some of the speakers and sponsors: (sponsors in bold)
Robert Shetterly and Natasha Mayers, Union of Maine Visual Artists
Maine College of Art (MECA)
Veterans For Peace, Maine Chapter 001
Worker from MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 (Christopher G. Quint Executive Director)
a statement from Charlie Scontras, labor historian
Bruce Gagnon, Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home
Codepink
Rachel Talbot or another representative from NAACP
Jose Joey Lopez, state director, Maine League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Ed Beem, writer, critic, The Forecaster
Rep. Bruce MacDonald, District 61
Lee Sharkey, Poet and Educator
Jeff Young/John Beal, lawyers
David Marshall, Portland city council, artist and art gallery owner
statement from Judy Taylor
The Jim Harney Chapter VFP 003
Aucocisco Gallery
Thursday, March 31, 2011
BATTLE OVER CENSORSHIP OF MAINE MURALS PART OF A LARGER STRUGGLE FOR BASIC RIGHTS AND JUSTICE
The Huffington Post:
Battle Over Censorship of Maine Murals Part of a Larger Struggle for Basic Rights and Justice
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/post_1887_b_842993.html
Battle Over Censorship of Maine Murals Part of a Larger Struggle for Basic Rights and Justice
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/post_1887_b_842993.html
RESCHEDULED PRESS CONFERENCE MONDAY, APRIL 4 AT NOON
RETURN OUR MURAL - RESTORE THE NAMES PRESS CONFERENCE
HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO MONDAY, APRIL 4TH AT NOON.
PLEASE SEE REVISED PRESS RELEASE BELOW FOR FULL DETAILS
All are urged to come one hour early, at 11 AM to attend another related news Conference & Rally, COMMUNITY LEADERS OFFER SOLUTIONS TO BUDGET CUTS
sponsored by The Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home, the Union of Maine Visual Artists, and others.
HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO MONDAY, APRIL 4TH AT NOON.
PLEASE SEE REVISED PRESS RELEASE BELOW FOR FULL DETAILS
All are urged to come one hour early, at 11 AM to attend another related news Conference & Rally, COMMUNITY LEADERS OFFER SOLUTIONS TO BUDGET CUTS
sponsored by The Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home, the Union of Maine Visual Artists, and others.
RESCHEDULED PRESS CONFERENCE!!!
RETURN OUR MURAL!, PRESS CONFERENCE MONDAY APRIL 4, HALL OF FLAGS,STATE HOUSE, AUGUSTA
Return Our Mural! Restore the names!
Press Conference
contact: Robert Shetterly, 326-8459 robert.shetterly@gmail.com
Natasha Mayers, 549-7516 mayersnatasha@gmail.com
Joan Braun, 585-2218 joanhenrybraun@yahoo.com
http://mainelabormural.blogspot.com/
WHEN: Monday April 4, 2011
WHERE: Hall of Flags, State House, Augusta
230 State St.
Augusta, ME 04330
TIME: 12:00 Noon
Artists, labor leaders, civil rights advocates, historians, and concerned citizens will convene in the Hall of Flags to demand the return of the "Maine Labor History" mural to its rightful place in the Maine Department of Labor. Governor Paul Le Page's seizure and hiding of a mural painted for the people of Maine is not merely presumptuous and disrespectful but also illegal and a breach of the state's contract with artist Judy Taylor.
All Mainers who are concerned about this governor's disregard of the rule of law and of the dignity of Maine's workers and their history are invited to attend. All Mainers who believe in supporting art that tells our history and who believe in organizing to defend our rights, please join us.
All are urged to come one hour early, at 11 AM to attend another related news Conference & Rally, COMMUNITY LEADERS OFFER SOLUTIONS TO BUDGET CUTS
sponsored by The Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home, the Union of Maine Visual Artists, and others.
