Although UE leaders and supporters in the public arts community have secured enough funding to remove the most important parts of the “Solidarity” mural from the UE Hall in Chicago prior to new owners taking over the building, they are seeking additional donations to complete the task of removing the walls and to pay for virtual documentation of the mural.
“Every additional dollar we can raise right now will help us save more of the mural,” said UE General President Carl Rosen. Last Saturday, Rosen and John Pitman Weber, one of the lead artists, gave a final tour of the mural in its original home, organized by the Illinois Labor History Society.
Work begins on removing the walls on Friday. By removing the walls and storing them, the union will have more time to pursue the kind of major foundation funding necessary to transfer the paintings to another medium, such as canvas. That will allow them to be displayed at the union’s new home in the Chicago Teachers Union building.
Artists John Pitman Weber (left) and UE General President Carl Rosen (right) in front of the mural's depiction of UE District 11 leaders Ernie DeMaio (seated) and Jack Burch (standing) demanding that the bosses sign a contract.
UE is also investing in high-quality photography and video documentation of the mural, so that the story it tells can be preserved for generations to come. This documentation will allow future viewers to experience virtually how the mural brought labor history to life for the thousands of union members and supporters who came through the UE Hall over the decades.
The mural was created fifty years ago by a team of artists led by Weber and Jose Guerrero, a factory worker and self-taught painter and cartoonist, who passed away in 2015. At the time, the UE Hall was in the center of a vibrant working-class neighborhood, but with the gentrification of the surrounding area, UE is in the process of selling the aging building.