UAW and DaimlerChrysler Open Unique Gallery of Employee Art
DETROIT, Feb. 16, 2006 -- The UAW and DaimlerChrysler Corporation today opened a one-of-its-kind art exhibit that reveals the diverse and sometimes hidden creative talents of autoworkers.
The jointly sponsored 2005-2006 Artists at Work Exhibition features 154 pieces of art, ranging from painting and sculpture to blown glass and photography, by 85 UAW-represented and non-bargaining unit employees.
UAW and DaimlerChrysler officials recognized the employee-artists at an evening reception at the UAW-DaimlerChrysler National Training Center. Artists at Work is the country's only juried art show for union and management employees from a major corporation.
From nearly 1,500 entries, four judges from the professional art community chose pieces for the 2005-2006 exhibition, the sixth coordinated by the National Training Center. Judges awarded "best of show" prizes to three employees and honorable mention citations to 15 others.
The first-place award winner is Elizabeth V. Jordan, a welder from the Toledo (Ohio) Machining Plant, whose poignant slice of life portraits emphasize the dignity of ordinary people she draws in pencil or charcoal. A member of UAW Local 1435, Jordan earned the top prize for a pencil drawing of a young black male who symbolizes the hip-hop generation.
"As an African American," she said, "I'm naturally drawn to the themes and images of my culture, past and present. It is my personal mission to represent the African American experience in an uplifting and life-affirming light."
Dennis Sabatowich, a weld inspector at the Warren (Mich.) Truck Assembly Plant, earned the second-place award with a whimsical welded sculpture piece. He is a member of UAW Local 140.
Robert S. DiTommaso, a Jeep product planner at the Plymouth Road Office Complex in Detroit, took the third-place award with a photograph that captures the mood of an intriguing winter scene.
"The Artists at Work program brings out the multiple talents that autoworkers demonstrate on and off the job," said UAW Vice President Nate Gooden, director of the union's DaimlerChrysler Department. "This program also helps to bring us all closer together and break down barriers that sometimes exist between union and management."
Forty-five Artists at Work participants are UAW members from 19 union locals, while 40 participants are from non-bargaining unit ranks. Representing a cross section of the corporation, 29 locations have employees in the exhibition, with the largest number from the DaimlerChrysler Technology Center in Auburn Hills, Mich. The artists range from assemblers and engineers to millwrights and product designers.
John S. Franciosi, DaimlerChrysler senior vice president of employee relations, said that both the number of entries and number of participants in the 2005-2006 program are the most ever since Artists at Work began in 1999.
"Artists at Work has become one of the most unique and most successful employee recognition programs in the country," Franciosi said. "The creative employees whose art is in the new exhibit represent the best of our company and the entire automotive industry."
Since its inception, the Artists at Work program has exhibited 766 pieces of art by 367 DaimlerChrysler employees based in the U.S.
The 15 employees who received honorable mentions for 2005-2006 are:
* Stephen Biesiada, assembler, Toledo (Ohio) North Assembly Plant, UAW Local 12, acrylic painting
* Stephen Bolinger, maintenance supervisor, Kokomo (Ind.) Transmission Plant, photography
* Kenneth A. Borkin, photographer, DaimlerChrysler Technology Center, Auburn Hills, Mich., UAW Local 412, two photographs
* Paul Brnak, machine operator, Kenosha (Wis.) Engine Plant, UAW Local 72, photography
* Tomas Diaz, product engineer, DaimlerChrysler Technology Center, photography
* John M. Discher, photographer, Chelsea (Mich.) Proving Grounds, UAW Local 1284, photography
* James Donnellon, product engineer, DaimlerChrysler Technology Center, blown glass
* Keith Emmerich, stockkeeper, Warren (Mich.) National Parts Distribution Center, UAW Local 1248, photography
* Susan Goeddeke, program analyst, DaimlerChrysler Technology Center, fiber art/quilt
* Mark P. Levine, supervisor, Vehicle Compliance and Safety Affairs, DaimlerChrysler Technology Center, textile
* Eddie Lundquist, recovery specialist, Deficiency Recovery Center, Jacksonville, Fla., metal sculpture
* Gunther Schabestiel, photo instrumentation specialist, DaimlerChrysler Technology Center, UAW Local 412, photography
* Herman Spaeth, release analyst, Jeep and Truck Engineering, Detroit, wood turning
* Jeffery D. Winchester, assembler, Kenosha Engine Plant, UAW Local 72, photography
* Todd Yaney, strategic planning manager, DaimlerChrysler Technology Center, photography
Following today's opening, the exhibit will travel to the 2006 UAW- DaimlerChrysler Annual Meeting and Joint Conferences next month in Las Vegas. The first-, second- and third-place award winners will receive special recognition at the conference.
The National Training Center, located near downtown Detroit, will host the artwork until next year. The exhibit, which may be viewed online at http://www.uawdcx.com/ , is not open to the public.
Artists at Work is one of 30 joint union-management programs administered by the National Training Center. Programs provide job-related training, work- life services and other educational opportunities for about 60,000 active UAW- represented DaimlerChrysler workers, as well as family members and retirees. Non-bargaining unit employees also benefit from NTC programs.
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