Exhibition Appreciations
^{from the Project Coordinator}

The exhibition of the 14th Annual Postal Collage Project at Berkeley Art Center was open for 12 days, including three full weekends. If you were there, thanks for being one of more than 300 visitors! If you brought or sent friends, thank you for sharing the project and growing the audience. I was there every day, all day, and I enjoyed every minute.

Thank you to Berkeley Art Center leadership for making the gallery available, and to gallery manager, Marthe Benoit, for valuable support. Thank you to Israel Forbes and Ingrid Ekstrom for manifold essential help, and to Emma Forbes and Ben Hoz for installation assistance.

The Preview Party Fundraiser was an enjoyable success; my sincere thanks to all in attendance. The room resounded with the lively conversations of about 100 guests, including three dozen or so project collaborators. Thank you to Trumer Brewery for providing pilsner and to Emma Forbes for tending bar. Thank you to Johanna Lowenberg for managing the silent auction—nineteen collages were sold, raising more than $1000! Big, big thanks to all the bidders and buyers, and all the collaborators who made their collages available. Your support is valuable and very much appreciated!

The Closing Reception was busy and buzzing with enthusiasm. Anticipation for the next round was in the air. When I shut the door and the show was over, and I again reflected on the substantial collective generosity involved in creating nearly 300 collaborative mail-art collages, I was overwhelmed. It’s never been so difficult to begin deinstallation; I couldn’t take a long enough last look. My wholehearted gratitude to the collaborators who gave life to the project. 

As ever, I’m indebted to the Berkeley Commonplace Board of Directors: Andrea Guskin, C.K. Itamura, Ingrid Ekstrom, Jan Kather and Julie Marten. Thank you for your support and guidance!

Marty McCutcheon
Project Coordinator
Berkeley, June 2025

The Postal Collage Project is supported, in part, by grants from the Alameda County Arts Commission’s ARTSFUND and a Civic Arts Grant from the City of Berkeley.