Members of the Union of Maine Visual Artists (including Robert Shetterly and Natasha Mayers)will be on hand during the rally to help the public create images of where they believe our war $$ should be spent in Maine.
some of the speakers and sponsors: (sponsors in bold)
Robert Shetterly and Natasha Mayers, Union of Maine Visual Artists
Maine College of Art (MECA)
Veterans For Peace, Maine Chapter 001
Worker from MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 (Christopher G. Quint Executive Director)
a statement from Charlie Scontras, labor historian
Bruce Gagnon, Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home
Codepink
Rachel Talbot or another representative from NAACP
Jose Joey Lopez, state director, Maine League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Ed Beem, writer, critic, The Forecaster
Rep. Bruce MacDonald, District 61
Lee Sharkey
Jeff Young/John Beal, lawyers
David Marshall, Portland city council, artist and art gallery owner
statement from Judy Taylor
The Jim Harney Chapter VFP 003
Return Our Mural! Restore the names!
Press Conference
contact: Robert Shetterly, 326-8459 robert.shetterly@gmail.com
Natasha Mayers, 549-7516 mayersnatasha@gmail.com
Joan Braun, 585-2218 joanhenrybraun@yahoo.com
http://mainelabormural.blogspot.com/
WHEN: Monday April 4, 2011
WHERE: Hall of Flags, State House, Augusta
230 State St.
Augusta, ME 04330
TIME: 12:00 Noon
Artists, labor leaders, civil rights advocates, historians, and concerned citizens will convene in the Hall of Flags to demand the return of the "Maine Labor History" mural to its rightful place in the Maine Department of Labor. Governor Paul Le Page's seizure and hiding of a mural painted for the people of Maine is not merely presumptuous and disrespectful but also illegal and a breach of the state's contract with artist Judy Taylor.
All Mainers who are concerned about this governor's disregard of the rule of law and of the dignity of Maine's workers and their history are invited to attend. All Mainers who believe in supporting art that tells our history and who believe in organizing to defend our rights, please join us.
All are urged to come one hour early, at 11 AM to attend another related news Conference & Rally, COMMUNITY LEADERS OFFER SOLUTIONS TO BUDGET CUTS
sponsored by The Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home, the Union of Maine Visual Artists, and others.
Members of the Union of Maine Visual Artists (including Robert Shetterly and Natasha Mayers)will be on hand during the rally to help the public create images of where they believe our war $$ should be spent in Maine.
some of the speakers and sponsors: (sponsors in bold)
Robert Shetterly and Natasha Mayers, Union of Maine Visual Artists
Maine College of Art (MECA)
Veterans For Peace, Maine Chapter 001
Worker from MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 (Christopher G. Quint Executive Director)
a statement from Charlie Scontras, labor historian
Bruce Gagnon, Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home
Codepink
Rachel Talbot or another representative from NAACP
Jose Joey Lopez, state director, Maine League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Ed Beem, writer, critic, The Forecaster
Rep. Bruce MacDonald, District 61
Lee Sharkey
Jeff Young/John Beal, lawyers
David Marshall, Portland city council, artist and art gallery owner
statement from Judy Taylor
The Jim Harney Chapter VFP 003
SNOW DATE---SNOW DATE---SNOW DATE--RESCHEDULED PRESS CONFERENCE
RETURN OUR MURAL - RESTORE THE NAMES PRESS CONFERENCE
HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO MONDAY, APRIL 4TH AT NOON. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATED PRESS RELEASE!
HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO MONDAY, APRIL 4TH AT NOON. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATED PRESS RELEASE!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Maine College of Art signs on a sponsor of Friday Press Conference!
