, since we only have a few minutes, um, really the only thing I want to get accomplished today is give Kyle and Imani an opportunity to just introduce themselves, just share a little bit about who they are, what brings them to the task force.

2:16

And Pam, for you to just share your passion, who you are, and and any lessons learned on uh because you've been with on the task force we've been on this ride for about a year now.

2:28

Um, and any lessons learned that you have that you want to share.

2:31

So I'll open the floor for discussion.

2:33

Kyle, first, if you want to just tell a little bit about yourself, your business, um, and what brought you to us and what are you looking forward to helping us do?

2:43

Yeah, um, so I am Kyle.

2:45

Um, they or she pronouns either are fine.

2:49

Um describe myself as an integrative mental health provider and community arts organizer, um, as well as a multidisciplinary artist myself.

3:01

Um, so in my practice, it's called Tiny Postcards Counseling and Creative Arts.

3:06

It's located in Dutchtown.

3:08

I do a mix of seeing individual clients, a lot of expressive arts therapy, different types of trauma focused therapy.

3:16

Um, and then I also host and curate different community-based, uh, often art space, not always workshops and things of that nature.

3:26

Um, so it's meant to be a space that is yeah, used by the community, kind of for the community in different ways, um, whether it's a learning space or a gathering space for meetings or a performance space, um, things like that.

3:40

Um, I in my own practice uh do a pretty big mix of poetry, uh, visual art, music, like I love just the intermodal relationship.

3:51

So right now I'm working on a lot of uh poetry and experimental music combinations and sort of a performance capacity.

3:59

That's one of my passions.

4:00

Um been hosting the poetry open mic at the heavy anchor for two and a half years.

4:06

Um love that space.

4:09

And yeah, have just really kind of deepened my relationship with the poetry practice, especially uh since 2020.

4:16

The pandemic times really brought me closer to poetry.

4:19

Uh lots of terrible things.

4:20

That was one bright spot.

4:23

Um, yeah, I am just really excited to um figure out how we can make some of these avenues of support for the poet laureate role more robust so that there can be more of a widespread impact in the community.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

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Arts And Culture████████████████████27%

Community Engagement████████11%

Summary of Proceedings

St. Louis Poet Laureate Task Force Meeting - May 6, 2026

The St. Louis Poet Laureate Task Force convened at 4:25 PM on Monday, May 4, 2026 (transcript date; the meeting is recorded as occurring on May 6, 2026) and adjourned at 4:38 PM. The meeting focused on onboarding two new members, sharing backgrounds, and setting preliminary goals for revising the ordinance to secure funding and expand the task force's scope.

Discussion Items

Roll Call & Minutes Approval: Chair Mick called the meeting to order and roll call was taken. The minutes from January 12th were not approved because new members Kyle Brant Lubert and Imani Wentz were not on the task force at that time.
New Member Introductions:
- Kyle Brant Lubert (they/she pronouns) introduced themselves as an integrative mental health provider, community arts organizer, and multidisciplinary artist. They run Tiny Postcards Counseling and Creative Arts in Dutchtown and host a poetry open mic at The Heavy Anchor. They expressed excitement to help make support for the poet laureate role more robust.
- Imani Wentz introduced herself as a lifelong writer, storyteller, and owner/founder of Noir Bookshop on Cherokee Street. She focuses on eradicating book deserts and promoting DIY publishing and literacy. She expressed interest in deepening the community's connection with the poet laureate, Patia.
Returning Member Reflections: Pam Garvey, a poet and teacher at St. Louis Community College, shared that the poet laureate position was created in response to Ferguson and that the task force seeks to provide more support than in the past, especially given the lack of a dedicated budget. She emphasized building connections to support the current poet laureate.
Future Plans: Chair Mick announced plans to revise the ordinance to address funding and expand the task force's scope. Drafting will begin via work streams in the coming months, with collective discussions in future meetings.
Meeting Schedule: The group confirmed first Mondays at 4:00 PM as the regular meeting time. The next meeting is scheduled for June. Member Nikki Smith noted she cannot attend the next meeting.

Key Outcomes

New members Kyle Brant Lubert and Imani Wentz were formally welcomed to the task force.
The task force will begin drafting ordinance revisions to include budget language and expanded authority.
Chair Mick will reach out individually to returning and new members to discuss work streams.
Members must submit bios, photos, and mailing addresses to Christine for the task force website.
The meeting adjourned at 4:38 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Okay, good evening. I am calling this meeting to order. But it is today is Monday, May 4th. St. Louis Poet Laureate Task Force meeting coming to order at 425 p.m. Christine, if I could have you do roll call. Uh Nikki Smith. Present. Pam Garvey present. I don't have my sheet in front of me, so I apologize. Kyle, could you remind me of your last name? Sure. It's Kyle Brandt Lubert. Okay, Kyle Brant Lubert. Present. And Yamani, what is your last name? Wentz, like the word. All right, Imani Wentz. Imani. Present. You have a quorum. You may proceed. Wonderful. So we're just going to approve the minutes. So Kyle and Imani, you have uh received the minutes way back when before we did our onboarding from January 12th. And Pam, you would have received Christine and Pam Q would have received the minutes. Um right after our meeting on January 12th. So hopefully the group has had an opportunity to review those. And so if there are, are there any corrections to the meeting to the minutes from January 12th? If there are no corrections, um and the minutes stand as approved. Then do we need to vote on that, Christine? Um I guess I would recommend maybe holding off on approval since Kyle and Yamani were not members and wouldn't. At that point, at that minute. Yeah. Fair enough. Fair enough. Okay. So moving along, since we only have a few minutes, um, really the only thing I want to get accomplished today is give Kyle and Imani an opportunity to just introduce themselves, just share a little bit about who they are, what brings them to the task force. And Pam, for you to just share your passion, who you are, and and any lessons learned on uh because you've been with on the task force we've been on this ride for about a year now. Um, and any lessons learned that you have that you want to share. So I'll open the floor for discussion. Kyle, first, if you want to just tell a little bit about yourself, your business, um, and what brought you to us and what are you looking forward to helping us do? Yeah, um, so I am Kyle. Um, they or she pronouns either are fine. Um describe myself as an integrative mental health provider and community arts organizer, um, as well as a multidisciplinary artist myself. Um, so in my practice, it's called Tiny Postcards Counseling and Creative Arts. It's located in Dutchtown. I do a mix of seeing individual clients, a lot of expressive arts therapy, different types of trauma focused therapy. Um, and then I also host and curate different community-based, uh, often art space, not always workshops and things of that nature. Um, so it's meant to be a space that is yeah, used by the community, kind of for the community in different ways, um, whether it's a learning space or a gathering space for meetings or a performance space, um, things like that.

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