Pressing Issues: Printmaking as Social Justice in 1930s United States reception
Chazen Museum of Art 750 University Ave., Madison, Wisconsin 53706
courtesy Krannert Art Museum
Chet La More, 'Civilians,' ca. 1937. Allocated by the US Government, commissioned through the New Deal art projects.
Chet La More's 'Civilians,' 1937, was commissioned through the New Deal's art projects.
The New Deal-era Works Progress Administration sent millions back to work during the Great Depression — including many visual artists. While many works were designed to help lift people’s spirits, others documented American life during hard times; the lithographs collected in “Pressing Issues: Printmaking as Social Justice in 1930s United States” mostly feature the latter thematic focus. Curator Kathryn Koca Polite (from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Krannert Art Museum, home of the exhibition’s first incarnation) says some tap into “surrealist nightmare fuel.” That sounds appropriate for our current moment as well. Read Chali Pittman’s exhibition preview here. A reception takes place from 5-7 p.m. on Oct. 8, with a talk by UW School for Workers faculty members Ericka Wills and Alexia Kulwiec; register at eventbrite.com.
media release: During the Great Depression, visual artists in the United States were put to work through the relief efforts of the New Deal to provide a living wage and to bolster the spirits of the American public. Many used the opportunity to portray everyday life in the United States through images of modern and rural landscapes, leisure activities, and industrial growth, while others directed attention to economic toil and key social issues. Pressing Issues brings together work by artists who, through their art, produced radical critical commentaries on the social injustices plaguing the country in their time.
Curated by Kathryn Koca Polite, organized by the Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Sponsored in part by Illinois’ College of Fine and Applied Arts, the International Fine Print Dealers Association, and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art.
Support at the Chazen provided in part by the Anonymous Fund.
Related talk: Rendering Visible, by Dana Landress, 5 pm, Sept. 17. RSVP here.
Curator tour with James Wehn: 5 pm, Sept. 22 and Nov. 17. RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/26253185837
Exhibition celebration 5-7 pm, Oct. 8. RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/26253185837
Join us for an evening of art and dialogue as we celebrate Pressing Issues: Printmaking as Social Justice in 1930s US. The exhibition brings together work by artists who, through their art, produced radical critical commentaries on the social injustices plaguing the country in their time.
The event begins at 5 p.m. with a conversation with Dr. Ericka Wills and Professor Alexia Kulwiec from the UW-Madison School of Workers. Together, they'll bring the perspectives of labor organizing and labor law to the exhibition exploring what has, and hasn't, changed for workers since these prints were made.
The program will continue with a public reception in the Mead Witter Lobby with complimentary appetizers, a cash bar, and a chance to explore the exhibition.
About Dr. Erica Wills:
Dr. Erika Wills holds BA in English and Environmental Studies from Illinois Wesleyan University; MS and PhD in English Studies from Illinois State University. As a labor educator and activist, Dr. Wills has worked on education programs, internal organizing, cross-border solidarity, and building worker power during labor disputes for a variety of workers and their unions, from steelworkers to teachers and miners to flight attendants. She offers courses in labor history, globalization, labor film, union leadership, and other topics, both in-person and online. Her research focuses on promoting diversity and equality in the labor movement; addressing COVID workplace changes; advocating for the needs of women workers; and creating transnational alliances with workers and unions that bring people together across borders.
Professor Alexia Kulwiec
Professor Alexia Kulwiec holds a Juris Doctor, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, L.L.M. University of Arkansas, B.A. in Economics. Alexia previously worked as Chief Counsel to SEIU Local 1 in Chicago, Illinois, and Associate General Counsel at IUOE Local 150 before joining the School for Workers in 2014. In addition to providing labor education programming, Alexia teaches Labor Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School, as well as a Labor and Employment Law survey course. Alexia has also taught Labor Relations at UW-Madison School of Business and Collective Bargaining at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
She is involved in analyzing and contributing to national labor policy through her publications and amicus curiae brief writing before the National Labor Relations Board, and in submitted federal rulemaking comments. She also currently studies labor standards in U.S. agriculture and the food system and has engaged in applied research involving agricultural workers and other essential workers. While always willing to customize courses for local unions or other advocacy groups, Alexia currently offers programs in labor and employment law, wage and hour claims, union organizing campaigns, contract negotiations and interpretation, grievance arbitration, hearings before the NLRB, internal union governance, women’s leadership, employment discrimination, workers’ compensation and workplace related immigration issues.
