Can You Keep a Secret?

When Germantown resident Frank Warren started PostSecret in late 2004, I doubt he imagined where the idea would go. Warren's "community art project" -- a blog comprised of handmade postcards sharing the secrets of anonymous senders -- now gets more than 2 million unique visitors a month, and a selection of the postcards have been compiled into a 288-page book.

Tonight, an exhibition of 2,000 postcards from the PostSecret project opens in the old Staples building in Georgetown. In addition to the postcards, 4-by-6-foot billboards from an All American Rejects music video inspired by PostSecret are also on display. The exhibition is free and open to the public until Jan. 8.

There is a suggested donation of $10 for tonight's opening. Proceeds from entrance fees and a silent auction benefit the Kristin Brooks Hope Center, a nonprofit organization that runs a suicide hotline.

Much of the reader feedback that Warren shares on PostSecret focuses on the feeling of community the project has created. As one person writes, "Now I KNOW I'm not alone." For me, the project's magic lies in the creativity of the postcards. The senders are able to evoke distinct emotions -- loneliness, jealousy, love -- with basic arts-and-crafts supplies like photographs, magazine clippings, pens and glue. Without a grand canvas, these 4x6-inch postcards speak boldly about the human experience. A collection of 2,000 is definitely worth the trip to Georgetown.

--Julia