From the San Francisco general str ike of 1934\, a major catalyst for national trade unionizing\, to the rece nt UC Berkeley academic worker strike\, the Bay Area has long been a hotbe d of labor activism. Where this history intersects with the arts has been less apparent — but an exhibition at the Tenderloin Museum sheds new light . “Education for Action: California Labor School\, 1942-1957\,” presented in collaboration with the Labor Ar chives and Research Center at San Francisco State\, focuses on the his tory of the eponymous trade school\, which operated out of San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood and featured a robust arts program as a cornersto ne of its education model.
\nFounded in 1942\, the school started in a loft on Turk Street\, but eventually occupied its own building at 240 Golden Gate Ave.\, today home to SEIU Local 87. The school was funded by over 100 unio ns to educate their growing membership\, as an influx of workers from the American South entered the Bay Area to assist in the war effort’s shipbuil ding and maritime industries. In addition\, the school’s “cultural program ” included classes in everything from drawing\, sculpture and literature t o choral singing and modern dance. A student there might have attended a W .E.B DuBois lecture\, studied with Frank Lloyd Wright and Pete Seeger or h ad Maya Angelou for a classmate. And that’s to name only a few of the hist orical figures who passed through.
\nA slideshow of photographs and ephemera included in the exhibition at the Tenderloin Museum\, courtesy of the Labor Archives\, paint a vibrant p icture of the school. The student body was evidently diverse\, the moral i mperative decidedly Marxist. An outdoor art exhibition might be mistaken f or a rally\; a philosophy class for a political forum. One brochure featur es an illustration of a man in overalls reading a book\, alongside the slo gan: “Education for victory.” A flyer advertising painting classes reminds potential students that “People are creative.” A poster boasting the slog an “Build democracy’s weapon\,” features an illustration of a multiethnic group of adults and children brandishing books.
\nThe exhibition also features a robust schedule of public programs. Just a handful include a Drag Story Hour with legendary drag performer Per Sia a nd joint performance by Rockin’ Solidarity Chorus and Freedom Songs Reviva l\, both on Feb. 25\, as well as a lecture\, “Labor in the Loin\,” on Apri l 20\, and a historical walking tour on the same subject on April 22. Thes e\, and more events to follow\, carry out the spirit of education for acti on\, with an emphasis on local artists and scholars.
\nArt is no stranger to politics\, wheth er utilized blatantly in wartime propaganda posters or more subliminally i n the fine arts. In a society segmented by class\, and in which culture is often weaponized\, there can’t be art for art’s sake — even the absence o f overt politics. Art can change the way we see the world and shake us loo se from our social mores. At the very least\, it forces the viewer to see things through a different set of sensibilities than their own. Art making is always a political act in its insistence on a plurality of subjectivit ies. It is subversive even as an act of joy or a practice of unification d espite\, or in spite of\, differences.
\nIn 1948\, the California Labor School (renamed as su ch in 1945) was designated a subversive organization by the U.S. attorney general\, which led to the revocation of the school’s tax-exempt status an d its eventual collapse under crippling debt in 1957. But the ultimate fai lure of the labor school was perhaps its greatest victory\, proving many o f the school’s core tenets. Solidarity can threaten hegemony. Creativity c an threaten programmatic thought. Art can be dangerous.
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