Postcards for Democracy
Mark Mothersbaugh x Beatie Wolfe’s collective post art campaign
The Story
Artistic visionaries Mark Mothersbaugh & Beatie Wolfe share a love of tangible art forms, in and amongst their futuristic explorations. In the summer of 2020, in light of the threat to our 225yr old postal service, Mothersbaugh and Wolfe joined forces for this collective non-partisan postcard art demonstration.
The campaign captured the public's imagination with the pair receiving tens of thousands of cards from all over the world which were then exhibited at the Rauschenberg Gallery in a 3-month exhibition in addition to a selection going into the Smithsonian's permanent collection.
So far over 40,000 cards have been received with more coming each day
The aim of this campaign is to encourage as many people as possible to support USPS (at this critical time), our right to vote, and democracy as a whole via the power of art.
The demonstration asks you to buy USPS stamps, design your postcard and then mail it to 8760 Sunset Blvd
“Beatie and I see these cards and we’re just knocked over! Everytime that we go to the mailbox and pull stuff out, there’s always something that we’re so happily surprised or shocked to find and this is our way of sharing a bit of that with you.”
The Mailroom
Since the project launched in September 2020 it has received over 40,000 cards from across the U.S. but also worldwide.
Many people writing in said it was the first time they had made a piece of art how much joy the campaign bought.
A lot of postal workers also got a kick out of delivering cards celebrating them!
Further highlights of Mark & Beatie's 2020 & 2024 campaigns include:
Public Community Events
In addition to receiving and exhibiting mailed cards, Beatie and Mark have held pop-up community creation stations at the Oshogatsu Family Festival, CicLAvia, CalMatters roadshow, LA Public Libraries, Pat Brown Institute, Zocalo Public Square, ArtCenter, AFI Fest, Sister Mary Corita legacy day, in addition to their postcard clinics outside their 8760 Sunset Blvd HQ.
Exhibitions on both Coasts
Upon learning of the tens of thousands of cards received, the Rauschenberg Gallery in Fort Myers, Florida invited the campaign's first showing. This ran for over four months in 2021, with the displayed cards rotating weekly to ensure every art card was shown. Afterward, the Smithsonian National Postal Museum invited a sample of the show into its collection in Washington, DC. Then came a year-long exhibition at LA's Democracy Center (opposite MOCA) spanning 2024–2025.
Other weird & wonderful things
Postcard for Democracy was a headline session at SXSW 2020 (then closed the festival on its Clubhouse), has its own show on dublab radio, special commemorative stamp sheets and commissioned a Giant Mailbox. The Mailbox monolith was unveiled outside Postcard for Democracy's HQ on Sunset Blvd, with installation muscle from Fred Armisen.
Postcard for Democracy Highlights
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SXSW, Featured Session
Campaign 2020
Mark Mothersbaugh and Beatie Wolfe were invited to give a featured session at SXSW 2021 to talk about the project. Following Postcard for Democracy’s headline session Mark and Beatie then closed the festival on its Clubhouse in conversation with all the SXSW curators.
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Rauschenberg Gallery Show
Campaign 2020
Across a four months exhibition the tens of thousands of postcard art where displayed. Despite the large scale of the gallery the cards had to rotated frequently to ensure ever card submitted was included in the exhibition. Postcards for Democracy exhibition ran May 17 to Aug 8 2021
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![Smithsonian, National Postal Museum]()
Smithsonian, National Postal Museum
Campaign 2020
To mark Postcards for Democracy's global reach and impact a commemorative PFD boxset was assembled with the Portland Stamp Company's support. This now resides within the Smithsonian's permanent collection at the National Postal Museum.
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USPS Official Business
Campaign 2020
In addition to USPS highlighting the project in the USPS official newspaper, Florida Fort Myers's Officer in Charge, Phillip Fleener, took time out to tour the exhibition.
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Democracy Center LA, Exhibition
Campaign 2024
Following the 2024 election, LA's Democracy Center (opposite MOCA) dedicated their window gallery for an exhibition spanning January 05 - October 31, 2025
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Sister Mary Corita legacy day
Campaign 2024
Postcards for Democracy joins Corita Art Center on November 23rd at The Philosophical Research Society for a day of family-friendly art making, readings and conversation, performance and film screenings, and a holiday pop-up shop—all in celebration of Corita’s legacy!
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dublab radio show
Campaign 2020, ‘24 & ‘26
Beatie Wolfe & Mark Mothersbaugh pull postcards from the tens of thousands they’ve received for their collective art demonstration ‘Postcards for Democracy’ and pair them with tracks of their choosing...
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LA Public Libraries w/ CalMatters
At LAPL's Arroyo Seco Regional Branch Library, Postcards for Democracy joins Dan Hu from CalMatters. At the event you'll learn how to effectively use the CalMatters Voter Guide, an invaluable tool to help you navigate your ballot and make informed decisions. Don’t miss this opportunity to get informed, engage in meaningful discussion, and prepare to confidently cast your vote!
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Official VOTE Lawn Sign
Campaign 2026
To commemorate the 2026 activities ahead of the midterms a special Make Art, Mail Art & VOTE sign was commissioned
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the Mailbox Monolith
The Mailbox monolith was unveiled outside Postcard for Democracy's HQ on Sunset Blvd, with installation muscle from Fred Armisen.
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Broad Foundation Grant
The Postcards for Democracy 2024 campaign was made possible with support from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and dublab. All other future or past activities have been independently funded....
Press
Kind support for this project from Billboard, Pitchfork, Fast Company, The Los Angeles Times, Cool Hunting, Design Milk, The Art Newspaper, The Nation, Brooklyn Vegan, CBS, Austin Chronicle, USA Today, SXSW, Dezeen, Variety and more
