VALOR
65”x 29”x 6.5”
Mixed Media

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"

The timing on this piece is uncanny, I had no idea the Postal Service would be front and center in the news when I created this. However, I did observe recent political grumblings and anticipate major issues on the horizon. Financially? It was partisan politics in the past that put the Postal Service in the dire financial situation they are in right now and I’m a firm believer that ‘burning it all down and hoping someone else will build it back from the ashes’ rarely ever works.

Does it need tweaking? Everything that evolves over 245 years needs tweaking to keep up with modern technology and demands. Bottom line, we cannot survive without this. It’s the only organization in the country that has the resources, network infrastructure and logistical capability to regularly deliver to every residential and business address in the nation.* Medicine, letters from our soldiers, family documents, precious packages that are not kicked off the back of a delivery truck (trust me, as an artist that ships things I know what I’m talking about) The Postal Service also employs more than 97,000 military veterans and is one of the largest employers of veterans in the country. They receive NO tax dollars for operating expenses. ZERO. They only rely on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.*

Additional facts (*via usps.com)

On February 20, 1792, President George Washington officially created the modern United States Postal Service by signing a sweeping act that promoted a free press and put privacy safeguards in place.

The Post Office Department was founded in 1775 with Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General. His annual salary was $1,000. Before 1971, the PMG was a Cabinet member.

Women have served as postmasters since the very beginning of our country’s history. Mary Katherine Goddard was the first women postmaster in the United Colonies (postmaster of Baltimore, Maryland) when Benjamin Franklin was named American Postmaster General in July 1775.

The Greenville South Carolina Post Office began using motorcycles (Harley Davidsons, no less!) to deliver mail around 1906.

The most unusual delivery method used by USPS is a mule train in Arizona. The mules carry mail, food and supplies down an 8-mile trail to the Havasupai Indians at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

The Breast Cancer Research stamp has raised more than $90 million for breast cancer research since 1998. More than 1.6 billion stamps have been sold.

The Postal Service processes and delivers 472.1 million mail pieces each day.

HEROES. Postal employees regularly go beyond the call of duty to protect the lives of customers they serve, including older and disabled customers through the Carrier Alert Program. In fiscal year 2019, the Postal Service recognized 232 heroic employees.

And finally, The Postal Service is at the core of the $1.6 trillion U.S. mailing industry that employs more than 7.3 million people.

My opinion? We cannot afford to lose one more job at this point. Not one.

Be careful playing partisan politics with each and every single thing these days. Some things are much more important than that. People’s well being, our health, compassion, our ability to connect and receive information crucial to our needs and survival, our soldiers right to vote by mail (which has been happening since the Civil War I might add) and our ability to communicate with each other. Here are some famous postal workers I bet you didn’t know of. https://about.usps.com/…/postal-h…/famous-postal-workers.pdf

All that being said, go buy some stamps.