NATCHITOCHES – If you’ve got a secret you just can’t keep, Northwestern State University’s Eugene P. Watson Library has an exhibit for you.  The library is presenting “Postsecret Project” April 8-May 10.

PostSecret (postsecret.com) is an ongoing art project created by Frank Warren in 2004.  The concept is that anonymous people decorate a postcard and portray a secret that they had never previously revealed. To close out the Spring 2024 semester Watson Memorial Library will initiate its own Postsecret Project, by collecting and exhibiting postcard secrets submitted by the NSU community.  Individuals in the NSU community can submit secrets through May 3. The exhibit will be open to the public.

Rules are as follows.

  • The secret must be true and never previously shared with anyone.
  • You are welcome to submit more than one secret, but must use a different postcard for each secret.
  • Watson Memorial Library will have a location near second floor stacks where participants will find some supplies for crafting your secret.
  • Creativity in each design is encouraged, but youmay not use
    • Glitter
    • Bodily fluids
    • Copyrighted material
    • Images of real people without disguising their image
  • Specially designated drop boxes located in the stacks on the second floor or near the stairwell on the third floor are available for this project.  Postcards should not be directed to individual library staff.
  • Anyone affiliated with NSU can submit their secrets to the drop boxes through Friday, May 3.
  • Postcards will be both placed on exhibit throughout the library and posted on Watson Memorial Library’s social media starting April 1.
  • Secrets on exhibit in the library will be available for viewing through May 10.
  • Once a secret has been submitted, that card becomes the property of University Libraries to use in exhibits, social media posts and for other uses.
  • As the secret becomes the property of University Libraries upon submission, University Libraries reserves the right without exception to report, destroy, and/or dispose of any postcards.

For more information, contact Archivist Donna Baker at bakerd@nsula.edu.  Information about the Post Secret Project is available at https://postsecret.com/.   View a CBS Sunday morning spotlight on the project here:  https://museum.postsecret.com/about/.