Erika Roberts

Original piece by Chattanooga poet Erika Roberts. Video shared with permission of poet and video production company, Make Beautiful Co.

Erika Roberts is a creative strategist, poet, and community healer that uses poetry to facilitate radical self-care within communities that have withstood generational and systemic traumas. Her leadership has transformed the way arts-based community engagements can impact civic and non-profit organizations such as The City of Chattanooga, The Hunter Museum of American Art, PopUp Project, CHI Memorial Hospital, Glass House Collective, Westside Evolves Project, Chattanooga Design Studio, Hamilton County Schools, TinkerMa and The United Way of Chattanooga. Erika has been commissioned to write original poetry and perform spoken word for multiple film projects, and city plans including the feature length documentary film The Light We Share that was produced by The PopUp Project in 2020/2021. She is the 2023 recipient of the BEC Best in Literary Arts award. She has won awards for working in the Westside Evolves process as lead engagement artist. She continues this work in that community as Engagement Strategist with Columbia Residential.She has won the Cam Bush NOAH Arts For Health Award in the Arts Advancing Social Justice category for a collaboration with Hunter Museum, Memorial Hospital & Pop up Project, Rick Rushing & Lisa Hill in 2022. 

She won the BEC  award for Best in the Literary Arts from the Chattanooga Business Elite. 

She currently sits on the boards of Arts in Health Council, The Chattanooga Public Library Foundation, The Chattery, & the local chapter of Architects in America.

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Purchases available from Erika. More to come!