Performance artist has 530 messages to give to Obama

Sheryl Oring, who traveled around the country typing postcards on street corners for her "I wish to say . . . " project, said she has requested a meeting with Obama to hand over the 530 postcards she collected in 18 cities this year.

Although she knows chances of meeting the president-elect are slim, she wants to make sure the missives aren't mislaid or neglected by the incoming administration. She said she hasn't heard back on her request yet. "I want to make sure they actually get there and get read or get seen," she said.

To collect the postcards, Oring dressed in the style of a 1960s secretary and used an antique typewriter with carbon paper. She set up a table on street corners, took dictation from passersby and typed their words. In April, she collected dozens of cards at Venice Beach.

Three hundred cards and matching photos were on exhibit Saturday at the McCormick Freedom Museum in Chicago, where she also did another round of typing.

"There's a lot of hope and a lot of expectations," said Oring, who began typing postcards to President Bush in 2004 and collected birthday wishes for him in 2006.

This year, except those from Chicago, she collected the postcards before Obama won the election.

"Dear Mr. President, I sure hope you're a black dude cuz if you're not, I'm already in Canada," Delaney Walsh wrote at Belmont University in Nashville in October. "P.S. Either way, please eliminate the cap on Social Security taxes and find a way to help homeless Americans -- especially those with mental illnesses."

Some of the cards are emotional. Many express ideas for solving the nation's problems or expound on national priorities in next four years. Often they focus on substantial issues and include pleas to end the war in Iraq, create more jobs, improve education and safeguard human rights, women's rights and gay rights.

"Americans are much stronger and more capable of sacrifice than you might think," dictated Cynthia Curtis of Nashville. "Please help us get away from our addiction to oil and preserve our environment."