Great Labor Arts Exchange Kicks Off June 17
 |
Don’t miss the explosion of arts and activism at the 2011 Great Labor Arts Exchange June 17-19 at the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring, Md. The three-day festival brings together union and social justice activists who combine union mobilization and outreach with songs, skits, art, poetry, theater, posters, cartoons and film.
The festival will be topped off Sunday, June 19, with a public gala concert with conference participants and national and international artists, such as Anne Feeney, Bev Grant, Pam Parker and Charlie King. Members of four labor choruses—D.C., New York City, Solidarity Notes and Charm City—and others will perform in the concert in the NLC auditorium.
Also check out the the Creative Organizing Conference, where activists discuss the best ways to use art to help spread the union message.
For more information on either event, click here.
Scholarships Available for Creative Organizing Conference
|
Scholarships are available for anyone who wants to participate in the Conference on Creative Organizing, June 17–19 at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md., and doesn’t have money for the registration fee. To find out more about the scholarship, call 202-639-6204. The information is not available online.
You also have time to register online for the Great Labor Arts Exchange and the Creative Organizing Conference. The three-day festival brings together more than 100 union and social justice activists who combine union mobilization and outreach with songs, skits, art, poetry, theater, posters, cartoons and film. For more information or to register online for either event, click here.
Sponsored for more than 30 years by the Labor Heritage Foundation, the Great Labor Arts Exchange celebrates the rich cultural heritage of working people and serves as a forum that brings together talented labor artists, activists, cultural workers, educators and students.
New this year is Camp Solidarity, designed to bring the arts and cultures of the union and progressive movements to a new generation.
Organizing and Art Join at Great Labor Arts Exchange
|
There is still time to register for the Great Labor Arts Exchange and Conference on Creative Organizing, June 17–19 at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md.
The three-day festival brings together, more than 100 union and social justice activists who combine union mobilization and outreach with songs, skits, art, poetry, theater, posters, cartoons and film.
Sponsored for more than 30 years by the Labor Heritage Foundation, the Great Labor Arts Exchange celebrates the rich cultural heritage of working people and serves as a forum that brings together talented labor artists, activists, cultural workers, educators and students.
New this year is Camp Solidarity, designed to bring the arts and cultures of the union and progressive movements to a new generation.
For more information or to register online, click here or call 202-639-6204.
Register Now for the Great Labor Arts Exchange
|
Register today for the Great Labor Arts Exchange and Conference on Creative Organizing, June 17–19 at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md. The early registration deadline is May 31.
Over three days, more than 100 union and social justice activists will participate in programs that combine union mobilization and outreach with songs, skits, art, poetry, theater, posters, cartoons and film.
For more than three decades, the Labor Heritage Foundation has sponsored the Great Labor Arts Exchange to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of working people and served as a forum that brings together talented labor artists, activists, cultural workers, educators and students.
Social Forum Focuses on Workers’ Issues
Workers’ issues were the focus of five days of marches, rallies and workshops at the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit, which ended over the weekend. Grassroots activists and progressives from across the country came together to build new alliances, create new strategies and put new energy into the movement to turn around the American economy.
Writing in Workday Minnesota, Howard Kling quotes a UAW leader who says the forum was an opportunity for labor to build relationships with other movements and encourage a “strong, fight-back attitude toward the intense corporate agenda that is blocking change on health care, labor rights, fair trade policies and a host of issues that we believe in.”
Great Labor Arts Exchange Hits the Road
 |
|
For the first time in more than three decades, the Labor Heritage Foundation took the Great Labor Arts Exchange on the road. This year the Exchange brought its special blend of culture and the arts to Detroit June 18-21. AFSCME Local 25 is hosting the Great Labor Arts Exchange at its offices, 600 West Lafayette in Detroit.
For four days, some 100 union and social justice activists are participating in programs that combine union mobilization and outreach with songs, skits, art, poetry, theater, posters, cartoons and film. For three decades, 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.
Labor Heritage Foundation Chairwoman Elise Bryant says the Great Labor Arts Exchange reflects the important role that art plays in the union movement.
Organizing and Mobilizing with Flair
 |
||||
|
||||
For four days next week, the 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 20-23, some 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 31 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.
Last year, the Great Labor Arts Exchange featured a wealth of new, young talent. Some of last year’s featured events included a giant puppet show by two members of the United Steelworkers (USW) who showed participants one way to use street theater to deliver a message. Tayo Aluko, a Nigerian who now lives in Liverpool, England, performed a one-man show on the life of actor and human rights activist Paul Robeson.
New Website Highlights Labor’s Art Heritage
 |
| On the Labor Heritage website, you can find information on events such as the Great Labor Arts Exchange, which features artists such as Chris Bricker, a member of the Screen Actors. |
For nearly 30 years, the Labor Heritage Foundation has worked to preserve and promote knowledge of the cultural heritage of the American worker through the arts, including music, poetry, written works, theater and artistic works.
Labor Heritage’s creative, user-friendly new website opens up the world of labor arts for labor activists and art lovers alike with the power to draw a new generation of artists.
At www.laborheritage.org, you’ll find many of the familiar services and some new ones. The main feature is a slide show with information about such popular events as the Great Labor Arts Exchange and Conference on Creative Organizing, the Joe Hill Award and a new Shades of Youth in Labor, where young people speak out on issues such as poverty and injustice.
Labor Heritage Foundation Chairwoman Elise Bryant says the website reflects the important role that art plays in the union movement.
Art displays the heart, soul and passion for equality and justice in the union movement. 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 focusing on the past; we’re also introducing the new artists who are producing art for the union, peace and justice movements.
