At the October 26, 2026, Culver City Council meeting, the city presented a formal commendation to Dr. Janet Cameron Hoult, who has called Culver City home since 1970 and served as the city’s Honorary Artist Laureate for Poetry beginning in 2015, transitioning to Poet Laureate Emerita in 2019.
Hoult, of course, had a poem to share on the ocassion, and recalled how she used to be a regular speaker at the council meeting, sharing a new poem from the podium during ‘Items Not on the Agenda.’
Her poem of Oct. 26 contained the lines “A wonderful city of kindness – is also a city of heart…” and saluted the creative history and future of her long-time home.
It was also a recognition of Hoult’s 90th birthday, and Sehnita Joshua Mattison of the Culver Arts Foundation spoke from the podium, thanking Hoult for “all the heart you have given us all these years…and your continued advocacy for art in Culver City.”
Dr. Hoult was recognized for decades of civic service across numerous local organizations and for her instrumental role in launching the Artist Laureate Program in 2020, which is now celebrating its third artist laureate.
Mattison also noted that Hoult will be included in an anthology being compiled by the California Arts Council to celebrate California’s Poet Laureates. Publication is scheduled for 2027. “We want to continue to ensure that we are honoring all of our Artist Laureates here in the city.”
Judith Martin-Straw
