The Great Labor Arts Exchange is an annual arts festival in Silver Spring, Maryland, which celebrates the labor history of the United States as well as preserves, advances and promotes the culture of the American labor movement. In June 1979, Joe Glazer, a composer, musician and educator active in the American labor movement, invited 14 other labor musicians to the

George Meany Center for Labor Studies The National Labor College was a college for union members and their families, union leaders and union staff in Silver Spring, Maryland. Established as a training center by the AFL–CIO in 1969 to strengthen union member education and organizin ...

in Silver Spring to share labor-related musical and written compositions, and to discuss the effective use of music, song, poetry and chants in labor activism. The three-day event became an annual one, becoming known as the Great Labor Arts Exchange (GLAE). Over the next five years, the concept of "labor culture" and how the labor movement and the arts interacted which Glazer and others held expanded. In 1984, Glazer incorporated the

Labor Heritage Foundation The Labor Heritage Foundation is a non-profit organization which preserves and disseminates information and artifacts about the labor history of the United States. History The genesis of the Labor Heritage Foundation was in June 1979. Joe Glazer, ...

as a parent body for GLAE as well as to curate and promote the culture of the American labor movement. GLAE remains the largest and most prominent program of the Labor Heritage Foundation. The festival now includes a variety of artistic and cultural endeavors, such as cartooning, painting, film, puppetry, street theater, and photography. GLAE participants have included singer Pete Seeger, artist

Ralph Fasanella Ralph Fasanella (September 2, 1914 – December 16, 1997) was an American self-taught painter whose large, detailed works depicted urban working life and critiqued post-World War II America. Early life Ralph Fasanella was born to Joseph and Ginev ...

, photographer

Earl Dotter Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

and poet

Chris Llewellyn Christopher Mark Llewellyn (born 28 August 1979) is a Welsh football coach and former professional footballer who is currently manager of the Swansea City Ladies. He has made over 350 appearances in the Football League for Norwich City, Bri ...

. The Labor Heritage Foundation began presenting the

Joe Hill Award The Joe Hill Award is awarded annually at the Great Labor Arts Exchange by The Labor Heritage Foundation. The award is named for Joe Hill, a radical songwriter, labor activist and member of the Industrial Workers of the World. He was executed for ...

in 1989. The award, given during GLAE, honors individuals for a body of work in the field of labor culture.

References

*"Creative Workers Can Spark Organizing Drives." ''UAW Solidarity.'' May 2000. *Dunaway, David King. ''How Can I Keep from Singing: Pete Seeger.'' New York City: McGraw-Hill Cos., 1981. *Foner, Philip S. and Schulz, Reinhard. ''The Other America: Art and the Labour Movement in the United States.'' London, England: Pluto Press, 1985.
"Labor's Troubadour: Joe Glazer and Collector Records." Smithsonian Global Sound.
Smithsonian Institution. Accessed Jan. 25, 2007. *Martin, Douglas. "Joe Glazer, 88, a Singer and Songwriter for Labor." ''New York Times.'' September 21, 2006.

External links

Labor Heritage Foundation
History of labor relations in the United States Labor studies organizations based in the United States Arts organizations based in Maryland National Labor College Festivals in Maryland Working-class culture in Maryland Silver Spring, Maryland (CDP) {{US-arts-org-stub