Labor and Immigration Artists A Resource Guide

Today, the museum’s mission is to honor the legacy of the home and of the family who built it and opened it the striking workers by advancing public understanding of the history of work,

Labor and Immigration Artists: A Resource Guide

Prepared by Jesse Connor

American Labor Museum – Botto House National Landmark

83 Norwood StreetHaledon, NJ 07508(973) 595-7953www.labormuseum.netlabormuseum@aol.com

Rodrigo Lara Zendejas

Ricardo Levins Morales

The Pietro and Maria Botto House in Haledon, New Jersey, is a National Historic

Landmark which was opened to the public in 1983 as the non-profit American Labor Museum Built in 1908 by Italian immigrants who had been drawn to the Paterson area to work in the silk industry, the home – with its second floor balcony and hilltop location – became an ideal rallyingground for striking silk workers organized by the International Workers of the World in 1913 Today, the museum’s mission is to honor the legacy of the home and of the family who built it and opened it the striking workers by advancing public understanding of the history of work, workers and the labor movement throughout the world, with special attention to the ethnicity and

immigrant experience of American workers

This guide presents a selection of contemporary visual artists whose work focuses on these very themes of labor and immigration The artists are separated into two categories: those who have had their work previously exhibited at the American Labor Museum, and those who have not Featuring a short biography, contact information, and a work sample for each artist, this guide will serve to both facilitate the museum in its continuing mission to book relevant and interesting exhibits Additionally, this guide has been made available to the public in order to help raise the profile of these talented artists, and to facilitate museum visitors who wish to learn more about them

Mike Alewitz

Mike Alewitz is a renowned muralist and labor activist For three decades he has been active in movements for peace and social justice A student leader at Kent State University in Ohio, he was a railroad worker, machinist, and sign-painter before earning an MFA from

Massachusetts College of Art in 1983 Since the early 1980s, he has painted murals for the United Farm Workers, Local P-9 of the United Food and Commercial Workers, the United Mine Workers Union, and many others He has painted murals in Nicaragua and Chernobyl, and has been involved in a close collaboration with working-class movements in Mexico He teaches mural painting at Central Connecticut State University and is the artistic director of the Labor Art

and Mural Project – RoGallery and Monthly Review Press

Website: http://www.alewitz.com

Email: alewitz@comcast.net

Marilyn Anderson

Marilyn Anderson is an artist, photographer and author She originally comes from Oregon and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago She then spent time in Mexico and Guatemala, subsequently receiving her BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology and MFA from the Visual Studies Workshop/SUNY Buffalo For 16 years she worked as a visual arts mentor at SUNY Empire State College, in Rochester, NY

Since the 70s, she has produced publications, including Backstrap Weaving (co-authored with Barbara Tabor), Guatemalan Textiles Today and Granddaughters of Corn (co-authored with Jonathan Garlock) Over the years, she has received a number of grants and fellowships and has had many exhibits of her photographs She continues her photography, produces block prints, paintings and publications as she works on further projects about Maya arts traditions She also

co-directs the Pro Arte Maya education project for children in Guatemala – Personal Website

Website: http://www.proartemaya.org/

Contact: http://www.proartemaya.org/about/contact

Michael Anthony

Born and raised in northern New Jersey, Michael studied the visual arts at Fairleigh Dickinson University After graduation, he taught school in Paterson and later worked in a textilemill In subsequent years, Michael continued to photograph the American scene and founded several companies, including a children’s book publishing firm He is now fully dedicated to photography and design with special emphasis on raising awareness of our beautiful yet fragile environment through his Earthography® Images series

His book Mill Ends - A Photo Recollection chronicles the waning days of the textile

industry in Paterson, New Jersey Shot in the 1970s, the photographs capture the workers, the mill and the surrounding industrial neighborhood as they were: stark, gritty and raw The

American Labor Museum / Botto House National Landmark exhibited the photographs presented

in this book – Personal Website

Website: http://www.circlemstudios.com/index.html

Email: michael@circlemstudios.com

David Bacon is a journalist and photographer He is an associate editor at Pacific News Service and a regular contributor to The Nation, The Progressive, Z, The American Prospect, andthe L.A Weekly His photographs documenting the lives of the workers discussed in the book were recently exhibited at the Oakland Museum of California as well as in Germany and Great

Britain – University of California Press

Website: http://dbacon.igc.org/index.htm

Email: dbacon@igc.apc.org

Donna Berger

Donna Berger is an award-winning Illustrator, Artist, Designer and Marketing Consultant

