SPACE Gallery Workers in Portland Unionize with UAW

Staff at the SPACE Gallery in Portland announced on Friday that the organization voluntarily recognized their new union with United Auto Workers Local 2110 Technical, Office, and Professional Union. The 21 staff workers filed to join UAW 2110 on February 27 and received voluntarily recognition shortly thereafter. SPACE is a nonprofit organization that supports contemporary arts projects, champions artists, and encourages an open exchange of ideas.

"We are thrilled to now be in the same union local as our neighbors the Portland Museum of Art, as well as some of the most esteemed arts institutions throughout the northeast, including Mass MoCA, the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the Museum of Modern Art (NYC), Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Guggenheim, The Shed, Film Forum, the Hispanic Society Museum and Library, The Whitney Museum of American Art, the New Museum, and many others," the unionized staff said in a statement. "Our decision to unionize is a reflection of our institutional values and principles at SPACE and a natural step forward for our nearly 25-year-old nonprofit organization. We believe that joining UAW 2110 will only strengthen SPACE, solidify our future, and ensure we continue presenting arts, artists, and ideas for years to come. It is significant to us all to be joining the wider labor movement now, at a time when so many creative spaces and institutions are under attack.

"At SPACE, we are a staff of creative and passionate people," the statement continued. "We care deeply about where we work, the artists we present, the audiences we serve, and the community we stand with. We host 200+ events per year, and are unified in our desire to ensure that SPACE endures as a premier arts institution in Maine’s largest city. We are excited to embark on this new era together. Our member-supported model fuels our work and will directly help support our labor. We encourage you to become a SPACE member and stand in solidarity with us."

“This moment of unionization at SPACE reflects the care, creativity, and commitment that define the organization’s next evolution,” said Amy Parker, SPACE’s Board President. “The Board of Directors stands with staff and leadership as we embrace this as an opportunity for deeper collaboration and continued growth. We are proud to support SPACE as it evolves into an even more equitable and inspiring place — where staff, artists, audiences, and supporters can all flourish and feel a meaningful sense of community.”

“Workers, artists, and our audiences are the triad at the heart of everything we do at SPACE Gallery, and the union structure will be a way to embed people power in the bedrock of our workplace,” said Kelsey Halliday Johnson, SPACE’s Executive Director. “I admire everyone involved with SPACE and the staff’s care, intention, and solidarity. We look forward to working together to ensure our workplace reflects shared values of creativity, equity, and mutual respect that each of us brings to our daily work."