Exhibits
Lina Bertucci: Railroad Voices–The Milwaukee Road, 1974-1977
The Grohmann Museum
1000 N Broadway, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Details / Info here
Lina Bertucci was hired by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (The Milwaukee Road) in 1974 as a brakeman (brakewoman). She was only the second woman to work in the Milwaukee Road yards, following her aunt, Cindy Angelos. Both Bertucci and Angelos entered training on the same day, and their arrival immediately sent tremors through the male-dominated field. But through ambition and optimism, they settled in by demonstrating full competence in their many challenges. While difficult, the work paid more than most other entry-level jobs and appealed to their adventuresome spirits.
As an aspiring artist, Bertucci arrived armed with her camera in her bag, at first hoping to simply fit in, to be respected as more than just the “girl with the camera.” Before long, she was accepted by most of her colleagues and set about chronicling her experience and daily toil, and did so for three years, until The Milwaukee Road filed for bankruptcy protection in 1977. In recalling her work, she notes that “these photographs were never simply creative memories of a personal experience, but a record of a social and historical moment—a communal cultural and industrial transformation that intersected with my own identity as I stood witness to its passing.”
Bertucci’s work while on ‘The Road’ resurfaces for this special display of an important part of Milwaukee’s industrial history and a woman’s impact on art and industry. Through her portraits of the railroad and the railroad worker, we are provided an insider’s view of a world few had access to, but so many were impacted by.
The exhibit runs Sept. 4, 2026 - Dec. 20, 2026.
Beneath the Surface: Mining and American Photography
The Milwaukee Art Museum's Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts
700 N Art Museum Dr, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Details / Info here
Spanning 180 years of photography, Beneath the Surface explores how artists have worked to make visible the mining and drilling that power modern life yet often remain unseen. From 19th-century documentation to striking contemporary artworks, the exhibition traces how generations of photographers have developed new ways to picture the expansive yet elusive activities of extracting, transporting, and processing natural resources across the United States.
The photographs reveal the transformed landscapes, affected communities, and laboring workers and systems behind the technologies we use every day—including photography, which requires precious metals like light-sensitive silver for historical processes and copper for digital camera batteries today. Bringing together iconic images and novel discoveries, Beneath the Surface invites visitors to consider photography’s power to shape public understanding of extractive activities as well as their environmental, social, and human consequences.
The exhibit runs October 23rd, 2026 - January 18, 2027
Lewis Hine in Maryland
Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery - 1000 Hilltop Cir, Baltimore, MD 21250
Details / Info here
From 1908 to 1924, documentary photographer Lewis Hine (American, 1874–1940) traveled throughout the United States, using his camera to document child labor on behalf of the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC). He photographed children working in coal mines, cotton mills, farms, tenements, and city streets. The NCLC used Hine’s photographs and eyewitness reports to support its campaigns for labor regulation and reform. His images appeared in pamphlets, posters, traveling exhibitions, and lantern-slide presentations across the country. Ultimately, these searing photographs helped shape labor legislation in the United States and established a model for documentary photography.
This exhibition commemorates MD250 and the U.S. Semiquincentennial, exploring themes foundational to the nation’s history, including immigration and migration, the power of documentary photographs, and social justice.
The exhibit runs August 24 through December 18, 2026.
Labor&Materials
21c Museum Hotel Durham - 111 Corcoran St, Durham, NC 27701
Details / Info here
Exploring the evolution of industry in the 21st century, Labor&Materials presents a precarious balance between promise and power.
The scale, scope, and speed of technological innovation heralds unprecedented changes in what, how, where, and by whom goods and services are produced and provided. Economists describe the explosion of radically new platforms and products emerging in the digital age—robots and other forms of automated labor, self-driving cars, three-dimensional printing, the explosion of bits and pixels transmitted across the internet, and the growing global network of trade driven by the shipping container—as an inflection point: a time in human history when how we live and work is utterly transformed.
What does an inflection point look like? How will the transformation of commerce and consumption affect access to goods and jobs, to information and infrastructure?
Pullman Porters & Maids: Invisible Labor, Visible Legacies
PullmanArts Block House Gallery, 11137 S. Langley Ave., Chicago
Details/info here
Artist Shane-Jahi Jackson's new exhibition explores the lives and labor of the Pullman porters and maids whose work helped define luxury rail travel while remaining largely unseen. Developed through a research residency at the Newberry Library and drawing on Pullman Company archives, the exhibition uses figurative paintings and collage elements to recover and reimagine the stories of Black workers too often reduced to personnel records and historical footnotes.
