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World Art Gallery

In 1999, Visual Arts Brampton held its first mail art show, at Artway. The exhibit proved so popular, it moved to the Art Gallery of Peel for a year, in 2001. In 2003 and 2004, VAB readopted the show, dubbing it the Snail Mail World Postcard Art Show

In 2005, we decided to take it to the next level, and founded the World Art Gallery, both the only known permanent public exhibit space for mail art and the only known collection of artwork of only one size (4 x 6 inches).

The display space gradually rotates its collection, adding new works as received, replacing the oldest works on display.

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History of the Term "Snail Mail"

Snail mail is a derogatory retronym, named after the proverbially slow snail, used to refer to letters and packages carried by conventional postal delivery services, talking about the lag time it takes between the sending and receiving of the letter.

This term began with the popularization of courier services, and has become even more popular with electonic mail (e-mail), which is dispatches and delivers almost instantly.

Are the show's organizers meaning to insult the postal system with this term? No, it's just a cute, relevant name, and it gave us a mascot of sorts for the show. Besides, it would be stupid to insult the fine people sending the art entries to our show.

Why snails, and not say, sloths? Huh? Well mail can travel by ground, sea, or air mail, and there's snails on the ground, in the sea, and for all we know, there's snails that can fly. And sloths can't.

First written May 22nd, 2004

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