the community mailbox experiment
WEAVING connection through handwritten letters
currently showing at side rail collective | Georgetown, sea
Send a letter from anywhere, at any time!
the community mailbox experiment Is a roving public art installation
that invites passersby to share a glimpse of themselves through a letter (or doodle! collage! piece of music!) sent to a stranger: me.
When I launched this project in late 2024, it was, truly, an experiment. Borne of a hard-to-realize idea for a “Little Free Letterbox,” (think: little free library for cards!), the CME was accepted into a gallery show with a “let’s see what happens!” spirit.
The project thrived. Dozens of letters arrived from all over the state, then the country. Each was a thread in a beautiful, hopeful quilt of human experience. We decided to host a secondary exhibit, “letters from strangers,” to highlight the collective wisdom, wonder, and curiosity of the community.
Since 2024, the Community Mailbox Experiment has been commissioned and/or accepted by a number of Seattle-area groups and galleries. It’s a humble, approachable little project, through which I’ve received a couple hundred letters, hosted numerous letter-writing workshops, spoken about at in-person forums and in interviews (The Open Studio Interview, KQWZ’s Our Highline Voices, and the Out of Office podcast).
Each piece of this experiment—building and installing the mailbox(es); creating, receiving, and displaying the letters—is an analog, wholehearted engagement with the ephemeral human. I fall a little in love with every person from whom I receive a letter, whether they’re sharing about their cat’s quirks or the gut punch of a sudden divorce. And it’s deeply moving to witness a community witnessing their community within the broader written quilt. We are, at once, individual and universal.
I am always open to new and creative ways to share this experience. The installation thrives in (just about) any public location with heavy foot traffic. It includes a mailbox, blank cards, instructions, pre-addressed and pre-stamped envelopes. Usually, installations last ~3 months with the option to exhibit letters in the months following. If you’re interested in hosting a mailbox for your community, organization, or campus: let me know!
common questions:
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mailboxes are refilled on a regular basis. If no cards are currently in the box, please check with the location host (gallery, e.g.) who may have info on when more are coming. If you’ll be back soon, plan to look again! AND—
feel free, always, to create your own letter!
using any kind of paper available to you, write a note sharing your story. Perhaps begin with the line “this is what I want to tell you…”
package in envelope (or something else) and acquire postage
mail to:
Pidge Post
PO Box 245
North Bend, WA 98045
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Please do! We welcome submissions in all kinds of artistic mediums, as long as they can be shipped via snail mail.
once you’ve created your “story”:
package in envelope (or something else) and acquire postage
mail to:
Pidge Post
PO Box 245
North Bend, WA 98045
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You sure can! We often host an audio component of these exhibit, and would love to hear your voice.
Create a memo using Voice Memos (iOS) or Voice Recorder (Android)
tap the … or + symbol and choose “share”
Email to memos@pidgepost.com | subject: CME voice memo
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Great questions. I’m Anna, the human behind Pidge Post (the creative studio whose website you’re currently on) and the artist behind this project. I delight in your letters as tangible, meaningful sparks of human connection with people I’ve never met and (perhaps) never will.
Your story is worth telling, and I hope for the chance to hear (erm, read) it!
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No worries! I welcome your stories however they come. Please feel free to remain anonymous and/or indicate on your note that you do not want your info/letter shared. I will honor that request.
not finding the answers you need? reach out!
If you live by a current exhibit, stop by the mailbox and scoop a blank card with a pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelope. It has all the instructions you need, except for what’s missing, which is hopefully covered below. (If not, email me!)
Write me a letter! Describe a recent moment that brought you an inordinate amount of joy; your biggest, most harebrained dream or goal; what keeps you up at night; the first thought that pops into your head looking at the blank page. Pour it out!
If you need structure: set a 5-minute timer and write—without pausing, thinking, worrying about grammar/spelling, etc. Just write.
If you need freedom: use this card however you’d like. Doodle, paint, make it messy, make it up, remain anonymous
If you need my address:
PIDGE POST
PO Box 245
North Bend, WA 98045Detailed instructions for addressing, stamping, and mailing a letter: here.
If you need postage: pick up a USPS Forever Stamp ($.82) at your local post office.
If you don’t want your words read, write “DO NOT READ” on the back of the envelope. I will burn your letter without reading.
If you’d like a pen pal, put your return address on the envelope! I’d love to connect snail mailers who seem like a good match.
IMPORTANT: I may use some or all of your letter (minus identifying info) in future projects, including on my website, social media, etc. Please indicate in your letter if you do not want that.