As one of three artists-in-residence, her studio is at the Chelmsford Center for the Arts, formerly The Old Town Hall This is where she creates Illustrations and Designs for Picture Books and Children’s Publications, Design and Marketing materials for Business Clients and Fine Art for individual commissions She generally uses a digitizing tablet and creative software on a

Macintosh computer for the children’s book illustrations and business work, and traditional

drawing and paint materials for her fine art projects – Personal Website

Website: http://www.donnaberger.com/

Email: Donna@donnaberger.com

“The Mill Girls” – Three Dimensional display

Pamela Calore

Having grown up within the world of trucking my work has a strong documentary

dimension and strives to highlight the importance of the working class in society today My current focus is an investigation into the transportation industry along the NAFTA trade route

By using the mediums of collage, painting, video and installation, I hope to reflect social and

cultural attitudes towards labor issues in the United States, Canada and Mexico – Personal

Website

Website: http://www.pamelacalore.com/

Email: pam@drawingacrossthelines.org

Carol Condé and Karl Beveridge

Canadian artists Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge moved to New York City in 1969, andsoon were at the centre of the burgeoning conceptual art movement In 1975, they joined the Art

& Language journal The Fox (with Joseph Kosuth and Ian Burn) and picketed the Museum of Modern Art to protest its lack of inclusion of women artists, while critiquing the apolitical minimalism of Donald Judd This ferment culminated in a major museum show, It’s Still

Privileged Art, at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 1976, just prior to the artists’ return to Toronto in

1977 By the late 1970s, Condé and Beveridge drew a focus on various issues that were urgent within the trade union movement Their method of working dialogically with their subjects was invented for the landmark 1981 project Standing Up, and has been refined in numerous

subsequent collaborations Equally, and congruent with the artists’ commitment to accessibility, their work has been displayed in a host of non-art and public settings, such as union halls,

billboards, bus shelters and bookworks The artists continue to work and live in Toronto –

Personal Website

Website: http://condebeveridge.ca/

Email: condebev@web.net

Martin J Desht

Martin J Desht began documenting urban post-industrialism in 1989 Born in Allentown,Pennsylvania, he is the grandson of Czech and Polish immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island and took work in Pennsylvania’s anthracite mines For many years he lived within sight and sound ofsteel mills and assembly lines, which led to a keen awareness of industrial culture, particularly in

Philadelphia and rural Pennsylvania His exhibit Faces From An American Dream documents

America’s economic transition from industrial manufacturing to service and information in the late twentieth century Of importance is how this transition redefined the American industrial city

and what impact it had on the American dream for skilled and unskilled workers – Artist’s

Statement

Phone: (610) 253-7753 (circa 1997)

“Former Garment Worker” from Faces From An American Dream

Earl Dotter

Earl Dotter has been photographing Americans workers on the job for over forty years His lifetime commitment to documenting their stories has made Dotter the American worker’s

“Poet Laureate.” Beginning in the Appalachian coalfields in the early 1970′s to the present time,

he has put a human face on those who labor, often in dangerous and unhealthy conditions He follows in the humanistic tradition of such great American documentary photographers as Jacob

Riis, Lewis Hine, Dorothea Lange, and W Eugene Smith – Personal Website

Website: http://earldotter.com/

Email: earldotter@verizon.net

Joseph E.B Elliott

Joseph E B Elliott is professor of photography at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania He holds an MFA from Pratt Institute Aware of the decline and imminent demise

of many integrated steel mills in the United States and fascinated by their monumental

architecture, machinery, and the culture of work, Joseph Elliott photographed the mills in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, from 1989 until final shutdown Working with historian Lance Metz,

he amassed more than 1,000 large format photographs and hundreds of archival images and documents, in an effort to preserve a record of the development, workings, and human

dimensions of an integrated steel plant typical of machine age America – The University of

Chicago Press

Website: http://www.muhlenberg.edu/main/academics/art/faculty/elliott.html

Email: elliott@muhlenberg.edu

Kathleen Farrell

My art practice has combined creating community based public art murals, oil paintings, mosaics and sculptures with organizing Friends of Community Public Art (www.fcpaonline.org)

I strongly believe that visual art can have a profound effect on the way a population feels about itself, which ultimately can transform the collective culture of that group The community and labor union public art I create tell the often forgotten stories of the lives of ordinary people, their history, struggles and hopes My artistic style combines realistic elements inspired by the Italian Renaissance with imaginative compositions and color schemes I developed the tall mosaic covered column to support life-size sculptures In both cases I strive to create a modern form of

realism to which people respond – Personal Website

Website: http://www.kathleenfarrell.org/

Email: farrellartstudio@sbcglobal.net

Thomas Germano

Thomas Germano received his Associates Degree in Art from Nassau Community College in 1983 He then went on to study painting and art history at Cornell University earning his bachelor's degree in Fine Arts in 1985 After building a portfolio and working in the field for two years, he received a scholarship to Yale University to study painting with William Bailey andBernard Chaet at the Yale School of Art, receiving his Master’s Degree in Fine Art with a

concentration in painting in 1989 Thomas Germano has exhibited his art throughout the United States and abroad and his work is in numerous public and private collections including Arthur Andersen International Headquarters, St Paul, IL, Brown and Forman, Louisville, KY, AmericanPostal Workers Union in Washington D.C and the George Meany Center, Silver Springs,