Robert Shetterly and Natasha Mayers, Union of Maine Visual Artists
Maine College of Art (MECA)
Veterans For Peace, Maine Chapter 001
Worker from MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 (Christopher G. Quint Executive Director)
a statement from Charlie Scontras, labor historian
Bruce Gagnon, Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home
Codepink ,
Rachel Talbot or another representative from NAACP
Jose Joey Lopez, state director, Maine League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Ed Beem, writer, critic, The Forecaster
Rep. Bruce MacDonald, District 61
Lee Sharkey
Jeff Young/John Beal, lawyers
David Marshall, Portland city council, artist and art gallery owner
statement from Judy Taylor
The Jim Harney Chapter VFP 003
Maine College of Art (MECA)
Veterans For Peace, Maine Chapter 001
Worker from MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 (Christopher G. Quint Executive Director)
a statement from Charlie Scontras, labor historian
Bruce Gagnon, Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home
Codepink ,
Rachel Talbot or another representative from NAACP
Jose Joey Lopez, state director, Maine League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Ed Beem, writer, critic, The Forecaster
Rep. Bruce MacDonald, District 61
Lee Sharkey
Jeff Young/John Beal, lawyers
David Marshall, Portland city council, artist and art gallery owner
statement from Judy Taylor
The Jim Harney Chapter VFP 003
Location of Labor Mural Spurned by Gov. LePage is Divulged
http://www.mpbn.net/News/MPBNNews/tabid/1159/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3762/ItemId/15807/Default.aspx
COMMUNITY LEADERS OFFER SOLUTIONS TO BUDGET CUTS
News Conference & Rally
April 4 Augusta - Hall of Flags
Contact: Bruce Gagnon 443-9502 or Lisa Savage 399-7623
The Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home has announced a news conference and rally inside the Hall of Flags at the capital in Augusta on Monday, April 4 at 11:00 am. The event will be held on the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. – killed exactly one year after his famous anti-Vietnam war speech was delivered.
The National Priorities Project reports that the total debt of all 50 state governments is now $130 billion. The U.S. will spend more than $170 billion on our wars in Iraq-Afghanistan-Pakistan-Libya this year. Maine’s share of war spending since 2001 has been $3.4 billion.
“Governor LePage and President Obama have it all wrong. Cutting taxes as a job creator is a known dead end street. Studies show that jobs are best created by state investment in education and infrastructure. There won’t be much recovery for Maine or any other state though until we Bring Our War $$ Home. We need to stop endless war spending if we hope to continue to support social progress. Interestingly, 65% of the people across the nation now favor withdrawal from Afghanistan, but it’s only going to happen if the public repeatedly demands it,” said Bruce Gagnon of Veterans for Peace.
Speakers at the event will include:
Michael Brennan – Former State Senator and social worker (Portland)
Alexandra Valente and Nicole Moreau – Student activists (UM-Farmington)
El Fadel Arbab – Immigrant advocate, Fur Cultural Revival (Portland)
Dud Hendrick – President, Maine Veterans for Peace (Deer Isle)
Lisa Savage – Public school teacher and CodePink Maine Coordinator (Solon)
Matt Hight – Union member (Biddeford)
Peter Woodruff – Union member (Arrowsic)
Natasha Mayers – Union of Maine Visual Artists (Whitefield)
Music by Raging Grannies
Members of the Union of Maine Visual Artists will be on hand after the rally to help the public create images of where they believe our war $$ should be spent in Maine.
“Nation-wide people are increasingly using the Bring Our War $$ Home message in their local organizing. Resolutions have passed in Deer Isle and Portland, Maine and also in Amherst and Northampton, Massachusetts and just this week in Hartford, Connecticut. Many other communities are considering resolutions right now and Mayor Villaraigosa of Los Angeles has begun to help promote the message to mayors of other hard-hit U.S. cities,” said Lisa Savage coordinator of CodePink Maine.
See the Bring Our War $$ Home campaign web site at: http://www.bringourwardollarshome.org/index.html
April 4 Augusta - Hall of Flags
Contact: Bruce Gagnon 443-9502 or Lisa Savage 399-7623
The Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home has announced a news conference and rally inside the Hall of Flags at the capital in Augusta on Monday, April 4 at 11:00 am. The event will be held on the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. – killed exactly one year after his famous anti-Vietnam war speech was delivered.
The National Priorities Project reports that the total debt of all 50 state governments is now $130 billion. The U.S. will spend more than $170 billion on our wars in Iraq-Afghanistan-Pakistan-Libya this year. Maine’s share of war spending since 2001 has been $3.4 billion.
“Governor LePage and President Obama have it all wrong. Cutting taxes as a job creator is a known dead end street. Studies show that jobs are best created by state investment in education and infrastructure. There won’t be much recovery for Maine or any other state though until we Bring Our War $$ Home. We need to stop endless war spending if we hope to continue to support social progress. Interestingly, 65% of the people across the nation now favor withdrawal from Afghanistan, but it’s only going to happen if the public repeatedly demands it,” said Bruce Gagnon of Veterans for Peace.
