Poetry & Art Series 2019 at the San Diego Art Institute presents poet, professor and editor Karla Cordero and multiple award-winning poet Jeff Walt, followed by the People’s Choice Poem Performance Award open mic. Hosted by Michael Klam. DJ Gill Sotu will provide music and sound throughout the show. This interactive arts and culture experience will include beverages, snacks and time to mingle. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the show starts at 7 p.m. Members are free, nonmembers $6 at the door.

Karla Cordero is a descendant of the Chichimeca people from northern Mexico. She is a Chicana poet, educator and activist, raised along the borderlands of Calexico, Calif. She is a Pushcart nominee and has been offered fellowships from VONA, Macondo, The Loft Literary Center, CantoMundo and Pink Door Retreat. Cordero teaches creative writing and composition at San Diego City College and MiraCosta College, receiving recognitions such as the San Diego State University Global Diversity Award and Associate Faculty of the Year for education and social justice.

Jeff Walt was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania among a community of railroad workers, brick layers and strip miners. He's been employed as a cowboy at Walt Disney World, gallery attendant, customer service trainer, a cook, masseur and barista, and as an adjunct English composition instructor at Honolulu Community College. He graduated from Goddard College in Vermont with his MFA in Writing and Literature. Walt is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee and has placed in various national poetry contests. A passionate Aquarian and cinephile, he pops for decoupage, collage, salvaging, macrobiotic food, mixology, home exchange and Mid-Century modern architecture. Currently, he thrives in sunny San Diego as a Regional Editor and The Kowit Poetry Contest Coordinator for the San Diego Poetry Annual, which is part of the San Diego Arts & Entertainment Guild.