Eric Jennings, reference and instruction librarian at UW-Eau Claire, is inviting the people of Eau Claire to anonymously reveal a deep, dark secret in a community-based artistic venture, “Secret Post.”
“I think that the population of Eau Claire would definitely contribute. . An anonymous medium like this allows people to share personal secrets about the daily-grind that is life,” senior Sam Link said.
Inspired by Postsecret.com, a Web site founded by Frank Warren, Jennings is looking to give people an outlet in which a secret inscribed on a postcard and let free in the mailbox can become a moment of self-clarification.
“It’s a creative idea and an interesting outlet for people to share their secrets,” sophomore Cassidy Brandt said.
The local effort is as much a community art project as it is a chance to feel a sense of healing and liberation. Despite the openness of today’s society, Jennings said he believes everyone has a secret to tell.
“I think that a lot of people will be surprised at how many other people share the same secrets,” Jennings said. “We’re all human, and we all have secrets.”
Aside from creating a therapeutic community art project that people can connect with, Jennings also hopes to bring to life another section of Postsecret.com.
“One thing I am hoping to replicate from the Web site is the posting of information on counseling services and/or suicide prevention,” Jennings said.
Postsecret.com has shared numerous secrets, and in doing so, the site has revealed a number of secrets that expose a person’s desire to end his or her life. While sharing these secrets, Warren also posts information on self-help services in an effort to help save lives. Jennings hopes to achieve the same goal; providing this information next to the art display may help someone acknowledge and address an issue of this sort.
Blank postcards can be acquired through Mar. 12 at a number of locations, including: Brickhouse Music, Eau Claire YMCA, Grand Little Theatre, Haas Fine Arts Center room 104, Infinitea Tea House, Just Local Foods, L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library and the McIntyre Library, Jyl Kelley, assistant professor of art and design who is coordinating the project alongside Jennings, said.
Downloadable postcard templates are also available on the McIntyre Library Web site.
To make for an interesting “Secret Post” contribution, Jennings suggests that participants consider brevity, legibility and creativity when confiding their secrets to the blank postcard provided. Once the postcard bears a secret, it can be returned to one of three drop-off points – McIntyre Library, Haas Fine Arts Center room 104 or Just Local Foods – or placed in the mailbox and delivered to: Secret Post, c/o McIntyre Library, UW-Eau Claire, 105 Garfield Ave., Eau Claire, WI 54702-4004.
“Secret Post” will be displayed at McIntyre Library, in the Haas Fine Arts Center and at the Eau Claire Regional Arts Center throughout the month of April.
