Pro-labor artist, Zach Horn, continued our MLK Day coverage on the America’s Work Force Union Podcast. Horn discussed his art exhibit “The Arc of the Moral Universe,” featuring quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on display at Teamsters Local 25’s Union Hall. He also talked about his grandmother’s work in the labor movement and his two upcoming worker-focused exhibitions.
Horn’s work, “The Arc of the Moral Universe,” was recently put on permanent display in the halls of Teamsters Local 25 in Charlestown, Mass. The exhibit is comprised of over a dozen 7-foot-tall cardboard and ink pieces. The work features images of UPS workers and quotes from Dr. King about his support of unions. Following the Teamsters’ negotiation victory at UPS and the exhibition's success, the art was transferred to Local 25’s Union Hall, where it is permanently displayed to show the success that can be achieved through the power of unions.
Horn talked about the work his grandmother did in the labor movement, including a time she was arrested and spent a night in jail. Several members were arrested during a protest of Philadephia public school teachers who were seeking to organize and earn better protection. As a result of the organizing, the bargaining unit ballooned from 500 members to over 11,000 members in a 10-year period following the organizing campaign.
Horn has two new exhibitions coming in 2024. He will be displaying new pro-union works at museums in Slovenia and Finland. With these works, Horn will add a contemporary story of what labor is like today and provide the historic worker museums with updated images of a working person today. The goal of his art is to take the workers who are looked at as a faceless number by their employers and showcase their struggles and stories, Horn said.
Listen to the show above for more from Horn and his use of Dr. King’s speeches in his pro-labor art exhibit.