The arts prevailed while the current government administration was impaled at the National Labor College’s 30th annual Great Labor Art Exchange on Tuesday.
More than two dozen participants used an array of artistic means to capture their frustrations with the current labor situation in the nation.
Recommended Stories
World War II veteran and New York City resident Julius Margolin began the afternoon with his poem titled “The Bush Legacy” in which he highlighted the errors of the administration. The last lines culminated Margolin’s thoughts saying, “So long old warrior, you’ve killed quite enough. The world will not miss you, we’ve seen through yourbluff. So long old warrior this story I tell, may lead you to thugs and you, roasting in hell.”
Momentum shifted to crafts as Idaho native Karen Newman shared her invention of the “workers wallet,” made entirely from duct tape.
“I am going back to the basics with the way our economy is right now,” Newman said. “We need to get away from the Brazilian leather wallets. This one is union made, it is waterproof, and when it wears out, it is easily fixed by adding more tape.” (She also makes duct tape telephone book covers, ties, and cell phone carriers.)
Other artists turned to cartooning, blues music and improvisational belly dancing to preach the union gospel.
It was tough to top a Monday session, however. That one was titled: “Rhythm Makers’ Union: Rhythm on the Picket Line, Helping the ‘Head’ Make Sense Out of the ‘Tail.’ ”
