Private Posts

Private Posts was a community art project produced in 2016 by artist Jonathan Larsen in conjunction with Beyond Empathy. It was an interactive community art installation that explored the private regrets and recollections of Armidale people and translated them into a shared community story and bold collaborative art installation.

In 2020, with a global pandemic, schools partially closed, and working from home the ‘new norm’ we brought it back as a way for the community to communicate their thoughts and feelings. 

Private Posts 2020

NERAM invited all members of the community to submit their own private postcard. Schools, businesses and individuals were encouraged to participate.

How to 

Step #1 Create a postcard 

We invited everyone in the community to make their own postcard with the opening line “Today I wish I could…”

You were welcome to paint, draw and/or write on your postcard. You could also print multiple copies for friends + family that may not have access to computers/printers.

Download the template here: Postcard Template

Step #2 Share the postcard 

There were 3 options to sharing your postcard

Option 1: Take a picture of your postcard and email it to education@neram.com.au / share through social media tagging @neramuseum on Instagram or @neram.art on Facebook.

Option 2: Mail your postcard via Australia Post:

New England Regional Art Museum
106-114 Kentucky Street
Armidale NSW 2350

Option 3: Drop it off at NERAM. There was a box at the side entrance to slot it into.

What happened next?

The drawn images or hand-written postcard messages were digitised and shared online as an evolving online exhibition.

The Private Posts 2020 Project ran until August 2020.

Here is some inspiration from the community members who contributed in 2016….

Be inspired with the follwoing film. ‘I wish I had told you’ is an animated short film by artist Jonathon Larsen created from this project produced in 2016. Here, he has used postcards made by the community to create a narrative through imagery and words.