Organized and presented by the Metropolitan Washington Council of the AFL-CIO, the DC LaborFest features a wide-ranging selection of art about work, workers and workers’ issues.
LABOR FILM POSTER EXHIBIT: May 1-31
INTERIOR MUSEUM MURALS TOUR (NEW!) Tue, May 9
BEN SHAHN WPA FRESCOS/MURALS Thu, May 11, 12 noon
THE STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE: LABOR AT THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY (NEW!) Tues, May 16, 1pm
SOLIDARITY FOREVER AWARDS Fri, May 19, 5:30p
IMAGES OF LABOR IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART Tue, May 23; 1:00
MOST EVENTS ARE FREE; see below for detailed event write-ups and links to purchase tickets or RSVP.
LABOR FILM POSTER EXHIBIT
Weekdays, 9am – 5pm; FREE AFL-CIO, 815 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20005, United States (map)
This exhibition of film posters and stills represents a wide range of Hollywood, independent and foreign films that incorporate workplace and organizing themes. Many of the films presented here have helped bring public attention to important stories about worker safety, the exploitation of immigrant workers, impediments to achieving union recognition and other important issues. Many are also exceptional works of art. The exhibition is selected from a larger collection owned by the DC Labor FilmFest, made possible by the support and generosity of Jules Bernstein.
INTERIOR MUSEUM MURALS TOUR (NEW!)
Tue, May 9, 12:00P, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington DC 20240 FREE but you must RSVP here
Discover the art and architecture that made the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building a "symbol of a new day" during the Great Depression. The Interior Museum Murals Tour lasts an hour and visits 26 photographic murals by Ansel Adams and many of the over forty mural panels painted by artists including Maynard Dixon, Allan Houser, Gifford Beal, and John Steuart Curry.
All adults must present a photo ID and are subject to security screenings, including bag and parcel checks.
BEN SHAHN WPA FRESCOS/MURALS
Thu, May 11, 12 noon; VOA (see below for address details) FREE but you must RSVP here; only those with confirmed RSVPs may attend
Artist Ben Shahn’s stunning frescos -- “The Meaning of Social Security,” “Work, the Family, and Social Security” and “Child Labor, Unemployment, and Old Age” -- are as vibrant and meaningful today as when he created them in 1942. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see these amazing artworks up close. Special bonus: Philip Guston’s huge mural “Reconstruction and the Wellbeing of the Family,” which is not a part of the usual general public tour.
Led by Ron Carver. Thanks also to George Mackenzie at VOA
VOA is at 330 Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20237 but Please enter the building through the entrance on C Street. C Street is on the opposite side of the building from Independence Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets. Tours begin in the lobby of the C Street entrance.
THE STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE: LABOR AT THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY (NEW!)
“The Struggle for Justice” tour showcases the determined men and women, from key nineteenth-century historical figures to contemporary leaders, who struggled to achieve civil rights for disenfranchised or marginalized groups. The hour-long tour features more than forty photographs, paintings, posters, buttons and sculptures, includes portraits of civil rights leaders Frederick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall and Martin Luther King, Jr.; women’s-rights advocates Carrie Chapman Catt and Betty Friedan; Native American activist Leonard Crow Dog; cultural icons Jackie Robinson and singer Marian Anderson; United Farm Workers organizer César Chávez; LGBT rights leader Sylvia Rivera; and Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
SOLIDARITY FOREVER AWARDS
Fri, May 19, 5:30p-7:00p Order tickets here Hosted by the Labor Heritage Foundation
This year’s Solidarity Forever Award goes to Newton B. Jones, president of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, for his outstanding leadership in preserving labor history and culture through the Boilermaker History Preservation Department. In addition to creating award-winning historical documentaries, the Boilermakers honored Betty Reid Soskin, 94, for her Home Front support during World Ward II and her current work at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park and Museum in Richmond, Calif. Soskin is the oldest full-time National Park Ranger in the United States.
Senior Lecturer David Gariff explores the portrayal of work and workers in classic paintings at the National Gallery of Art, including works by Joseph M.W. Turner, Edgar Degas, George Caleb Bingham, Winslow Homer, and George Bellows. A visit to the special exhibition "The Urban Scene: 1920-1950" featuring prints by artists such as Reginald Marsh, as well as lesser-known printmakers who explored the power and anxiety of the modern city, industry, and labor will also be included in the tour.
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