Maryland He lives and paints in New York – Personal Website

Website: http://www.thomasgermano.com/

Email: thomas@thomasgermano.com

Juan Giraldo

Juan Giraldo was born in Colombia and raised in New Jersey, to be specific in Paterson, that is, in working class New Jersey He comes from a family of laborers; he learned the value of hard work from both his parents He is among the first members of his family to attend college I met Juan a little over four years ago; since then we have established a dialogue about art and art making, about the place of the artist in the world and the significance of identity in this process Ihave seen him grow as a young man and as an artist He has learned to stand firm against the familial narcissism of so much of contemporary photography His artistic sources, or rather his aesthetic family consists of Goya and Daumier, the political Picasso of the 1930s, the Mexican

muralists, the FSA photographers and the great Eugene Smith –Personal Website

Website: http://juangiraldophotography.com/

Email: juan@juangiraldophotography.com

Robert Gumpert

Robert Gumpert is a California-based photographer with extensive international

experience, documents social issues and institutions, including service and industrial work, jails and the criminal justice system, and emergency rooms and paramedics His collaborative Take A

Picture/Tell a Story project in the San Francisco County jails exchanges inmates’ portraits for their stories He has also created abstract art from the textures and colors of the bridges, walls,

highway supports, and fallen leaves of London and San Francisco –Personal Website

women’s empowerment, and social realities She draws from her identity as a woman of myriad

humanistic and cultural influences Holder’s awareness of self and the American social landscape

yields an engaging view on life and diversity in America – Personal Website

Website: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/robin-holder.html

Email: Robinholder3@verizon.net

John Jordan

The act of making a photograph is different to each individual person In any

environment, quiet observation and a sharp eye will see something worthy to capture Traveling throughout the world has afforded me the opportunity to experience the nuances of many

cultures For it, I have a more acute understanding of the true "new global society" that

continually shrinks in size As the process of communication becomes more sophisticated and

readily available, responsibility for what is communicated becomes more paramount Pictures, regardless of capture medium, need to be well crafted and most importantly true to content It is

my hope that my images will serve in a positive manner that allows each culture to retain what makes it unique and permits all to value each other

address an audience beyond the gallery and museum visitors – Whitney Museum of American

Art

Website: http://www.essexstreet.biz/artist/lonidier

Email: flonidier@ucsd.edu

Sampling from the installation “NAFTA… Returns to Tijuana”

Portrait of Sol Stein

David Parker

Since 1992, I have pursued dual careers: working as an occupational physician and epidemiologist in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and photographing children working, labor

conditions, and public health problems around the world My work has been widely exhibited in

museums throughout North America I have written and photographed three books: Stolen

Dreams: Portraits of Working Children (Lerner Publications, 1998), and By These Hands: Portraits from the Factory Floor, (Minnesota Historical Society, 2002) A third book, Before Their Time: The World of Child Labor, was published in early 2007 I have also written almost

75 scientific manuscripts and reports, and am recipient of the Christopher Award for work

affirming the highest values of the human spirit – Personal Website

freedom Forever etched in his memory are an infinite number of untold stories of individuals who toiled tirelessly to attain freedom Many events were recounted by noted historians,

genealogists and descendants while they traveled through, Maryland, Delaware, New York, and Canada; retracing the steps of many who went before them on this route to freedom The wealth

of personal experiences and detailed information obtained is the foundation of this series or

artworks – Personal Website

the Center for Creative Photography and other distinguished institutions around the world – The

Rogovin Collection

Website: http://www.miltonrogovin.com

Email: markrogovin@gmail.com

Miriam Romais

Miriam Romais is a New York based photographer, curator and director for En Foco, Inc Her dual nationality (U.S.–Brazil) and fluency in both Portuguese and English has given her an insight into the two cultures, and become an important part of her artistic and socio-documentaryexplorations Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the U.S and

abroad, and is part of the book, video and HBO project, Americanos: Latino Life in the United

