Sheryl Oring is an artist whose work examines social issues through projects that blend old and new media to tell stories, amplify public opinion and foster open exchange. Since 2004, she has typed thousands of postcards to U.S. presidents through her signature “I Wish to Say” project, which has been presented at dozens of universities, museums and libraries across the country. 

Oring will present a lecture at 12 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 29, in Ken and Linda Sue Shollmier Hall, Room 250 of Vol Walker Hall, on the U of A campus as part of the fall 2025 lecture series in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. 

This lecture is presented in partnership with the School of Art in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. 

In her lecture, “In Search of the Quintessential Question,” Oring will share how asking the right questions — a skill she honed while working as a journalist early in her career — has guided her collaborations with architects and designers in completing public art commissions.  

Her newest work, the “I Wish to Say” project, which has gathered thousands of hand-typed postcards to U.S. presidents, was featured as part of PORCH Fest at the U.S. Pavilion for the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Oring has also presented the project at the Free Library of Philadelphia, the San Diego Museum of Art, ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, the North Carolina Museum of Art, Contemporary Art Museum Raleigh (CAM) Raleigh, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  

Blending storytelling, public art and teaching practice, Oring invites students and designers alike to consider: What is your quintessential question, and how will it shape the spaces you create? Her projects often operate at the intersection of art, design and civic dialogue, inviting audiences to consider how creative practice can shape public memory and democratic life. From architectural collaborations to participatory performances, Oring’s work demonstrates the power of art to build bridges across disciplines and communities. 

Oring has completed commissions for the San Diego and Tampa airports and created performances for public spaces such as Bryant Park in New York, the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and the Berlin Wall Memorial in Berlin, Germany. Her book Activating Democracy: The I Wish to Say Project was published by Intellect Books/University of Chicago Press in 2016, and her forthcoming book Secretary to the People will be published by the same publishers in 2026. 

Currently, Oring is chair of the Department of Applied Design at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and serves on the board of directors of the National Coalition Against Censorship. Previously, she was dean of the School of Art at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, chair of the James Pearson Duffy Department of Art, Art History, and Design at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  

Oring received an MFA in Visual Art from the University of California, San Diego, where she studied with the architect Teddy Cruz and the artist Louis Hock. Earlier in her career, she worked as an archivist at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York and as a journalist for outlets that include The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Deutsche Welle and Die Welt in Berlin. 

The school is pursuing continuing education credits for this lecture through the American Institute of Architects. 

This lecture is free and open to the public. Seating is limited.