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).
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.
Where You Can Send The Trump Letter
- Friends and family
- Local television, news, and radio stations
- Republican members of Congress
- Members of Trump’s Cabinet
If postage is an issue, the letter doesn’t have to travel by mail. You can also display it:
- In a shop window (with permission)
- On a community bulletin board
- On your cubicle wall or office door
Helping Online
We live in a digital world. Here’s how you can amplify the project:
- Document with images the letters you’ve sent
- Show where you’ve displayed the letter
- Follow me — Frank Artinghard — on Instagram, Bluesky, and X
- Tag me when you share
Like many projects, this began without a polished plan — just urgency and a need to act. Some say art is never finished, only abandoned. I hope you won’t abandon me too soon.
—FRANK
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