As part of PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity, the official U.S. Pavilion exhibition for the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, Sheryl Oring presented a pair of participatory art projects that invite the public to reflect on the values, rights, and responsibilities that shape civic life. Timed to coincide with U.S. national holidays - Independence Day and Labor Day - these works create space for dialogue about freedom and work. Oring was invited to perform at PORCH Fest by co-comissioners Peter B. MacKeith and Susan Chin and curator Cynthia Post Hunt of The Momentary and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

In Spirit of Independence, Oring asks: “What does independence mean to you?” Visitors share their thoughts while she types them verbatim on a vintage typewriter, creating carbon copies - one for the participant, one for the exhibition and her archive. Together with What We Work For, presented at PORCH Fest over Labor Day, the projects investigate what we inherit, what we contribute, and what we strive for through the intimate act of sitting down with the artist on the PORCH, speaking one’s truth, and having it set into words, one keystroke at a time.

Spirit of Independence is being developed into a large-scale public performance to be presented in 2026 to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and founding of the country.