NEWS

By Anna Ivanovna

In the Group 2 gallery, the shared theme “What is Left Behind” is turned toward family, books, and the fate of the planet. The collaborators return again and again to questions of legacy: who and what remains, and how we remember them.

Several collages circle around inherited objects. Jamie writes of her own contribution, “When I look around my home, I see pieces of my life that once belonged to loved ones… These objects are infused with memory.” Anne tests another angle on the same idea, choosing pins and a scrap of handkerchief that do not carry much feeling for her. She wonders what happens to things that are truly “left behind and not much appreciated for their memories.” In Jody’s additions to Marcie’s collage, multiple generations are present in photographs: a picture from childhood in front of a house designed by Marcie’s grandfather, a fashion illustration from Jody’s mother’s career, and a granddaughter at a park she no longer remembers. These family images seem to echo Jamie’s question: will the next generation keep these objects, or will their stories fade?

Books appear as another kind of heirloom. Anne, a self-described “lifelong nerd and retired professor,” builds her starter around old volumes whose “ornamental covers and engraved illustrations” now feel obsolete in a digital world. Leah adds a reading chair, marble bust, and hummingbirds pointing toward “How to Study Plants,” reflecting on research that younger readers “now do not report even being able to read one” book a year for pleasure. Her hummingbirds stand in for the imagination that might be “left behind” with the loss of deep reading.

At the same time, Leah and Marcie bring climate grief into the mix. Leah’s burning world and Marcie’s protective cocoon around the Earth extend the idea of legacy outward, to what our generation is leaving to others.

Group 2 is halfway through a complex meditation on what continues and what slips away.

Group 2 Gallery

GROUP 2
Marcie Simon (California), Jamie Buzil (Illinois), Jody Berns (Illinois), Anne Houde (Illinois), Leah Sosewitz (Illinois)

By Anna Ivanovna

In the Group 42 gallery, the themes and images introduced in the first half of the cycle feel rich and layered.

Daniel’s “Chaos intérieur” collage, with his father’s 19-year-old face and 93-year-old hands, sets a tone of personal history and vulnerability. Laura writes that adding to it was “a therapeutic experience,” and she responds to Daniel’s “chaos intérieur” by bringing in her own family’s estranged relationship. She says her additions “express an estranged relationship being experienced by one of my loved ones right now.” Daniel, in turn, sees “a dialogue of wounded souls” between Jan’s and Laura’s sections. Even without seeing the collage in person, we can imagine that central gaze intensifying as each new layer adds emotional weight.

Alongside this, Fred’s Native American theme moves steadily through the group. Daniel researches Nokota horses, elk, and eagles and builds a horse coat from tiny fragments, “gradually” constructing form from texture. Laura’s description of Fred’s collage as “a wonderful tribute to Native American culture,” “truly a journey through history and beyond into contemporary issues,” suggests that her own inks, paints, and “thin collage rays” are meant to connect figures rather than decorate them. These two strands—Daniel’s intimate family story and Fred’s broad historical theme—both invite careful, respectful handling.

Jan and Laura also stretch the project formally. Jan weaves cyanotypes and old photograms into an “in-camera collage” that honors Haudenosaunee weaving traditions along the Chemung River. Laura’s starter collage, with its unexpected whale, moves from land-based Three Sisters agriculture into a hybrid land–sea legend. Daniel calls this range of approaches an adventure designed to help him “step outside my comfort zone, learn to let go, and, above all, appreciate the work of others.”

Halfway around the circle, Group 42 seems to be learning how to hold both inner and outer histories—personal, political, and cultural—in the same evolving images.

Group 42 Gallery

Group 42
Booyakatopia (Netherlands), Daniel Guy (Canada), Jan Kather (New York), Fred H Athey (California), Laura Lubecki (Pennsylvania)

By Anna Ivanovna

In the Group 72 gallery, the collaborators are building a set of collages that feel playful yet considered, with plenty of room left for the unexpected.

Christine and Frank begin by ripping up an older acrylic painting and hot gluing the pieces into a new abstract structure. Christine writes that she would love it if this stayed “an abstract, texture driven piece” but admits it’s “out of my hands.” Sandy later receives their collage with “very blue painter’s tape,” recycled materials, and layered surfaces. She responds in kind, adding a charm, “mini-gears,” home-dried corn silks, and recycled wrinkled paper bag. Her description makes the piece sound almost tactile from a distance, an invitation to look closely and feel with the eyes.

Sandy’s own starter, “Found It! Wrinkles in Time,” grows out of a 1920s city directory from her western Pennsylvania hometown. Early photos show pages being arranged with matte medium on gesso board; a later image reveals the finished foundation, creased and rippling. When Ben posts “Wrinkle in time before and after,” his pair of images echo that title again, suggesting he is also thinking about folds and temporal shifts.

Sonja’s starter brings yet another texture language, with recycled cardboard, strong greens, and what Christine describes as a “nature driven aesthetic.” Christine removes an out-of-place building and clouds to deepen the green environment and give more room for the next hands.

Halfway around, Group 72 seems to be testing how far surfaces can be pushed—wrinkled, layered, cut apart, and reassembled—while still staying open to each other’s choices.

Group 72 Gallery

Group 72
Kaya Fehmi (California), Ben Hoz (California), Sonja Hinrichsen (California), Christine Hippeli & Frank Ferraiolo (Connecticut), SandyG (Pennsylvania)

Premiere Exhibition: The 15th annual Round Table Collaboration Postal Collage Project will be exhibited at Berkeley Art Center in May 2026.

