Public Exhibit to Feature Jay Strike Artwork & Celebrating People’s History Series in Lewiston
The Charles A. Scontras Center for Labor and Community Education will open an exhibit in Lewiston on Thursday January 11 featuring 180 posters from the Celebrate People's History Series and a new poster celebrating the Jay Paperworkers' strike of 1987-’88. The exhibit will also feature artifacts from the strike, including buttons, t-shirts, posters, books, and ephemera. The public exhibit will be free and open to the public and runs from January 11th to February 20th 2024, weekdays from 8am to 4:30pm in the Atrium Gallery at Lewiston-Auburn Campus.
The official opening reception for the exhibit will be on Friday January 19, from 6-8pm. It will feature special guests Elizabeth Jabar, printmaker and artist who created a new poster specifically for the exhibit, Michael Hillard, USM labor historian and author of Shredding Paper: The Rise and Fall of Maine's Mighty Paper Industry, Peter Kellman, life-long union leader and labor educator, union leaders from the United Paperworkers' International Union strike, and other special guests. Snacks and wine served. For more information and to register here.
Union members, leaders, and delegates to the Maine AFL-CIO Convention in Lewiston are invited to join us for a "sneak peek" of the exhibit and tour by the organizers Wednesday, January 10, from 5-7pm.
Elizabeth Jabar is a printmaker who explores a range of personal-political issues in her work including cultural identity, representation, equity and maternal ethics. Her practice is located in the studio, the classroom and the community where she co-creates collaborative and participatory projects with students, colleagues and community members. Jabar has generously worked with the exhibit organizers, union members, and paperworkers to create a new Celebrate People's History poster. She is also the granddaughter of Textile Workers Union of America leader George Jabar, who headed the Maine CIO before it merged with the AFL in 1956.