BUFFALO ARTISTS FEATURED IN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBIT

The Workers Arts and Heritage Centre of Hamilton, Ontario is hosting an exhibition of artwork created by Buffalo-area health care workers who are members of 1199 SEIU.  A reception to open the exhibition will be held on May 1, 2007 from 7 pm to 10 pm.  The featured artwork is a compilation of photographs and writings created by workers to document their jobs, families, and daily lives over several years and published by Regan/HarperCollins in the 2006 book Unseenamerica.  

“What is wonderful about this exhibit is that it showcases the routine yet remarkable duties health care workers perform day-to-day,” said Jim Crampton of the Bread and Roses Cultural Project.

1199SEIU members received cameras from the Bread and Roses Cultural Project, in addition to taking photography classes with Lauren Tent from Buffalo’s CEPA Gallery.  Bread and Roses was founded in 1979 to explore creativity and enhance access to the arts for 1199SEIU members who might be more familiar with the arts of dressing wounds and comforting patients. 

“Even though you feel you might not be an artist, you actually are,” said Robin Snell, an 1199SEIU member at Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital and photographer.
 
The exhibition coincides with May Day, an annual celebration of workers and workers’ rights on May 1.

The Unseenamerica, Our View exhibit will run through the end of August 2007.

The Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, housed in the historic Custom Building, located at 51 Stuart Street in Hamilton, seeks to preserve and celebrate the contemporary and historical experiences of working people from diverse backgrounds through artwork and exhibitions.

The Workers Arts and Heritage Centre is an independent non-profit charity, unique in its effort to communicate the heritage of Canadian workers and their unions, reflecting the broad cultural and racial diversity of Canada and the role of women.

1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East, is the state’s largest organization of healthcare workers, with 18,000 members throughout upstate New York and more than 260,000 members in the Northeast.

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With 350,000 members in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland and Washington D.C., 1199 SEIU is the largest and fastest growing healthcare union in the country. Our mission is to achieve affordable, high quality healthcare for all.