Work in Progress (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
A multi-phase redesign of the Hamilton Workers Arts & Heritage Centre’s heritage exhibits unfolding until 2027 – reimagines how working people’s stories are told, and who gets to tell them. Click here for more information.
Also at the Hamilton Workers Arts & Heritage Centre: Drawing on Jay Youngdahl’s experience working with trade unions as a lawyer, organizer, and member, the exhibit I Don’t Want Your Millions (Billions), Mister proposes two ideas: that all workers are artists, and despite differences working people can build solidarity through collective struggle. More information here
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Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne (New York City, NY)
Have you ever wondered how everyday things are made? Christopher Payne’s photographs take you inside American factories, showcasing the traditional craftsmanship behind the creation of musical instruments, flags, footballs, and pinball machines, as well as the intricate hand processes still critical to creating the most advanced products, ranging from microchips to the Giant Magellan Telescope. Purchase tickets for the museum here.
Deadly Deception: The Asbestos Tragedy in McLean County(Bloomington, IL)
Exhibit reveals the hidden history of Bloomington’s UNARCO asbestos plant—spotlighting workers’ struggles, deadly conditions, and the national fight for justice that unfolded in our own backyard. On display in the McLean County Museum of History in Bloomington, IL until 2027. Click here for more info.
Know of a Labor - related exhibition in your area? Let us know at info@laborheritage.org!
Performing Arts
Classic Stage Company presents Waiting For Lefty by Clifford Odets
Original Music & Arrangements by Yeller Tooth; Directed by Steven Pasquale
The Lynn F. Angelson Theater - 136 East 13th Street New York, NY 10003
One room. One choice. One movement. Exploited, exhausted, and pushed to the edge, the taxi drivers of Depression-era New York City gather to make a choice that will change their lives forever. But as they wait for their leader, the tension reaches a fever pitch. Marking the directing debut of acclaimed actor Steven Pasquale, this innovative production uses music and movement to breathe fresh life into Clifford Odets’ 1935 masterpiece, transforming the theater into a high-stakes union hall. Both then and now, speaking truth to power can come at a deadly cost.
Runs October 15 – November 22, 2026.
Click here for more information and tickets
Know of a Labor - related performing arts event in your area? Let us know at info@laborheritage.org!
Film Screenings
Ting Tong Chang The Hidden Shift
Mattress Factory, 509 Jacksonia St. Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Artist Ting Tong Chang murder mystery film is set in a fictional macaroni factory, where the factory owner is found dead and each character carries their own potential motives and suspicions. Showing at the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh through to January 2027.
Click here for more information.
The Rochester Labor Film Series - September 11, 2026 - November 6, 2026
The Dryden Theater - 900 East Ave. Rochester, NY 14607
A partnership between the Dryden Theatre and the Rochester Labor Council since 1989, the Labor Film Series, the oldest in the United States, brings together classic films and new releases in an exploration of work, workers, and labor issues from across the world.
For information on films and screening dates and times, click here.
Workers Unite Film Festival - October 23, 2026 - November 20, 2026
Screenings virtual and at several downtown locations.
The 15th Annual Workers Unite Film Festival is a celebration of Global Labor Solidarity. We screen over 50 films from around the world about workers and unions fighting for dignity on the job, and organizing those not yet in unions. WUFF15_2026 screens in NYC at Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street, from October 23rd to October 29th (virtual screenings on Eventive from 10/30) then continues at several other Downtown venues through Nov 20th.
Tickets and schedules at workersunitefilmfestival.org. billy link: bit.ly/TixWUFF15
Who Moves America - September 9, 2026 - April 24, 2027
Screening at multiple locations
This 2025 documentary about UPS Teamsters’ 2023 contract fight is directed by Emmy Award–nominated filmmaker Yael Bridge. The film follows a new California driver, a 1997 strike veteran in New York, and a part-time Kentucky warehouse worker as they organize, picket, and build solidarity among 340,000 workers. Broadway World says, “Through intimate access and on-the-ground storytelling, Who Moves America reveals the human stories behind the single largest collective bargaining agreement in North America and explores the power and complexity of collective action in modern America.”
For information on screenings, visit WhoMovesAmerica.com/screenings.
Know of a Labor film screening in your area? Let us know at info@laborheritage.org!