Get Ready for the Great Labor Arts Exchange

by James Parks, Jun 18, 2008

Clown Chris Bricker, a member of the Screen Actors, played his singing saw at last year’s Great Labor Arts Exchange.

For three days next week, the tree-lined campus of the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring, Md., will reverberate with the sounds of music, poetry and creative chants and art.

 From June 22–24, about 100 union and social justice activists will participate in the annual Great Labor Arts Exchange and Conference on Creative Organizing, programs that combine union mobilization and outreach with songs, skits, art, poetry, theater, posters, cartoons and film. 

For 30 years, the Great Labor Arts Exchange has celebrated the rich cultural heritage of working people and served as a forum that brings together talented labor artists, activists, cultural workers, educators and students.

Elise Bryant, chairwoman of the Labor Heritage Foundation, says the heart and soul of the union movement will be on display at the National Labor College next week.

Union members learned long ago that life is more than work. We not only need bread, we need roses, too. Every successful progressive movement in the United States has been led by song. But we’re not just honoring the past; we’re also honoring the new artists who are producing art for the union, peace and justice movements. We’re looking to the future, and each year there are more and more young people coming to the conference.

This year’s conference will be the first in many years without Peter Jones at the helm. Jones, who served as Labor Heritage’s executive director for nine years, resigned earlier this year. His replacement, Daryl! L.C. Moch, began working this month.

Last year, the Great Labor Arts Exchange featured the debut of the film, “Mother Jones: America’s Most Dangerous Woman,” and the D.C. Youth Orchestra, which gave a special concert to celebrate Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States

The Conference on Creative Organizing trains union staff, organizers and activists to use songs, chants, skits, game shows, costumes, theater and other creative tactics when reaching out to working people. Participants exchange experiences, brainstorm about specific union campaigns, share resources and return home with a battery of new ideas and tools that will make their campaigns more compelling. 

Says AFGE member Charles Bernhardt:

Just feeling the energy of so many creative and dedicated people lifts my spirit. 

Both events are sponsored by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the National Labor College. Click here for more information.

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