CHICAGO (CBS) — On the streets of the Windy City, a distinct sound breaks through the hustle and bustle.
Artist Sheryl Oring asks strangers a question and records the answer on a typewriter:
“If I were the president, what would you want to tell me?” Oring asked.
The former dean of the University of the Arts calls the performance art project “I Wish to Say.”
After they sit down, Oring listens carefully to each person’s story and types her message.
“Dear next president,” said attendee Morley Musick. “I feel like I’m throwing a letter into a bottle and into the sea.”
Oring started the art project in 2004. Since then, she has written more than 4,000 postcards.
“It’s just a way to get people thinking about the things that matter to them and to voice their opinions,” Oring said.
“It’s fun, but it also feels like a pointless endeavor, much like politics itself,” Musick said.
With politics taking center stage in Chicago this week, because of the Democratic National ConventionOring takes a different path as people from all over enter her makeshift office.
“It was like a very historic election,” Oring said. “I really felt compelled to just go out there and see what people had to say at this really historic moment.”
With each postcard addressed to the future president, she documents this historic time.
Oring provides the postage and then it is up to each individual to send their postcards to the White House.
Stay up to date with the CBS News Philadelphia team’s coverage of the Democratic National Convention online, stream and on air.