States (Little Brown & Co, 1999) – Personal Website

Website: http://www.romaisphotos.com

Contact via: http://www.romaisphotos.com/CONTACT/index.html

Guy Saldanha

Guy Saldanha is gathering remnants of a quickly-disappearing America through

photography His photographs tell the stories of "hard rock miners who unearth the metals for electronics; weavers who thread the looms for mass-market fabrics; and butchers who slaughter the livestock for fast food and supermarket chains," according to the preface he wrote for his exhibit, “Gathering Remnants.” Saldanha's inspiration for the exhibit stemmed from the fact that

he had never traveled in the United States before and it was a way to see America's historic labor

sites as an older way of life that was quickly disappearing – The Bowdoin Orient

Email: gsaldanh@bowdoin.edu

Gary Schoichet

Every day for more than 35 years I have photographed something From the flurry of a strike or a demonstration of people calling for their rightful rights to a simple still life of a child'slost glove or a flower bursting into color, a day without a photograph is like not having my morning coffee For the last 20 years I have worked for labor unions and non-profits whose work

I admire I like to think that when I photograph people I see who they are, not who I want them

to be Each assignment, each photograph is new No matter how mundane the speaker at the

podium, the people talking around the table I look for what is different – Personal Website

Website: http://garyschoichet.com/

Email: GarySchoichet@RCN.com

Donna Bogosto Kearns

Donna lives in Pittsburgh, PA and her concentration has been examining the intuitive aspects of color for over 25 years She expresses her style by focusing on how each of us is affected by color's emotional characteristics She is a multidiscipline artist, consultant, lecturer and teacher who's focus is visually translating words, emotions, and responses into the

fundamental language of color Throughout Kearns' career she has worked in a variety of media Kearns began her work as a painter but was quickly drawn to a more tactile medium beginning her longtime career with glass, a material dictated by color Her work is throughout the US, UK, and Australia Kearns has numerous pieces in private collections and has exhibited solo as well

as in group exhibits – Personal Website

Website: http://dbkcolorstudio.com

Email: dbkstudio@gmail.com

“Heartbeat of the Quench” – Stained glass at United Steelworkers Headwuarters

Eric Breitenbach

Eric Breitenbach has been a still photographer for over thirty years and a filmmaker for

more than fifteen His still photographs have appeared in such publications as The New York

Times Magazine, Newsweek, Details, Doubletake, Information Week, Labor’s Heritage, Essence,

and Orlando magazines He has had over 20 solo exhibitions of his photographs throughout the

US and is represented in the permanent collections of the Duke University Center For

Documentary Studies, The Carpenter Center at Harvard University, The San Francisco Museum

of Modern Art, the Ogden Museum of Art, The Norton Gallery of Art, The Southeast Museum ofPhotography, and the corporate collections of Cincinnati Bell and The Polaroid Corporation –

Personal Website

Website: http://ericbreitenbach.com/

Email: ericbreitenbach@cfl.rr.com

“Child Harvesting Greens” from Photographs of Florida Workers

Tania Bruguera

Tania Bruguera was born in 1968 in Havana, Cuba Bruguera, a politically motivated performance artist, explores the relationship between art, activism, and social change in works that examine the social effects of political and economic power By creating proposals and aesthetic models for others to use and adapt, she defines herself as an initiator rather than an author, and often collaborates with multiple institutions as well as many individuals so that the full realization of her artwork occurs when others adopt and perpetuate it Advancing the concept

of arte útil (literally, useful art; art as a benefit and a tool), she proposes solutions to

sociopolitical problems through the implementation of art, and has developed long-term projects that include a community center and a political party for immigrants, and a school for behavior

art – Art21.org

Website: http://www.taniabruguera.com/

Contact via: http://www.taniabruguera.com/cms/88-0-CONTACT+FORM.htm

“General Strike” – Participative mural painting

Christopher Cardinale

Christopher Cardinale is a cartoonist and muralist He grew up in five states from Ohio toNew Mexico While living in Guatemala and Mexico his work was inspired by encampments of striking workers and anarchist punk collectives He has been publishing comics since 2001 whenhis first graphic narrative appeared in World War 3 Illustrated Magazine Since 1996, Christopherhas collaborated on and led large-scale mural projects in a diverse range of communities in New Mexico, New York City, Italy, Greece and Mexico His work addresses such diverse themes as labor organizing history, cyclist and pedestrian rights, post-Katrina New Orleans and urban

environmentalism – Personal Website

Website: http://christophercardinale.com/

Email: info@christophercardinale.com

“Celebrate People’s History – Primo Tapia de la Cruz” – Print

Nora Chapa Mendoza

Nora Chapa Mendozahas worked for more than 40 years as a full time visual artist, a painter who served the state as a member of the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, for 10 years and continues to find time to educate and mentor young people through a variety of