Art for the ages
"What would you want to share with the future about your life today?"
That’s the question that posed by “Postcards to the Future,” a new exhibition of mail art organized by the Coastal Arts Guild.
The project invites people to share and memorialize where they are today and the changes they might be facing — and to imagine communicating their experience with future generations. Anyone can participate simply by creating and sending a postcard.
Participants might imagine they are communicating with their great-great-grandchildren, with a future America, with humanity in general, or even with the planet. People can share something about their daily lives, something or someone they love, or they might want to address challenges, hopes and fears around subjects like the economy, politics or the environment, to name a few.
"There is so much change around us, and it feels like even though we are all witnessing it together,” said Coastal Arts Guild President Carol Shenk. “Each one of us is in some way alone, holding a lot inside."
Otis artist Maria Esther Sund, who helped spearhead the project, is working with the Coastal Arts Guild board to plan the event.
"We are facing hard and dark times to come ahead,” she said “Working and creating together we can explain how we feel.”
Postcards will be displayed in Newport's Don Davis Park, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, from Friday, July 4, through Sunday, July 6. A reception for the exhibition is scheduled for 3-5 pm on Saturday, July 5, in the Don Davis Park gazebo.
The in-person exhibition will be accompanied by an online gallery of all the postcards at postcardstothefuture.org. After the three-day event, the collection of postcards will be donated to the archives of the Lincoln County Historical Society.
"So, the exhibition will become a kind of time capsule,” Shenk said, “documenting our times for future generations."
Both sides of the postcards will be displayed and included in the online exhibit. Postcards can be up to 5"x7”, can be anonymous, and multiple submissions by one artist are welcome.
"We want this to be a safe space for people to express themselves,” Shenk said. “The postcards can be 'art,' but don't stress out! Mail art is meant to be informal, and it often incorporates collage, rubber stamps and photocopying. Poetry and other writing are also welcome. You could even collage or draw on top of an existing postcard. Our hope is to have many viewpoints and experiences reflected in the exhibition. The call is open to anyone.”
For more information, go to postcardstothefuture.org or email coastalartsguild@gmail.com.
Postcards should be mailed to:
Postcards to the Future
Coastal Arts Guild
PO Box 603
Newport, OR 97365
Postcards need to arrive by July 1.