01/24/2026
Sukey Waldenberger "O Say Can U See?"
$750
This stained-glass flag is built from words—specific terms the current administration deems sensitive, controversial, or undesirable and subsequently scrubs from public-facing government websites. O Say Can U See? asks viewers to confront the quiet erasure of language and to recognize these words as inseparable from the American experience they help describe. Rendered in a medium historically reserved for the sacred, the work positions these censored terms within a visual tradition of reverence and illumination. The design echoes the rough, handmade flags found in American folk art—painted on barns, stitched into quilts, hung on doorways—objects that speak to everyday acts of belonging, identity, and dissent. The rough solder lines and zinc bars create a sense of constrainment or imprisonment, while the panes of glass invite light to resist containment, glowing through the barriers that attempt to mute them. The stars are mirrors, reflecting the faces of viewers as they look upon the piece, inviting them to ask themselves: Who decides what may be spoken? Does the erasure of words equal the erasure of people? What does it mean to see, or to refuse to see, the language of our collective lives? Ultimately, this work speaks to the politics of visibility. It stands as both warning and invitation: a protest against the suppression of public knowledge, a commentary on the power of state messaging, and a reminder that words—especially those targeted for erasure—remain luminous when held to the light.
Bio: Sukey Waldenberger is a folklorist, teacher, and artist working in stained glass, off and on, for 35 years. She lives in Prescott, Arizona.