The poet and educator Laura Da’ (Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma), across three collections of poetry—tributaries (2015), Instruments of the True Measure (2018), and Severalty (2025), each published by the University of Arizona Press—has enacted a deeply personal accounting of Shawnee history, community, and selfhood.
Grounded in the historical removal of the Shawnee from Ohio, first to Kansas and ultimately to Oklahoma, Da’s poetry offers a timely celebration of Shawnee survivance and life. Specifically, through the character of Lazarus Shale, Da’ has created a complex personality who not only embodies the history of Shawnee removal but also the vitality that is central to contemporary Indigenous creativity.
The exhibition Laura Da’: Why Lazarus centers the poem “Why Lazarus” (from Severalty), which unfurls through the corridor space of the Urban Arts Space, poignantly located in the old Lazarus Department Store building in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. Walking alongside Da’s poem in the gallery, located on the banks of the Scioto River and the Scioto Trail (now US 23-High Street), will offer visitors a uniquely visceral experience of Shawnee spatial and temporal knowledge.
The exhibition is accompanied by a series of public events centered around Da’s visit from November 5–12, 2025, in collaboration with the Ohio State American Indian Studies Program and Newark Earthworks Center.
Saturday, October 25, 2 PM: Scioto River Poetry Walk with Richard Finlay Fletcher at Urban Arts Space
Laura Da’ Visit (November 5–12)
Thursday, November 6, 4:30 PM: Exhibition Reception at Urban Arts Space
Friday, November 7, 8 PM: Poetry Reading with fabian romero at Two Dollar Radio
Sunday, November 9, 2 PM: Spark Birds and Migratory Legends Workshop at Grange Insurance Audubon Center
Monday, November 10, 5 PM: Reading and Roundtable with Amber Blaeser-Wardzala and Elissa Washuta, 311 Denney Hall, The Ohio State University
Friday, November 14, 10 AM: Documentation and Design Workshop with Marco Fiedler (VIER5), Online
The posters in the exhibition have been designed by VIER5, along with the book Ruderal Society: Excavating a Garden. Four Poems by Laura Da’. Ohio Edition (2025).
The exhibition is organized by Richard Finlay Fletcher, Laura Da’, Marti Chaatsmith, and Elissa Washuta and made possible through a Spark Grant from the Mellon Foundation and The Ohio State University.
Visiting Urban Arts Space
50 W. Town St., Ste. 130
Columbus, OH 43215
Located in the historic Lazarus Building in downtown Columbus.
Hours
Tuesday–Saturday | 11 a.m.–6 p.m., with extended hours until 8 p.m. on Thursday.
Admission to our exhibitions and programs is free!
View this map for parking garage options, with street parking on Rich, Front, and Wall Street, or go to our Accessibility page for bike or bus directions.