Speakers at the event will include:
Michael Brennan – Former State Senator and social worker (Portland)
Alexandra Valente and Nicole Moreau – Student activists (UM-Farmington)
El Fadel Arbab – Immigrant advocate, Fur Cultural Revival (Portland)
Dud Hendrick – President, Maine Veterans for Peace (Deer Isle)
Lisa Savage – Public school teacher and CodePink Maine Coordinator (Solon)
Matt Hight – Union member (Biddeford)
Peter Woodruff – Union member (Arrowsic)
Natasha Mayers – Union of Maine Visual Artists (Whitefield)
Music by Raging Grannies
Members of the Union of Maine Visual Artists will be on hand after the rally to help the public create images of where they believe our war $$ should be spent in Maine.
“Nation-wide people are increasingly using the Bring Our War $$ Home message in their local organizing. Resolutions have passed in Deer Isle and Portland, Maine and also in Amherst and Northampton, Massachusetts and just this week in Hartford, Connecticut. Many other communities are considering resolutions right now and Mayor Villaraigosa of Los Angeles has begun to help promote the message to mayors of other hard-hit U.S. cities,” said Lisa Savage coordinator of CodePink Maine.
See the Bring Our War $$ Home campaign web site at: http://www.bringourwardollarshome.org/index.html
MECA requests LePage to "Put the mural back."
March 30, 2011
Maine College of Art believes that art and artists play a critical role in society. The removal of the mural from the Department of Labor in Augusta illustrates just how powerful art can be: it can incite controversy, galvanize communities, inspire dialogue, and serve as a catalyst for social change.
As part of their arts education at MECA, our students learn to understand and respect process because it is a crucial component of any civil society.
Governor LePage’s demonstrated lack of respect for the process of commissioning artwork is an act of censorship.
In the original call for art, the Department of Labor asked for a mural in which “the value and dignity of workers and their critical role in creating the wealth of the state and nation should be emphasized. In essence, Maine workers should strongly be portrayed as more than an ‘impersonal cost of production.’” It was the responsibility of the art review committee, consisting of representatives from the Department of Labor, to select the proposal which best met these criteria. They selected Judy Taylor who created the site-specific artwork depicting the requested theme.
Four years later, newly elected Governor LePage reacted to the content of the mural calling it “one-sided” and had it removed it from the lobby of the Department of Labor and asked instead for a neutral decor. Art is not decoration, nor is it neutral. It is provocative and should elicit a response from individuals. It is not created to please all who view it. Art, like democracy, allows for differing opinions, for discourse, for expression of personal beliefs.
Art serves as a mirror that reflects a moment in time. This mural captures a piece of history. Governor LePage did not like what he saw. By removing the mural, he smashed that mirror – an attempt to rewrite history.
This public mural is meant for the people of Maine. Maine College of Art requests that Governor LePage respect the process by which the artwork was selected and installed. Put the mural back.
Donald L. Tuski, Ph.D.
President
Maine College of Art
Portland, Maine
This letter appears online at:
http://www.meca.edu/news#meca-responds-to-mural-removal
Maine College of Art believes that art and artists play a critical role in society. The removal of the mural from the Department of Labor in Augusta illustrates just how powerful art can be: it can incite controversy, galvanize communities, inspire dialogue, and serve as a catalyst for social change.
As part of their arts education at MECA, our students learn to understand and respect process because it is a crucial component of any civil society.
Governor LePage’s demonstrated lack of respect for the process of commissioning artwork is an act of censorship.
In the original call for art, the Department of Labor asked for a mural in which “the value and dignity of workers and their critical role in creating the wealth of the state and nation should be emphasized. In essence, Maine workers should strongly be portrayed as more than an ‘impersonal cost of production.’” It was the responsibility of the art review committee, consisting of representatives from the Department of Labor, to select the proposal which best met these criteria. They selected Judy Taylor who created the site-specific artwork depicting the requested theme.