There will be a Preview Party Fundraiser on the evening of Friday, the 15th, and the exhibition will run from Saturday the 16th through Sunday the 31st. Details to follow.

_{Round Table Collaboration}
Postal Collage Project No.15
May 16—31, 2026
Berkeley Art Center
1275 Walnut Street, Berkeley
_{event details and open hours to be determined}

The 1st of November is the second delivery deadline. By that date, an on-time collage will have been worked on by two people—its originator plus one contributor—and will be in the hands of a third. Five such collages are featured below.

_{Lynn Aisawa, Group 88, October 22, 2025}
Added palm trees printed on financial reports to Keri’s golden map starter.

_{Michael Höhn, Group 38, October 25, 2025}
I enlarged the collage of Deepika with two collage parts. A house and three shepherds with a herd of goats. I had a lot of fun.
The collage is on it’s way to Oliver. I hope the Canadian Post will deliver them promptly.

_{Blake, Group 70, October 28, 2025}
I was delighted to receive and work on this small and whimsical collage from Lou.

_{Pia Zaragoza, Group 64, October 28, 2025}
Originator is Ascha Drake and it’s been mailed to Michael Napper.

_{Teri Bevelacqua, Group 83, October 27, 2025}
I received this collage from the originator Ruya Telhami early October. I stayed with the linear start. It was really a calm piece to work on.

Many, many more examples can be found throughout the group galleries.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has gone on strike following Thursday’s government announcement of sweeping service cutbacks. Canada Post’s operations will shut down for the duration of the strike; mail and parcels will not be processed or delivered. Canada Post promises, “All mail and parcels in the postal network will be secured and delivered as quickly as possible once operations resume.“

The strike will affect twelve Postal Collage groups:
1—28—38—40—41—42—43—44—45—48—49—92

The Postal Collage schedule is generous and forgiving, designed to accommodate long-distance deliveries plus any number of unanticipated delays.

Last year, there was a Canada Post strike between November 15 and December 17. It was disruptive and a cause for concern, but I think the affected groups were able to wait it out and complete the project without lasting impact.

Big thanks to the twelve groups for your patience. Here’s hoping…

Canada Post Strike NEWS
News from the CUPW
News from Canada Post

Each project collage goes on a round-trip journey, leaving home in September, expected to return by the 1st of February. Tracking progress along the way contributes to a timely, full-circle return.

Your group gallery includes a link to your group status chart. The status chart tracks the progress of the five collages through their cycles. Charts are updated according to your progress reports. Please check your chart occasionally and alert me to any needed updates or corrections. [marty@berkeleycommonplace.org]

Tracking progress will become especially important toward the end of the timeline, when everyone will be anticipating the return of their own original collage. 

Reading the Status Chart
^{Click on the chart for a full view.}
This is Group 86’s status chart as of Monday, the 22nd of September. The structure and key should tell the whole story; the narrative explanation is included here for confirmation. Please be in touch if you have questions.

Hopefully, your chart will never have that red cell—missing in transit. It’s uncommon, but it does happen. Tracking progress contributes to early detection of such hitches, increasing the odds of effective recovery.

If all goes well for Group 86, this will be their status chart in early March—

Here’s hoping good outcomes for all! Please be in touch with any questions or comments. [marty@berkeleycommonplace.org]

Group 38 are in the USA, Italy, India, Switzerland and Canada. All five starters are represented in their group gallery. Thank you, 38! Hoping the long-distance journeys are gentle enough…

Pendleton (Oregon, USA) is not new to the Postal Collage Project, but with an increase this year from one collaborator to ten—thanks to the recently formed Collage Club—Pendleton becomes the city with the highest density of participation in Project No.15. One in every 1,700 or so Pendleton residents is on the collaborator list. In Berkeley, the city with the highest number of participants (47), one in every 2,650 or so residents is a participant.

Four posts from Pendleton:

Sandra Westford, Group 40, September 11, 2025

I started with a drawing of a sunflower. My next step was to photocopy it and then carefully cut it out of a matt black paper. I then mounted it on a metallic gold paper.

Holly Krokosz, Group 50, September 10, 2025

First time collage participant. I wanted to explore the stacked look of the dripping honey. And the concentric circles formed nicely around the already circular design on the cereal box. Since the rest of the background will most likely get covered, I figured I would use the existing “template” to my advantage.

Natalie Rhodes, Group 69, September 8, 2025

Here’s the beginning of Natalie.
The robot image was the starting point. I love a reveal hence the doors

Burger-Begley, Group 68, September 7, 2025

Our thought was “Faces Among Us” for a beginning.

Here’s a recent update from Andrea Mullarkey in Group 17:

Off to a Great Start!
_{Andrea Mullarkey, September 3, 2025}

I am trying hard to stay “not too fussy” as I do this round of the project. So for my start I just picked the top 10 things in my “little fodder” box, the biggest single stamp sized envelope I had on hand, and sat down to do it. 10 minutes later I had this beginning which went out to Erin this morning.

Two fun postal tidbits: 1) I sent it with the return address of my brand new p.o. box (just acquired yesterday!) and 2) I took it direct to my favorite post office in Rodeo and they were willing to round stamp/cancel it for me. I was just so tickled and the worker there seemed more delighted than annoyed so I’m feeling like this project is off to a GREAT start!