The Mail Art Stories Project
Welcome to The Mail Art Stories Project, I’m glad you found us here! The Mail Art Stories Project, created during the Covid pandemic, was a way to reach out to others around the globe and be a helper of sorts. Do you remember? We were all at home except essential workers? This project felt like an opportunity to help in a way I could, even while sheltering in place.
You can read all about it as you scroll down this page. You can also order a copy of the book to hold in your hand and see all the amazing mail art created around the globe in response to the call. Mail art that was created to help us, collectively and individually, get through Covid. This project built great community and offered each of us a chance to create expressive art to relieve stress and process all we were experiencing.
I had a fabulous co host in Erica Richmond of Open Sky Stories, we met through the International Correspondence Writing Month (INCOWRIMO held in February each year) and became fast friends and partners in this project. I hope you enjoy perusing!
The collection of mail art created by our global community has been displayed here in Hillsborough NC, USA and In Peterborough ON, Canada.
The Mail Art Stories Project is currently on display at the Thomas Stevens Gallery in Hillsborough, NC, USA. Mail art from 55 artists living in 11 different countries, over 120 pieces. Mail Art was created during the height of the pandemic.
Thanks to all who came out to enjoy this wonderful exhibit!
If you missed the exhibit, you can still purchase the book. In the book is each piece of mail art and all the stories shared with us through surveys. This is a great coffee table book and makes a great gift too! Available here in my shop or from your local bookstore as well as Amazon. Thanks for supporting this wonderful project of human connection!
This is the story of what happens when a global pandemic is captured through pieces of mail art from around the world. The Mail Art Stories Project, Mail Art in the Time of Covid-19 is a collection of decorated envelopes and postcards created between April 2020 – September 2021.
In April 2020, Shannon (Bold Moves Studio, North Carolina USA) and Erica (Open Sky Stories, Ontario Canada) joined together and asked the world to share their stories of living within the Covid-19 pandemic. The catch? Each story was to be created as pieces of art with the suggested addition of three words or phrases and sent through the mail.
Before long, Shannon and Erica’s mailboxes became vessels of heartache, celebration & much desired connection.
In total there were 119 submissions from 55 individuals coming from 11 different countries. The youngest participant was 7 years old. Many had never created mail art before, while others were well-experienced, starting their journey through the art form as early as the 1970s. There are submissions from pen pals (one from Sri Lanka and one from Italy) who met during Covid-19 and chose to participate together. There are submissions from a young boy and his Nana who were missing each other terribly. There is a submission from a family who chose to complete this project as a team.
Stories were shared by participants through a survey and are chronicled in the pages following the collection of mail art. Each submission demonstrates just how much art and stories can offer healing and connection, even during the most isolating of times.
This is a beautiful book and is perfect for your coffee table, as well as a valuable documentation of a most unforgettable time in history.
Available on Amazon now. Check your local book sellers! Local book sellers may need to order you a copy if they aren’t stocking our book.
The Mail Art Stories Project
Bold Moves Studio (Shannon Fitzgerald) and Open Sky Stories (Erica Richmond) are co-hosting The Mail Art Stories Project. You can contact us (info to the right -> ) if you have questions. The deadline to mail was 8/14/2021, follow us to watch the project (book) and in person exhibits unfold. Thank you to all who participated by sending in mail art from around the globe!
The Mail Art Stories Project
EXTENSION OF DEADLINE to August 14th 2021
Keep your mail coming!
(addresses below)
Bold Moves Studio and Open Sky Stories
are collecting YOUR personal experiences
to showcase our global connection.
What: Combining words and art to express our experiences during this global pandemic.
Mail Art is any art that is created with the intention of sending it through the mail (Note: the art is one the outside of the envelope). For this project, we are incorporating words in the art.
How: Decorate the outside of an envelope or create a postcard, using materials you have at home and send by postal service to either of us.
There are only 2 rules:
1) You need to incorporate 3 words or phrases into your art submission. These words should reflect your experience amid covid-19. Examples: how you are feeling, your observations, how you have been impacted, etc.
2) Your entry must be received through the postal services, not a private shipping company.
We also encourage you to include your contact information so that we can connect and share the final project with you. If you’d like to be recognized as a contributor, please include your name (full name, initials, first name etc) Sending in your piece gives us permission to exhibit it as part of the project, recognizing you as the creator.
A little more about Mail Art:
All mediums welcome, if you can mail it we’d love for it to be part of the project. You can use paint, doodles, sketches, photography, collage, crayons, markers, fibre art, recycled art, any medium or combination of mediums you have at home. (by using materials at home, you’ll limit your exposure plus it will demonstrate that we are limited in supplies during this time.) Decorate an envelope front or back, or both! Postcards can be created by a piece of cardboard (cereal box?) or canvas board. The ideas are limitless. If you can mail it, we’d love to include it!
If you are interested but need more inspiration Google mail art for some amazing examples! Some are quite simple and some very complex, but all are unique. You’ll see that just about anything goes and its great fun!
Who: Everyone! We welcome all age ranges from around the world. young children, teens, class of 2020, Class of 2021, senior citizens and everyone in between. You do not need to be an artist or a writer, just a human.
Where: Everywhere! Global participation is encouraged. Submissions can be mailed to one of 2 locations; Open Sky Stories, Canada or Bold Moves Studio, USA. (see addresses below)
When: Now! Get those creative juices flowing and have some fun! Entries are welcome from this day forward, with a deadline of May 14, 2021. (Note: Depending on mail origin transit in the postal system(s) will vary, that’s fine, just try to mail by May 14, 2021. If your country has shut its postal system down please contact us about sending it once the post is back up.)
Why: Humans are wired for connection. We have recorded our experiences through art and story since the very beginning of time. Creative expression supports our mental health and our healing journey.
We are living amidst a global pandemic like nothing we have seen since 1918. Many people are isolated and feeling alone or frustrated by the constant (and needed) cancellation of events and activities. Life is different right now and will most likely remain different for quite a while. Let’s create and document our experiences through art and story. No matter where we live or what is happening in our own lives, we have some commonalities and some differences in our experiences.
Next Steps: What will be done with all the Mail Art Stories? That depends on the volume we receive. Some ideas we have right now include: an exhibit, a published book cataloging and exploring the pieces and our shared experiences or sharing on a dedicated website. All pieces sent in will be included in whichever exhibit format(s) used. **Update** With the continued battle against this virus and the new strains emerging it likely will not be possible to safely host an in person exhibit of The Mail Art Stories Project any time soon. We have decided to move forward with a publication of a book at this time to get your mail art out in the public eye. Seeing your mail art will help viewers feel connected and perhaps a little less alone in this extended time of difficulty and isolation. Proceeds from any sales of the publication will be used to host an in person exhibit or a web exhibit if that looks like a better option as time progresses.
Share your story with us through your mail art story entry.