Listen to the People
By Sheryl Oring
January 2025
This exhibition showcases a series of monoprints by artist Sheryl Oring that feature quotes from messages she typed on a vintage typewriter as part of her “I Wish to Say” project. Oring – dressed as a 1960s secretary – takes to public spaces such as libraries and parks to hear Americans’ hopes, fears, and expectations of the nation’s future. She invites people to dictate postcards to the U.S. president and types each postcard in duplicate using carbon paper to create two copies; one copy is sent to the White House, while the other is added to Oring’s archive of nearly 5,000 postcards. This interactive performance art engages the public and amplifies the everyday acts of listening and meaning-making. The messages chronicle a wide range of sentiments, presenting a unique, unfiltered timeline of our nation’s concerns.
In Fall 2024, Oring brought her typewriter to the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library at University of South Florida St. Petersburg; the exhibition is featured in the library’s gallery. Oring has been internationally recognized, with her public performances and exhibitions reaching multiple countries to help reflect and bring insight into the ways in which we seek to be heard as citizens of the world.
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