At Work: The Art of California Labor

Many Californians are aware of San Francisco's 1934 General Strike, but probably few realize to what degree labor movements shaped the state's political and social climate. Even fewer know of the copious art that both inspired and reflected California's labor struggles throughout the 20th century.

"There was a time when all the famous artists in California made art about labor," explains Mark D. Johnson, professor of art at San Francisco State University. A mid-century backlash, however, including the persecution of labor sympathizers in the McCarthy era, has all but erased from public memory the very "vast and compelling" art surrounding the labor movements, he says. Collaborating with arts, history and labor organizations, Johnson has helped organize an important new exhibition to recover that spirited history as well as recognize today's artists who deal with labor themes.

Gathering more than 100 recent and historical pieces, At Work: The Art of California Labor is the first major show to survey the vast range of California labor art in the past century. At Work's origial debut included two collaborative exhibits, one at San Francisco State University and the other at the California Historical Society; a lavishly illustrated book; and a series of lectures and special events. A series of exhibit tours are being coordinated by the California Exhibition Resources Alliance (CERA). Please note that this is a tentative schedule, that not all portions of the whole show will be going to all venues, and that additional venues remain to be booked.

First show at California Historical Society January 9, 2004
May 10, 2004 to July 5, 2004 - Corona Public Library, Heritage Room, Corona
July 22, 2004 to Sept. 5, 2004 - Tulare Historical Museum, Tulare
Sept. 27, 2004 to Nov. 22, 2004 - San Joaquin County Historical Museum, Lodi
Feb. 14, 2005 to April 11, 2005 - El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument,, Los Angeles
April 25, 2005 to June 20, 2005 - Hayward Area Historical Society, Hayward
Sept. 12, 2005 to Nov. 7, 2005 - William D. Cannon Art Gallery, Carlsbad
Nov. 21, 2005 to Jan. 16, 2006 - Museum of History & Art, Ontario
Jan. 30, 2006 to March 27, 2006 - Chico Museum, Chico
April 10, 2006 to June 5, 2006 - Old Courthouse Museum, Santa Ana
Aug. 28, 2006 to Oct. 23, 2006 - Community Memorial Museum, Yuba City

A companion book, At Work: The Art of California Labor (California Historical Society Press and Heyday Books, Fall 2003), edited by SFSU art professor Mark D. Johnson, presents numerous color plates from the exhibit along with commentary by eminent artists and scholars. At Work: The Art of California Labor is organized by the California Historical Society, the California Labor Federation AFL-CIO, the SF Labor Council, and San Francisco State University. Major funding for At Work was generously provided by the James Irvine Foundation, The Walter and Elise Haas Fund and San Francisco State University.

For more information on ordering the catalog, see the Heyday Press website

Images from the exhibit and catalog - top, Richard V. Correll's "For Labor's Right to Organize," 1934; middle, Lincoln Cushing's "Fiftieth National Bourgeois Art Exhibit," 1981; bottom, detail from Domingo Ulloa's "Painters On Strike," 1948.

More Labor art links-
Database of American Labor Graphics project
Labor art exhibits at the UC Berkeley Institute of Industrial Relations
Research portal on Labor Culture

return to Docs Populi