After a long shift, finding the energy just to make dinner can be a challenge. Finding the energy to make art? That can feel like a luxury.
But the talent is there. At Union Hall Arts, workers got the time, space and support to put it to work.
In late August, Labor Heritage Power Hour hosts Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant visited Detroit to meet UHA director Anne-Marie Strassel, program designer Wes Taylor and the residency’s seven worker-artists. Housekeepers, autoworkers, an electrician and a plumber shared projects ranging from painting and printmaking to filmmaking, fiction and hip-hop beats.
A new project of the UNITE HERE Education and Support Fund, Union Hall Arts brings union members together for a four-week residency to make art, exchange stories and explore how workers can build power by shaping culture.
Listen to the Labor Heritage Power Hour on Thursday, October 8 at 1p on WPFW 89.3 FM (streaming online) or catch the podcast after 2p.
“We’re more than just, you know, a cog on the assembly line,” one participant said.
Meet the artists in these photos:
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Ana Palacios
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Miles Eason
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Sammie Sprole
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Jamie Hearn
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Nevena Pilipovi-Wengler
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Dexter Dixon
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Murphey Stromberg
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Photos: Chris Garlock |