Matthew Kremer sees the same things as anyone else walking the streets of Elmhurst. But he finds a way to turn those visuals into art.
Matthew Kremer transforms everyday life in Elmhurst into poetry. Photo courtesy Matthew Kremer
Kremer, 34, poetically chronicles his Elmhurst adventures through his own site, Visions of Elmhurst, turning everyday scenarios into more lasting observations he hopes to someday compile into a book. He moved to Elmhurst last year after living in Jackson Heights and Brooklyn, and quickly found that relocating to a new neighborhood meant virtually starting from scratch.
“To offset these feelings, I started walking around the neighborhood and became interested in some of the odd architecture down this way,” Kremer said. “From there, I began reading up on the neighborhood and the sort of curious histories of this part of the borough.”
The story of Queens intrigued the poet, Kremer said, which transformed everyday life in Elmhurst into an artistic adventure. Works published on his website turned typical situations – like the closing of a nearby Wendy’s or turnstile jumpers at the Elmhurst Avenue subway station – into a more creative snapshot of life in the city.
Kremer said it was the diversity of Elmhurst that ultimately served as his inspiration.
“What stuck with me most was what an odd mixture Elmhurst is of the old and new,” he said. “As anyone who lives here can relate, it’s not the most attractive neighborhood in the world from a visual standpoint. But if you look at isolated examples, it’s quite interesting.”
Those isolated examples he referred to included unique and historic buildings like the Newtown Church or the Pan-American Hotel to name a few. Each building, Kremer said, spoke to a certain moment in time in the history of both Elmhurst and Queens.
Kremer also said he noticed a change in Elmhurst that he addresses through his writing. In recent months, he said an influx of luxury apartment houses have been challenging the character of the neighborhood, which he personally opposed. He relayed those feelings in a poem about a Wendy’s restaurant that was demolished on Queens Boulevard to make way for new apartments.
“Writing about these older structures in this way helps to highlight the types of changes to this neck of the woods,” he said.
Kremer grew up in Pittsburgh and also spent time in California before moving to
New York City. He earned his graduate degree from Humboldt State University and landed a job working as an adjunct professor in the English department at Stony Brook University – where he also set out to acquire his PhD.
But when it comes to his poetry, Kremer said he wanted to make sure it was accessible to anyone who wanted to talk about the neighborhood he has been growing to love.
“In terms of studying literature for a living, I always wanted to teach. That’s my goal in getting the doctoral degree,” Kremer said. “That said, I try to keep my career ambitions separate from the writing I’m doing about Elmhurst. I’m not aiming for an academic audience or an audience of poets. I’m writing to the people who live here.”
By Phil Corso
