Head To The Jonquil Motel To Dial-A-Poem At This Quirky Telepoem Booth In Bisbee, Arizona
By Melissa Mahoney|Published May 10, 2024
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Melissa Mahoney
Author
I'm an east coast girl living in a west coast world. I grew up in New England before moving to SoCal for several years. I then lived in NYC or a year before moving to AZ in 2009. I worked in the entertainment industry for many years of my adult life and have a deep love for photography, writing, and traveling around the U.S. as well as to far-flung locations around the world. Travel is my life and writing about it is a dream!
Bisbee is quite a unique town. If you’ve been here before, you already know that fact. This former mining town has turned into a haven for artists over the years and there are plenty of public art pieces around town to attest to that. One such art piece is a unique attraction in Bisbee, Arizona that’s a bit quirky yet fun as can be! Have you heard of a Telepoem Booth? Well, read further to find out exactly what that is!
Bisbee is known for many things including its public art. And the vintage Jonquil Motel celebrates art here with its very own murals. It's also home to a very unique attraction known as a Telepoem Booth.
The Jonquil Motel is located at 317 Tombstone Canyon in Bisbee, Arizona. If you're curious about the Telepoem Booth, you'll have to come here, as it's the only one that's currently in the state!
What you'll do is enter the phone booth, pick up the receiver, and put it to your ear. You'll then look up the poetic verses you'd like to hear and dial the numbers to the corresponding verse on the phone.
Not only are there poetic verses from multiple genres for people to hear but music lyrics and other recordings. Created by writer and artist Elizabeth Hellstern, there are Telepoem Booths in other states as well. It's a great way to repurpose vintage telephone booths into accessible multi-sensory art pieces.
Have you ever experienced a Telepoem Booth, a unique attraction in Bisbee, Arizona? Have you ever spent the night at the Jonquil Motel? Let us know!
For other Dial-A-Poem locations around the country, visit the Telepoem Booth website. You can also follow the Telepoem Booth Facebook page for updates.