Four years later, newly elected Governor LePage reacted to the content of the mural calling it “one-sided” and had it removed it from the lobby of the Department of Labor and asked instead for a neutral decor. Art is not decoration, nor is it neutral. It is provocative and should elicit a response from individuals. It is not created to please all who view it. Art, like democracy, allows for differing opinions, for discourse, for expression of personal beliefs.
Art serves as a mirror that reflects a moment in time. This mural captures a piece of history. Governor LePage did not like what he saw. By removing the mural, he smashed that mirror – an attempt to rewrite history.
This public mural is meant for the people of Maine. Maine College of Art requests that Governor LePage respect the process by which the artwork was selected and installed. Put the mural back.
Donald L. Tuski, Ph.D.
President
Maine College of Art
Portland, Maine
This letter appears online at:
http://www.meca.edu/news#meca-responds-to-mural-removal
Judy Taylor Statement Maine Labor Mural March 30, 2011
As the artist who created the mural, people ask me how I feel about what's
happening and what I would like to see done. Like many of the people of
Maine, I want to see the mural displayed publicly as it was originally
intended. I want people to see it and connect to Maine's labor history. The
purpose of the mural is historical, the artistic intent to honor. It belongs
to the people of Maine and needs to be accessible to them.
Painting the mural is what I have trained my entire life to do. The theme of
figure and context is what I set out to chronicle in my career as an artist.
In fact, my first painting as a child was of my grandfather on his farm in
Nebraska, in the context of his work and life. I loved seeing my
grandparents work and followed my grandmother all over her farm and rode with
my grandfather as he delivered oil around the state.
I've always had a deep curiosity and passion for my family's history as well
as our nation's history, so when in 2007 I learned that the Maine Arts
Commissions was requesting submissions for a commissioned piece of artwork
detailing the history of labor in Maine, I immediately entered the
competition.
After a competitive process, I was awarded the commission and commenced upon
a year of research, preparation of archival materials, sketches of stories in
context based on historical fact and painting the panels. I added one
personal piece which was to include my mother and father as I had lost both
of them the previous year. My father is the young Army officer and my mother
the little girl in the Frances Perkins panel. My father served as a Forward
Observer during the Korean War and was awarded a Bronze Star. He was a man
who stood by every word he spoke, every letter he wrote. It was so
heartbreaking to learn that this controversy may have started with an
anonymous letter comparing this mural to a North Korean propaganda poster.
Perhaps we should hang my father's Bronze Star for his service in Korea in
the now empty reception area of the Maine Department of Labor until the mural
is returned, as a symbol of the importance of remembering our history, and
not shuttering it away.
happening and what I would like to see done. Like many of the people of
Maine, I want to see the mural displayed publicly as it was originally
intended. I want people to see it and connect to Maine's labor history. The
purpose of the mural is historical, the artistic intent to honor. It belongs
to the people of Maine and needs to be accessible to them.
Painting the mural is what I have trained my entire life to do. The theme of
figure and context is what I set out to chronicle in my career as an artist.
In fact, my first painting as a child was of my grandfather on his farm in
Nebraska, in the context of his work and life. I loved seeing my
grandparents work and followed my grandmother all over her farm and rode with
my grandfather as he delivered oil around the state.
I've always had a deep curiosity and passion for my family's history as well
as our nation's history, so when in 2007 I learned that the Maine Arts
Commissions was requesting submissions for a commissioned piece of artwork
detailing the history of labor in Maine, I immediately entered the
competition.
After a competitive process, I was awarded the commission and commenced upon
a year of research, preparation of archival materials, sketches of stories in
context based on historical fact and painting the panels. I added one
personal piece which was to include my mother and father as I had lost both
of them the previous year. My father is the young Army officer and my mother
the little girl in the Frances Perkins panel. My father served as a Forward
Observer during the Korean War and was awarded a Bronze Star. He was a man
who stood by every word he spoke, every letter he wrote. It was so
heartbreaking to learn that this controversy may have started with an
anonymous letter comparing this mural to a North Korean propaganda poster.
