Former UArts dean helps strangers write letters to next president

CHICAGO (CBS) — On the Windy City streets, a distinct noise cuts through the hustle and bustle.

Artist Sheryl Oring asks strangers one question and uses a typewriter to record the answer:

"If I were the president, what would you wish to say to me?" Oring said.

The former University of the Arts dean calls the performance art project " I Wish to Say ."

After they sit, Oring listens intently to each person's story, typing their message.

"Dear next president," participant Morley Musick said. "I feel like I'm throwing a letter into a bottle and into the ocean."

Oring started the art project back in 2004. Since then, she's written more than 4,000 postcards.

"It's just a way to get people to think what's important to them and to speak out, speak their minds," Oring said.

"It feels fun but also like an exercise in futility, much like politics itself," Musick said.

With politics taking center stage in Chicago this week because of the Democratic National Convention , Oring is taking a different route as people all over step into her makeshift office.

"It felt like a very historic election," Oring said. "So, I felt, I was really compelled to just get out on the streets and see what people had to say at this really historic time."

She is documenting the historic time with each postcard addressed to the future president.

Oring provides the postage, and it's then up to each person to send their postcards to the White House.

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