A mailbox in Santa Barbara holds letters of grief and gratitude

On the corner of State and Anapamu Street in downtown Santa Barbara sits an eight-foot-tall mailbox. You don’t need a stamp or an address to drop a letter inside; it’s an interactive art installation. After the Thomas Fire and mudslides in Montecito, artist Danielle Siano said she wanted to create something to help people process loss by acknowledging that grief and praise are intimately linked and give voice to the story of both in each of us.

Mailbox image photo credit: Jonah Blossom.

Three of the many letters dropped into the Story Catcher Mailbox. Photo credit: Kathryn Barnes