Perhaps we should hang my father's Bronze Star for his service in Korea in
the now empty reception area of the Maine Department of Labor until the mural
is returned, as a symbol of the importance of remembering our history, and
not shuttering it away.
UPDATE TO SPONSORS,SPEAKERS AND SINGERS AT APRIL 1 RALLY IN AUGUSTA
Robert Shetterly and Natasha Mayers, Union of Maine Visual Artists
Veterans For Peace, Maine Chapter 001
Bruce Gagnon, Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home
Codepink ,
Rachel Talbot or another representative from NAACP
Jose Joey Lopez, state director, Maine League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
a statement from Charlie Scontras, labor historian
Ed Beem, writer, critic, The Forecaster
Rep. Bruce MacDonald, District 61
Lee Sharkey
Jeff Young/John Beal, lawyers
Worker from MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 (Christopher G. Quint Executive Director)
David Marshall, Portland city council, artist and art gallery owner
statement from Judy Taylor
The Jim Harney Chapter VFP 003
Veterans For Peace, Maine Chapter 001
Bruce Gagnon, Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home
Codepink ,
Rachel Talbot or another representative from NAACP
Jose Joey Lopez, state director, Maine League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
a statement from Charlie Scontras, labor historian
Ed Beem, writer, critic, The Forecaster
Rep. Bruce MacDonald, District 61
Lee Sharkey
Jeff Young/John Beal, lawyers
Worker from MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 (Christopher G. Quint Executive Director)
David Marshall, Portland city council, artist and art gallery owner
statement from Judy Taylor
The Jim Harney Chapter VFP 003
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Mt Holyoke President sees echoes of totalitarianism in LePage's action
From the Press Herald:
"In a letter faxed to LePage's office, Mount Holyoke College President Lynn Pasquarella said she has "grave concerns" about the decision to remove the mural, which includes a depiction of 1902 Mount Holyoke graduate and former U.S. Labor Secretary Frances Perkins. The U.S Department of Labor in Washington is housed in the Frances Perkins Building, she said.
"I was particularly surprised to read that you were influenced by an anonymous fax comparing the 11-panel mural to North Korean political propaganda, because the act of removing images commemorating Maine's history itself conjures thoughts of rewriting history prevalent in totalitarian regimes," she wrote."
For the entire story, see: http://www.pressherald.com/news/maine-LePage-mural-mount-holyoke-letter.html
"In a letter faxed to LePage's office, Mount Holyoke College President Lynn Pasquarella said she has "grave concerns" about the decision to remove the mural, which includes a depiction of 1902 Mount Holyoke graduate and former U.S. Labor Secretary Frances Perkins. The U.S Department of Labor in Washington is housed in the Frances Perkins Building, she said.
"I was particularly surprised to read that you were influenced by an anonymous fax comparing the 11-panel mural to North Korean political propaganda, because the act of removing images commemorating Maine's history itself conjures thoughts of rewriting history prevalent in totalitarian regimes," she wrote."
For the entire story, see: http://www.pressherald.com/news/maine-LePage-mural-mount-holyoke-letter.html
Go vote in a poll about removing the mural
http://www.pressherald.com/news/labor-art-stashed-at-secret-location_2011-03-29.html
As of 1:50 p.m., 82% of responders think LePage was wrong to remove the mural.
As of 1:50 p.m., 82% of responders think LePage was wrong to remove the mural.
RETURN OUR MURAL!, PRESS CONFERENCE FRIDAY APRIL 1, HALL OF FLAGS,STATE HOUSE, AUGUSTA
Return Our Mural!
Press Conference
contact: Robert Shetterly, 326-8459
Natasha Mayers, 549-7516
Joan Braun, 585-2218
WHEN: MONDAY, April 4, 2011
WHERE: Hall of Flags, State House, Augusta
230 State St.
Augusta, ME 04330
Augusta, ME 04330
TIME: 12:00 Noon
Map data ©2011 Google -
Artists, labor leaders, civil rights advocates, historians, and concerned citizens will convene in the Hall of Flags to demand the return of the "Maine Labor History" mural to its rightful place in the Maine Department of Labor. Governor Paul Le Page's seizure and hiding of a mural painted for the people of Maine is not merely presumptuous and disrespectful but also illegal and a breach of the state's contract with artist Judy Taylor.
