IA Mail Art Project 2023

Organized in partnership with College Unbound, AS220, the City of Providence, and a diverse local Steering Committee, the 2023 IA National Gathering, “Radical Reckoning: Invoking the Elements for Collective Change,” was held in-person in Providence, Rhode Island on October 20-22, 2023. The Mail Art Project asked participants to respond to the Gathering theme with the prompts:

How does the work of reckoning appear in your life — perhaps through deep listening, care for others, reflection of current practices, or through re-connection to land and place? How do the elements of fire, water, earth, and air inspire collaboration, offer new lessons and approaches, or demonstrate how the process of reckoning is both reflective and active?

Explore submissions from the IA member community.

Meagan2024-09-26T11:02:53-07:00
On the top right is a triangular shape filled with yellow and orange triangles that are bordered with strong orange lines. Two-thirds of the image is filled with twistly lines of purple and blue that form a tangle. Some nodes are filled pink. At the bottom of the page are curved dark green lines. The spaces between them are filled with a green or brown shading.
Carol Wilson-Duffy2024-09-26T11:07:42-07:00
A collage of three images. Descriptions from top left in clockwise order. Image 1: two young women, one black and one white, hold a sign that reads: Black Lives Matter; Image 2: three young women stand against a pink wall with their hands in the air holding up signs that read: Peace, Respect LGBT, Love is Love; Image 3: A series of books lined up on a shelf, with titles including: White Fragility, Pretty Bitches, Do Better I’m Still Here, and more.
Litzy Mozqueda-Franyutti2024-09-30T09:55:24-07:00
A cat in a purple tie and pointy hat yawns on the lower left. A couple of animated mice stand beside him – one with mouth wide open. A pair of strawberries float above the open mouths. A giant sunflower blooms behind the cat and mice, with an animated sun and wind in the sky. On the bottom of the image is the text: In a world full of wonder, who do you choose to be?
Elizabeth Goodhue2024-09-26T11:24:47-07:00
A collage made with strips of colored paper. The top third is strips representing the blue sky. Below that are strips of dark blue, purple, black and white swirls, and green.
Christian John Gerstheimer2024-09-30T09:32:52-07:00
A number of Putin faces, with their eyes cut out, are scattered around the image. The word Chaos, wrong, hungry bastard, pepper the page. On the top right, a woman faces the cutout of an astronaut floating in space. On the other side of the image is the word ‘fire’ with black scribbles emerging from it. Next to it is a toilet seat, with Putin emerging from it holding an American flag. A hand-drawn face looks over the image-scape from the top left.
MichaelaNichelle2024-09-30T09:57:05-07:00
A collage image. In the background is a magazine article that has a globe on top showing the pathways of the slave trade. A few strips of blue paper with clouds and stars marks the top right of the image. Below these strips is a male figure with a five-petaled flower instead of a head, holding the stalk of a plant. Below him are strips of a photograph of a snow-capped townscape. These strips are interlaced with the words: From the River to the Sea.
‘Coach’ John Solet2024-09-26T15:47:56-07:00
Against a green background is a collage. In the middle is a square composed of four triangles: two yellow on the top and bottom, and two featuring Japanese style waves on the left and right. A pink string weaves over the image. It is surrounded by red beads which have a golden heart at the center. The string leads to a circle of pink (made with a pipecleaner) which has a white bead at its center with a red heart on it. On the top quadrant are the following words, made with beads: You got this.
Red House at Georgetown University2024-09-26T16:23:50-07:00
1. An origami butterfly made from maroon wrapping paper (featuring leaves and chrysanthemums), with blue antennae, sits on a piece of wood. Ahead of the butterfly is a ledge on which a couple of images are placed. One can see more butterflies on the surface of the images.
Michelle Kyalo, Andreea Gatman, Alex Sargent Capps, and Jackie Hansom2024-09-30T10:07:32-07:00
four sheets of paper rest on a black table top. A colorful pinwheel made of pipe cleaners rests in the middle. Each of the papers has pencil drawings featuring various organic shapes and objects.