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Monica Sheets

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Whistle Stop Stumping Podium

Podium Composite Image
Podium Composite Image

Podium Game Board
Podium Game Board

Whistle Stop Stumping Podium | Media List


Statement

A collaborative project with Jane Powers, the Whistle Stop Stumping Podium inserts knowledge through pop culture constructs to help reestablish public knowledge regarding the Constitutional charge of the Executive Branch.

This wheeled podium invites the viewer to “Test Your Knowledge of the Presidency”. The player stands in the position of the “Stumper,” behind the podium. On the top of the podium is a painted image of the Presidential Seal. Below the Seal are the Official Game Rules and a short, historic note about the Office of the President. Along the outer upper edge, gold eagle figurines are fitted into holes in the surface. On the breast of each figurine is a shield on which is printed one of the Constitutional powers explicitly given to either the Executive or Legislative Branch. In the Seal are 12 empty holes ringing the inner edge.

The object of the game is to move into the 12 empty holes those eagles with powers and duties given explicitly to the President; the order does not matter. Once the “Stumper” selects the correct 12 eagles and has placed them in the holes, we have a Winner! Lights flash, a door opens, and “Hail to the Chief” booms forth.

Behind the open door, the Winner retrieves The Prize— a small lapel button with the word “Chief,” on a field of blue, and a postcard with 12 powers and duties of the U.S. President on the front. On the back is the question, “What are the pros and cons of expanding the Prerogative Powers?” With this question, we ask the Winner to express his/her own personal views and send the postcard to a politician, a friend, relative, etc. The Winner can proudly wear the “Chief” button, and the knowledge of the presidential powers and duties moves outside the gallery to the public realm.