All Mainers who are concerned about this governor's disregard of the rule of law and of the dignity of Maine's workers and their history are invited to attend. All Mainers who believe in supporting art that tells our history and who believe in organizing to defend our rights, please join us.
NAACPSponsored by:Union of Maine Visual ArtistsVeterans For Peace, Maine Chapter 001Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home
Call the Governor: Here's how
Here and the phone number and link to Governor LePage's office:
(207) 287-3531
Leave a message on "The People's Comment". You have 2 minutes to speak.
It's been created as a way for citizens to express concerns and comments.
Tell him what you think about his illegal seizing of the mural, breaking Judy Taylor's contract - or anything else.
http://www.maine.gov/governor/lepage/citizen_services/index.shtml
http://www.maine.gov/governor/lepage/citizen_services/index.shtml
"You have nothing to lose but your heritage" Charlie Scontras, Labor Historian
I am saddened that a gifted artist, Judy Taylor, who created these kaleidoscopic images of working Maine men, women and children featured in the Labor Mural, is ensnared in that seething cauldron of political conflict which has been known to claim its own innocent victims.
Judy Taylor is not a “card carrying communist” and her clothing is not draped in pins bearing the hammer and sickle Her work is a pure and innocent depiction of a slice of Maine cultural heritage.
When I first viewed her images of workers, I felt as if I could walk into any of the panels representing desperate workers and interact with them. I sensed the indignities they suffered, their quest for a measure of economic security and dignity, and their cries protection against the arbitrary and capricious actions of their employers.
I could sense the granite cutters going into the bowels of the earth to extract the granite, cut the granite, and polish the granite. I could sense the sweat and pain of those who labored to lay down the ribbons of steel that crisscrossed the state, who built the locomotives that drove over them, and the engineers who piloted them. I could experience the travails of those who penetrated the darkness of the forests to extract its resources and of the men, women, and children who labored in the textile mills where the cry for fresh air could be heard with monotones regularity, and where the hours were so long that it was often said that did not see sunlight for they labored from darkness to darkness.
These are images of those who did and do the work of the world, Those who wove the cloth, made the shoes, harvested the crops, made the ships, loaded and unloaded the ships, and manned the “floating prisons” at sea, and all others who labored to provide the necessities, comforts, conveniences, and services. In short, those who labored in the mills, factories, mines, shops, quarries, etc., who helped to create the wealth of the state.
I was particularly disturbed by the images of child labor. Images of society’s most vulnerable members tethered to the machine and hobbled in their educational and physical health, victimized by the ravenous appetites of their parents or their employers, and doomed to an infinite variety of pathologies which threatened not only their own welfare but also the welfare of the community, provided citizens of the state with a sense of the human costs of unchecked industrial growth and the factory system.
A dramatic example ot the consequences of the search for profit in unbridled unbridled economic order was the Triangle fire of 1911 that we tearfully remember here today. Maine workers knew something of the meaning of that fire. They too labored in multistoried building with out fire escapes. They too knew of doors closed after they entered the workplace. Little wonder that some expressed anxiety about their safety. The First Biennial Report of the Maine Department of Labor and Industry, 1911-1912, was published against the background of the Triangle fire. It stated that it was “folly” to assume that our mills and factories offered workers security against fire. It would appear to be axiomatic that no one be permitted pursue profit at the expense of the health or safety of another.
Looking at these images one is reminded that it was organized labor that helped to create the modern middle class by demanding a greater share of the wealth it helped to create; that it was organized labor that brought democracy to the workplace and provided workers with a voice is shaping the laws and workplace policies under which they labored and which made them citizens at work rather than subjects; and that it was organized labor that insisted a measure of dignity in the workplace rather than treated as impersonal costs of production to be found in the ledger along with taxes, insurance, raw materials, etc. and whose “value” was determined by the “laws” of the market place.
The Labor Mural should remain in the Labor Department. Workers of Maine Unite! You have nothing to lose but your heritage.
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