What if the letters we never sent could bring us closer together, and spark conversations we never knew we needed?”
Hi there,
This is Unsent Letter Mailbox, a collision course series of encounters and events that led a mailbox installation to become a movement.
Sofia took the unsent letter mailbox out of the woodshop for the first time on Valentines Day 2024. It was below 0 degrees, and yet she received over 40 anonymous letters.
Through the serendipitous forces of New York City, she would later meet Gary Su (a.k.a Sugary) in April 2024 twice randomly on separate occasions, and finally agreed to have a cup of tea at Paquita. They bonded over a shared passion for community building and human-centered IRL activations.
During that first fateful meeting Sofia shared the unsent letter mailbox project, and Sugary knew this was something worth his time. What ensued was an urban installations series, with the O.G wooden mailbox traveling to multiple parks in New York, and hosting monthly anonymous writing salons titled “The Write to Read,” featuring local artists.
Fast forward to February 2024, we threw Unspoken Love, our one-year-anniversary bash at Unarthodox. Among the guests was Bonnie Blue Edwards, an NYC based writer, producer and illustrator whom was brought along by a mutual friend following a bad breakup.
Shortly after, Sofia reached out to her on social media, asking her to illustrate an unsent letter, leading to beginnings of a stellar co-creative partnership. They would later realize that they had already been in touch a year before, when Sofia reached out about renting a room in her apartment through The Listings Project, and unknowingly visited her apartment in Crown Heights.
Bonnie joined our growing team as Executive Producer, and led the expansion of Unsent Letter Mailbox through volunteer-led pop-ups in Chattanooga, and a gallery exhibition The Inexpressible Contained, inviting local artists to respond to local anonymous letters.
We are so happy you found us. If you’ve submitted a letter or attended a salon, we thank you for pouring a piece of your soul into the words you’ve written.
Our story begins on the subway
Sofia started to think about anonymity riding the M line during her first week in the city. A boy, early twenties, got on and started threatening to kill himself unless the people there helped him.
Everyone kept scrolling, avoiding eye-contact, except for this one voice who asked “Why do you want to do that?” A fifteen minute conversation ensued between the boy and the man who asked the question.
He managed to calm him down, and Sofia realized, even when we have nothing to give, we can listen. The term “bystander effect” was coined in the 1960 to describe an innately urban experience — onlookers are less likely to help a person in need if other people are present.
Sofia experienced this first hand, and also experienced the other side of the coin — which is to listen to a person’s humanity.
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The unsent letter mailbox was conceptualized, designed and built by Sofia during her time as a at Parsons in January 2024, and was first taken to Washington Square Park on Valentines Day 2024.
The full-fledged vision for the Unsent Letter Mailbox emerged through a conversation at Carelab in October 2023, a course in Parsons focusing on designing systems of care.
Sophie Calle’s project Take Care of Yourself came up and Sofia had an aha! moment. In an interview Calle explained: “I received an email telling me it was over. I didn't know how to respond. So I asked 107 women to interpret this letter.”
She sketched out an illustration of an unsent letter mailbox in her journal that day, and ruminated for a few months before taking action. With the mailbox, she wanted to create a blank canvas, turning anonymity into a tool to encourage radical honesty and reciprocity among city dwellers.
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We accept all unsent letters — ranging from the silly to serious.
The letters we’ve received span a wide range of recipients and topics: the child given up for adoption years ago, the ex-lover who is now married, the unloved body part and the multiple personalities contained in a dissociative personality disorder.
Letters to deceased loved-ones, ex-friends, future hypothetical spouses, a multitude, to say the least.
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The Unsent Letter Mailbox creates artistic anonymous spaces to transform the unexpressed into opportunities for authentic human connection.
We invite humans to write anonymous unsent letters, in exchange for reading one written by someone else. By writing and submitting your unsent letter, you earn your write to read. Read about the psychological benefits of writing an unsent letter here.
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We love collaborating with spaces, institutions, individuals, and brands. Fill out the Corporate & Community Partnerships form below & let’s start the conversation or email us unsentlettermailbox@gmail.com
Previous Partners:
ClearStory Arts
Create & Cultivate
Less Than Half
Hope's Door
Forager Theater Company
Soap Box
Common House (Chattanooga)
Downtown Branch - Chattanooga Public Library
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The Unsent Letter Mailbox is a grassroots storytelling platform turning anonymity on its head.
We believe in the power of what goes unsaid to foster true connection and empathy, helping us realize we are much closer than we think.
Through temporary public installations and live anonymous writing events, our work invites people from all walks of life to get something off their chest. In exchange, they earn the right to read an anonymous letter written previously by someone else.
We refuse to be a one-way stream of consumption — we are challenging our audience to actively engage. To earn their “write” to read. Learn more
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Arts Build, Artist Work Grant through National Endowment for the Arts
Hinge One More Hour Grant recipient (2025)
How we do it
Anonymity
1
Secure digital and physical experiences that protect
personal identity while fostering intimacy
Reciprocity
2
Two-way engagement model that encourages participants
to share and respond
Radical Honesty
3
Curating safe spaces that help participants open up on
topics they’d normally avoid.
“Sofia immediately created a space for participants to be creative, expressive and vulnerable - and the workshop was so thoughtfully tailored to our program's goals. Even the little touches, like music sourced from only female composers! The workshop helped our group unearth connectivity, creativity, and community and beautiful words that wouldn't have otherwise been possible.”
— T. Jill Heller, Soap Box. Meet the team
Sofia Kavlin is a social impact designer and experiential storyteller whose work bridges art, and social innovation. She has partnered with global nonprofits—such as Art for Amnesty and the Van Alen Institute—to create immersive storytelling programs that cultivate empathy, inclusion, and dialogue.
Holding a BA in Anthropology from the University of Toronto and an MA in Design & Urban Ecologies from Parsons School of Design, Sofia is the recipient of the Nudge Global Impact Award (2022) for her innovative approaches to community engagement.
Drawing on her background in social impact strategy and transmedia storytelling, she helps forward-thinking organizations transform their workplace culture by inspiring authentic human connection.
Bonnie Blue Edwards is an award-winning producer who got her start on The New York Times rave-review play Helen & Edgar; a collaboration with the originators of NPR storytelling juggernaut The Moth.
She's been part of the producing team on five stage performances, eight feature films, two live broadcast television events, dozens of commercials, and even an award-winning web-series. Edwards also directed and produced the short documentary Out In Alabama whichserved as a conversation piece during the movement for marriage equality.
She has been a creative producer spearheading campaign shoots for Tony-winning Broadway shows, tech conglomerates, and renowned art institutions. Her investigative project, Death of a Drag Queen, was selected for Gotham Week 2022 and is currently under development with Audacy. In 2024 she released her first collection of comical stories and illustrations called Stressed Out & Scatterbrained.
Gary Su (AKA "The SuGary Man") is an artist developer and event impresario having played a crucial part in the careers of several extraordinary artists.
Most notably, Gary has played a key role in the development of recording artist and band leader for The Late Show with Steven Colbert, Jon Batiste. Other notable artists include Grace Weber, Zee Avi, Victoria Canal, The Running Lights and more.
Known for his sharp curatorial instinct, Gary has taken a major role in the curation of both artists and audiences alike for numerous events such as In Good Company, the Fine Folk Music Series and the KINdling that bring art and communities together in organic and unforgettable ways. His organic newsletter reaches nearly 20,000 people weekly.