By Chase McCann / USF ZNews
TAMPA – For twenty years Sheryl Oring has been renowned for her “I Wish to Say” project, a performance art piece in which she transcribes anonymous messages to the future president from the public for exhibition.
In the days before President-elect Trump’s inauguration, the sentiments on display at her exhibit in the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library suggest that Americans – college students especially – are not optimistic about their futures.
Oring’s longstanding tradition began in the year leading up to the 2004 election. Dressed in 60’s-style secretary garb, she goes to public places with her typewriter to transcribe messages from total strangers during every election year. Participants are instructed only to say what they wish to tell the upcoming President, and the messages often capture people’s fears, hopes, and concerns for the future. Following the election Oring searches these letters, selects the most noteworthy excerpts, and enlarges them for display.
Much has changed about America in the five elections since then, and as a reflection of the country’s sentiments on a ground level, these letters have changed with it. Oring noticed many are simply checking out of politics altogether. She feels that now more than ever, people feel their voices are not being heard.
“I have seen a lot of people give up,” says Oring. “There’s a lot more people who are just saying, you know, I don’t see myself reflected in the politics of today and not voting or not getting engaged.”
“I mean, there was one student this year who told me she had a really emotional reaction to participating, and she told me she didn’t feel like she’d ever really been listened to. And that was really empowering to her, and I think that is actually the heart of this project,” Oring said.