2017 Jackson Street

Jackson Street Workers Mural

The following community organizations and unions have supported this project.
PRIMARY SPONSORS- AFT Washington American Federation of Government Employees ,Casa Latina, Cement Masons 528, Electrical Workers of Washington, IBEW 46, Kitsap County Central Labor Council, Machinists District Lodge 751, Pierce County Central Labor Council, Puget Sound SAGE, SEIU HealthCare 1199,NW Society of Prof. Engineering Employees in Aerospace, IFPTE 2001, Teamsters 117, United Food and Commercial Workers 21 , United Food and Commercial Workers 365, United Food and Commercial Workers 367, Washington Federation of State Employees, AFSCME 28 Washington State Council of Fire Fighters
ADDITIONAL SPONSORS- AFT Community Colleges Bakery Workers 9 Elevator Constructors 19 Inlandboatmen’s Union Letter Carriers 852 Snohomish County Central Labor Council Teamsters 760 Teamsters 763 Thurston-Lewis-Mason Central Labor Council Washington State Association of Letter Carriers Washington State Machinists Council

You're Invited!
Jackson Street Workers Mural
Unveiling Ceremony and Block Party!
Katherine Chilcote
Devon Midori Hale
When: April 30, 2017- 1-4 pm
Where: The Washington State Labor Council
321-16th Ave S. Seattle, Washington. 98144
Come celebrate the rich history of workers with local dignitaries, community leaders and your neighbors.
Food, Music And Performances.

The Jackson Street Workers Mural Project began in 2014. The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO was about to move into our new Seattle office at 16th & Jackson, where the city’s historic African American Central and International Districts converge. The mural would be a gift to our neighbors; telling labor history through the lens of communities that are frequently marginalized and ignored. Artist Beverly Naidus, a faculty member at University of Washington Tacoma who has been active in the MayWorks celebrations of labor culture, helped get the ball rolling. She interviewed artists from around the state and convened a series of design sessions, mural workshops, and community meetings to share the artists’ history and vision for the mural. Katherine Chilcote, muralist and founder of Building Bridges, and Devon Hale, a young local artist with roots in the International District have worked with Professor Naidus from the beginning to design the final mural. (The artists are proud members, and Building Bridges is signatory, to the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, District 5.) Painting of the mural panels began in Spring 2016 in the artists’ studio in the Inscape building, the former Immigration
and Naturalization building that’s been repurposed. It’s an appropriate setting. The mural depicts labor history through the stories of the working women and men in Washington. It focuses on stories that are frequently not told but inform the persistent struggle for economic, racial, and social justice that is labor’s legacy in our state. The mural shows how our history is informed through struggle, movement building, and solidarity. So much is covered—from the free speech fights, to Seattle’s general strike, to the World Trade Organization march; from migrant organizing, to Rosie the Riveter, to Black Lives Matter. The project shows pride, solidarity, and hope—and it also tells the truth. We see the Chinese expulsion, the detainment of Japanese, the Everett and Centralia Massacres, the segregation and desegregation of organized labor. We learn from the triumphs, and the errors of the past. Throughout the mural, during hard times and good times, we see the resilience of workers and the continuing fight for a better world. The mural tells our history, and the final section depicts our hopes and aspirations for the future. The painting tells the story, but it will be supplemented by street-level QSR codes linking to a website with more information on the history, and the unions involved. The mural is scheduled to be completed in late April or early May 2017, with a block party celebrating its unveiling.
The Jackson Street Mural Project received grants from Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods and King County’s 4 Culture.