Art
BY BILL PARRY
Socrates Sculpture Park in
Long Island City has hosted
extraordinary pieces of art
since a coalition of artists
and community members transformed
an East River landfill and illegal dump-site
into an open studio and exhibition
space in 1986.
Of the fifteen sculptures that are
currently on display as part of the
2019 Socrates Annual, only one is a
piece of public art created by union
electricians and members of the Work-ers
Art Coalition (WAC), a group of
construction workers and artists who
bring representations and creative
expressions of blue-collar workers
into public culture.
“We are thrilled to host a collab-oration
of Workers Art Coalition and
Local 3, I.B.E.W at Socrates Sculpture
Park,” Socrates Sculpture Park Curator
and Director of Exhibitions Jess Wilcox
said. “The piece that they’ve created,
‘Muscle Memory,’ is a powerful remind-er
that the conditions of production
are critical to the meaning, reception
and impact of a work of art.”
The trades workers, WAC mem-bers
along with students and alumni
from the Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School
of Labor Studies installed a one-of-its-kind
spiral sculpture of joined electrical
conduit using industry-grade electrical
equipment and solar panels.
“It feels good to design, collaborate
and participate in something in public
space that shines a light on a particularly
interesting group of people and workers
who are constantly underappreciated
and misunderstood,” Paul Vance, a mem-ber
of Local 3 and WAC, said.
People like Lowely Cheung, a
Local 3 member since 2012 who
46 DECEMBER 2019 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
emigrated from Hong Kong at the
age of 17.
“The union provides me with a
living wage job; that is the ‘bread’ part
for me and working on art projects is
the ‘roses’ part of life,” Cheung said.
And sSue Sheinen, a Local 3 mem-ber
since 2008 with family members
in the union.
“Thank you for including me in this
art project,” Sheinen said. “Socrates is
a great place I have enjoyed for many
years. I think it’s great that Local 3
gets to show its collaborative and
creative side.”
Utilizing a process of “distributed
authorship,” the sculpture is a collab-orative
process that reflects trades-persons’
skills and equipment as well
as modern urban landscape that is
always in the background. The sound
component, produced by WAC and
derived from interviews with Local 3
members in tandem with the Library
of Congress, adds another dimension.
“Harry Van Arsdale Jr. set up the
Educational and Cultural Trust Fund
for more than skills enhancement but
also the benefit of culturally enhancing
the union’s members,” Local 3 Director
of the Educational and Cultural Trust
Fund Michael Yee said. “This project
is the perfect example of that. By
connecting what these members do
in their trade to create this artwork,
they’ve enriched their cultural and
artistic passions as well. It also ties the
conduit, which is one of the common
parts of the industry, with emerging
renewable energy.”
The solar panels provide the en-ergy
to illuminate ‘Muscle Memory’
at night. The 2019 Socrates Annual
will remain on display through March
at the park located at 32-01 Vernon
Boulevard.
Union Art
New public art created by union workers on display at
Socrates Sculpture Park
Local 3, I.B.E.W.
The piece of public art created by union electricians
is on display at the Socrates Sculpture Park along
the East River in Long Island City
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