May Week Labour Arts Festival gets under way in Edmonton
EDMONTON – The May Week Labour Arts Festival opens this evening in the Capital Region.
The first event of the festival, which runs until May 4, will be a reception at 7 p.m. to open the Workers Art Exhibit at 9115 – 118 Ave.
The show will be open daily until May 4 from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The goal of the Workers Art Exhibit is to feature art by working people, many of them union members, who are not full-time artists, said May Week Festival Co-ordinator Desiree Schell.
“The exhibit is built on the premise that workers and artists share a common struggle for decent wages, healthy working conditions and culturally vibrant communities,” Schell said.
“We aim to encourage work by local artists who have been unrecognized and under utilized by both the arts community and the union movement,” she added.
The show includes a wide variety of forms of representation including, painting, photography and sculpture. The works were collected by Edmonton artist Tom Gale.
Other May Week events include:
- Labour Cabaret in the Bonnie Doon Community Hall, 9240 – 93 Street, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, featuring such groups as “alt-country” rockers the Uncas, City Streets, Eshod Ibn Wyza and AUPE’s own Guy Smith and the Revtones. Tickets are $10 at the door or in advance at Listen Records (10649 – 124 Street) and Earth’s General Store (10832 Whyte Ave.).
- Global Visions Film Festival at the Metro Theatre, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square, at 7 p.m. on Monday April 30, featuring an evening of short labour films, including the Canadian release of Mother Jones: America’s Most Dangerous Woman.
- The May Day March, gathering at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday May 1 at Tipton Park, 108th Street and 81st Avenue, and proceeding down Whyte Avenue to End of Steel Park near Saskatchewan Drive and 87th Avenue. The march will end with a rally and musical performances by Notre Dame des Bananas, Lex and the Peoples Poets and Guy Smith.
- Accessing Justice Panel, at 6:30 p.m. May 3 at the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, No. 101, 10010 – 107th Ave., at which panelists from various organizations will speak on how new Canadians and others can protect and enhance their rights. Among the speakers will be AUPE Labour Relations Director Jaime Oyarzun who will speak on enhancing job security and dignity through workplace organizing.
For a complete list of May Week events, visit the May Week Labour Arts Festival, www.mayweek.ab.ca.