The USPS Art Project is a mail art / artist collaboration project created by Christina Massey. It’s free and open for anyone who wants to participate. The goal is for unique collaborative artworks to be created, allowing the artists to establish deeper connections with others while practicing social distancing. In doing so, this helps the financially struggling USPS by sending and receiving packages. The finished artworks are shared online on the @uspsartproject social media accounts. Click here to participate.

Hundreds of artists have joined in the project, ranging from sculpture to painting, drawing, mixed media, fiber art and more. The artists now have the opportunity to submit their collaborations for several exhibition opportunities. A hybrid traveling exhibition / theme exhibition with locations and dates secured at four venues thus far. This is a non-juried exhibition; artworks are accepted on a rolling submission basis until capacity is reached at each respective exhibition space. Artists who exceed a location’s capacity have the option to enter into the following location.

Please help support the shipping expenses of the project between venues and for return shipment of artworks by making a donation to the GoFundMe page. This helps to ensure no one gallery is over burdened by shipping expenses, and donations go right back into supporting the US Post Office by purchasing more services.

My love for the USPS

The US Postal service holds a special place in my heart. When I was a boy our mailman, “Howie” would arrive every day with a smile. He’d hand down the mail from his cool looking red-white-and-blue mail truck and give me a few rubber bands, paperclips and white mailing label stickers. I loved office supplies, I still do. I was a strange kid, but I used the rubber bands and paper clips on my inventions of paper airplanes and other flying machines. Howie the mailman was a positive part of our community. I’d often see him hop off his truck to help a neighbor or a kid like me with their bike or put a rogue sprinkler back on track.

Please consider donating to help save an institution that’s been hobbled and used as a political pawn by the bureaucracy of the US government.

The process and progression of creating the artwork

I connected with BloodyKnucklesArt via Instagram and they sent a piece of artwork for the collaboration. This very cool textured ripped up strips of paper glued to cardboard backing arrived in a bright yellow green envelope.

The texture of this piece is incredible and it was perfect. Because their name is BloodyKnuckles I decided to use hands for the collaboration. I photographed their artwork and using blend modes in photoshop and some masking our artwork conjoined as was born. I have posted the image progression below. We collectively came us with the title, “Winter Bloody Knuckles in Sunlight.”

The artwork inspired stamp

I made a mock up of a forever postage stamp for the project, just for fun, to see how our work might look as a US postage stamp.

The work is now in Dallas, Texas at Sunset Art Studios and will travel to Art Gym Denver, in Denver, Colorado. I really enjoyed collaborating with BloodyKnuckles and The USPS Art Project in making artwork and standing in support of the United States Postal Service.