Labor Artists Keep Our Movement Fun and Strong

The Labor Heritage Foundation, now under new leadership, wants to let you know that we’re looking forward to an exciting future of energizing the labor movement through “art in activism.”

The LHF was created 30 years ago by Joe Glazer, Saul Schniderman, and Joe Uehlein to serve as the cultural arm of the labor movement. We coordinate a network of cultural workers, connect performing artists with unions, maintain an archive of labor landmarks, and educate the public on the rich contributions labor arts have made to economic justice at home and abroad.

One of our goals for 2014 is to reach out to youth—the next generations of organized labor—through high schools and colleges, urban community activist organizations, and apprenticeship programs. Our first step is to meet with youth activists, students, and organizers to find how we can best serve their creative needs.

We’re already in discussion with teachers unions to develop grant proposals to bring labor artists to schools—and to bring schoolchildren to our annual gathering of cultural workers and activists, the Great Labor Arts Exchange.

Everyone is invited to the summer of 2014 Great Labor Arts Exchange for three days of sharing, solidarity, and song. As one newcomer put it, “I loved the atmosphere, the workshops, the music—and everything else!” You don’t have to be a performer or an artist to attend; this is the cultural spa for all activists looking for a shot in the arm or a boost up. Watch for more details in Labor Notes.

Supporting New Art

Another goal is to support labor artists to produce new material focused on today’s victories and struggles, in a variety of disciplines and mediums: music, song, spoken-word poetry, murals, photography, video, and theatre. For this we’ll use national and regional trainings, scholarships, and recognition programs.

In 2011, we received funding from the Newspaper Guild/CWA to offer cash prizes for the best labor photos by professional, amateur, and student photographers. In 2013, we started our first song writing contest and added a category for spoken word/hip-hop/rap!

We plan to develop a useful database of labor artists. This would be a tool to help place artists into labor programs and activities, “street heat” actions, and public forums.

And since all our struggles for labor rights are going global in the new economy, we want to establish global networks of progressive artists to support these fights. We’re looking into funding for an international conference of cultural workers under our ongoing theme, based on the late Jon Fromer’s song, “Gonna Take Us All.” We hope our Labor Notes family members with international contacts will help us with this outreach.

Planning Ahead

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Elise Bryant has taken on the role of executive director. Her insight, experience, and well-established relationships will be a keystone.

“I am on a mission from Mother Jones, Sojourner Truth, Cesar Chavez, and Joe Hill to co-create a vision for the Labor Heritage Foundation that keeps us at the cultural heartbeat of the labor movement,” said Bryant. “We made some progress in the past four years, but we need to be with the boots on the ground. We don’t want to just sing to ourselves. We want to be on the picket lines, at the marches, and in the training rooms to imagine, create, and organize for social and economic justice.”

Like any process of retrenchment and renewal, our first year will be devoted to assessing our capacity and organizing our staff and resources to work more effectively. Our second year will see expanded outreach, fundraising, database development, and artist education and support.

By the time we head into our third year, we expect to expand our positive impact on the labor movement and connect with our international allies in the arts.

The YouTube of Labor Arts

We are working with our webmaster to become fully digital and connected through social media. We plan to revamp our website and update our publication, “America’s Labor Landmarks,” which we hope to have available in hard copy as well as online. We hope to become the YouTube of progressive labor arts. And we hope our union family will come to our website for inspiration and products that advance the rich legacy of organized labor.

We have already sent our first appeal letter to friends of the LHF, to update our website and digital capabilities. If everyone who reads this sends $20, we will meet our goal.

Arts are entrenched in the labor movement, and have been throughout its history. This can mean creating puppets for picket lines, staging protest plays, or singing songs of self-determination—all ways we make our struggles heard.

The LHF preserves the voices of the past and fosters the new voices of the future. To join in the fun and see how you can be part of something amazing, visit us at www.laborheritage.org.

Matt Losak and Larry Smoot are members of the LHF Outreach Committee for 2013-14.