Author: Frank Artinghard

  • Don’t Let Me Lose Momentum

    Digital poster available at johneverettmorton.com

    When I began this project, I was full of gusto — that bright, nervous energy that comes from believing you might actually make something that matters. But as the days have gone on, I’ve found myself searching for new ways to move it forward without losing its integrity.

    Fortunately, the work has found company. One John Morton has taken inspiration from the silhouette of Donald Trump that anchors The Trump Letter and incorporated it into two striking poster designs — one shown above, another below.

    He has created five designs in total, all freely available to download and reproduce as signs, stickers, or whatever medium suits your purpose. You can find them [here].

    While I’ve made larger versions of The Trump Letter, I must admit — scaling up a letter does not necessarily make it a sign. And as much as I like to think of myself as a solitary creature, the truth is that good art rarely survives isolation. The Trump Letter was never meant to be an ending — it’s a starting point.

    I would very much like to hear from you. If you have ideas, comments, or suggestions for how to expand this work — or if you’ve created your own variation — please share it in the comments below or write to me directly at frank@frankartinghard.com.

    Thank you.

    — FRANK

  • Can We Make This Easier?

    Sending sixty-one letters to sixty-one museums was not a light undertaking, but the work was straightforward. One letter, repeated across many destinations — a rhythm of printing, folding, sealing, stamping.

    The cabinet letters, however, told a different story. Each address, each salutation required its own adjustment. What seemed at first like a manageable task became heavier with each envelope. I began to wonder: would others be discouraged from participating if the barrier of effort felt too high?

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  • Truer Words

    Post by Adam Grant as of 28 September 2025.

    Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist and a best-selling author. His 2024 book, Hidden Potential, has earned a permanent place on my shelf — not because it dazzles with novelty, but because it distills truth with elegance.

    I admire the rare ability to compress an idea until it gleams like a cut gem. Grant manages this often, and nowhere more than here:

    “When you follow a leader, consider what would lead you to withdraw your support.


    If the answer is nothing, your integrity is in jeopardy. Our highest loyalty belongs to principles, not people.


    No leader deserves unconditional love. Commitment is earned through character.”

    Three sentences. They articulate exactly what I want to whisper, gently but firmly, to the incidental Trump supporter: loyalty is not a blank check.

    I may have to revisit the Cabinet letter template and weave this passage in, for it strikes at the very heart of what I am trying to convey.

    If you haven’t already, I recommend Hidden Potential by Adam Grant. Find it wherever books are sold or borrowed, and keep it close.

  • What Is The Goal of The Trump Letter

    What is my aim with The Trump Letter? At its heart, it is to place one more stone in the path of a man who wishes to stride unchallenged. It is not a digital petition lost in the ether, but a tangible object — paper, ink, fold — a reminder that resistance can live in the analog, where a hand delivers what a screen too easily forgets.

    What I hope distinguishes it is its reach. This is not meant only for those who already shout in defiance at rallies or post in echo chambers online. It is for moderates, independents, and Republicans who feel the weight of unease but hesitate to speak. They exist in greater numbers than the narrative suggests. They need only to feel less alone, to see their quiet doubts turned into action, to become unexpected allies in this resistance.

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  • How You Can Help

    Yesterday I prepared 61 brightly colored envelopes and sent them to art institutes across the country. Some were household names — The Guggenheim, The Met, The Getty. Others were less obvious — The Nasher Museum of Art in North Carolina, or the Weisman Museum at the University of Minnesota (which greets you with a remarkable Lichtenstein as you walk in).

    61 envelopes ready to find a new home.

    I consider The Trump Letter a work of art, but this mass mailing isn’t about seeing it framed behind glass. It’s about the object itself taking up space — moving through mailbags, offices, and hands. I don’t know who will open those letters on the other end, but I hope a few say, “This is interesting,” and follow the thread. Maybe one will share it. Maybe another will join in.

    The value of The Trump Letter isn’t in the words or the outline of Trump’s head. There are no brushstrokes to admire, no light playing off color. Its value is in the act itself — many people producing a tangible object and placing it where others must confront it.

    I’ll keep sending letters until the stationery and stamps are gone. But this is not a one-man piece. It’s a group effort.

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  • The Cabinet Doesn’t Want To Hear From You

    Update October 16, 2025: Added Senate Majority Leader, Speaker of the House, and House Republican Conference Chair

    I spent most of an afternoon hunting down the mailing addresses for every cabinet member. It was not easy. The truth is simple: they prefer your complaint be a line in a web form—neat, searchable, and easy to archive away. Paper requires effort; effort requires attention.

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  • Trump Letter Social Media Slides

    An opening set of Trump Letter slides now drifts into the digital stream, ready for your social feeds. My true hope is that people will take the time to download and print the letter, to let it live as paper in the physical world where it must be handled. Yet I cannot deny the era we inhabit—an age where our words and images are more often carried by light than by ink.

  • The Donald Trump Letter

    Political art. I do not often admire it. Not because I am indifferent, but because it so often takes the easy road. Easy is rarely worth the journey. And yet, sometimes, the occasion demands it.

    It is simple to mock the surface: the hair, the orange hue, the rumors of smallness in hands and elsewhere. Such gestures may relieve our tension, but they are hollow victories, fireworks in a storm. The truth is heavier. Donald Trump is contemptible without caricature. Misogyny, cruelty toward the disabled, a torrent of lies that flow as naturally as breath. And lately, the suggestion that the First Amendment itself should be rescinded when it dares to point in his direction.

    PARTICIPATE IN A DIGITAL-TO-ANALOG-PERFORMANCE-MAIL-ART WORK

    Download “The Trump Letter”

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  • Hello, World!

    Ah, bonjour, mes amis! What a curious utterance that echoes through the digital corridors of our modern age: “Hello, World!”

    How intriguing it is, n’est-ce pas? This simple phrase, a beacon of initiation into the realms of programming and blogging alike. The inaugural whisper into the expanse of cyberspace. In its modesty lies a symbolism—a gateway to infinite possibilities.

    I cannot help but marvel at the resonance of these words. “Hello, World!”—a greeting not just to the computer screen, but to the universe itself. It is a declaration of presence, a proclamation of existence in this tapestry of interconnectedness.

    Beyond its surface charm, “Hello, World!” carries a weight. It is the starting point of creation, the genesis of ideas translated into binary form. It marks the moment when the intangible becomes tangible, when thoughts materialize into lines of code or prose.

    And yet, for all its ubiquity, “Hello, World!” retains a je ne sais quoi. It is imbued with a sense of anticipation, a promise of discovery beyond the unknown. Each time it is uttered, it heralds a new journey.

    So let us, dear friends, embrace the spirit of “Hello, World!” Let us revel in its simplicity and marvel at its complexity. For in this humble greeting, we find not just a starting point, but a celebration of the endless possibilities that lie ahead.

    Thank you for joining me on this journey. Hello, World.