Autoworkers Let Creative Juices Flow at Art Show
14 November 2000
Autoworkers Let Creative Juices Flow at UAW-DaimlerChrysler Art Show
DETROIT - Ranging from a hand-engraved transmission case to traditional
watercolors, art by 56 autoworkers is being showcased with today's opening of
the second annual UAW-DaimlerChrysler Artists at Work Exhibition in Detroit.
This first-of-its-kind employee art show sponsored by a union-management
partnership draws attention to the multiple talents of UAW-represented and
non-bargaining unit DaimlerChrysler employees in the United States.
UAW and DaimlerChrysler officials joined other guests in recognizing the
artists at an evening reception and ribbon-cutting at the UAW-DaimlerChrysler
National Training Center (NTC). The NTC conducts a competition to select the
art and hosts the exhibition. A judging panel of art professionals picked 119
pieces for the show from nearly 1,100 entries submitted for the competition.
The artists come from 27 DaimlerChrysler locations and represent a cross
section of the workforce, from the assembly line to customer service and from
design studios to machine repair. Thirty-nine of the participants are UAW
members.
"The impressive results of the Artists at Work Competition send a strong
message about the diverse and sometimes unrecognized talents that exist among
UAW members at DaimlerChrysler," said UAW Vice President Nate Gooden, director
of the union's DaimlerChrysler Department.
"We're pleased to join with the UAW in providing this creative outlet for
these aspiring artists," said John S. Franciosi, DaimlerChrysler senior vice
president for employee relations. "Both the quantity and quality of art in
the exhibition are even better than last year."
Judges chose the work of three employees as "best of show." Stan Giles, a
millwright at the Kokomo, Ind., Casting Plant, received the first-place award
for his hand engraving on a transmission case. Creating a unique piece of
art, the UAW Local 1166 member adorned the top of the aluminum transmission
housing with intricate 18th century-style scrollwork.
The second-place award winner is Gunther Schabestiel, a photo
instrumentation specialist at the DaimlerChrysler Technology Center in
Auburn Hills, Mich. A member of UAW Local 412, Schabestiel was recognized for
a series of three photographs that demonstrate old and new techniques: hand-
tinted photography and digitally enhanced photography.
Recipient of the third-place award is Ron Bonello, a janitor at the
Marysville, Mich., Parts Distribution Center and a member of UAW Local 375.
Bonello built a lifelike wood scale model of the U.S. Coast Guard Icebeaker
Mackinaw. He spent three months working on the 4-foot-long model.
"The quality of the art is just amazing," said Marilyn Finkel, an Oakland
Community College art history professor who headed the judging panel. "Many
of the employees in the exhibition have skill and talent equal to practicing
professional artists."
Finkel, president of a suburban Detroit art consulting business, said the
UAW-DaimlerChrysler Artists at Work Exhibition is unique in America's
corporate world. "I'm not aware of any other employee art program supported
by union and management that's done on a national scale, with help from
outside judges who select the art," she said.
The judges awarded honorable mentions to 14 other employees. They are:
* Anet B. Chavez, customer service supervisor, DaimlerChrysler Financial
Services, Arlington, Texas, photography
* Thomas Diaz, product engineer, DaimlerChrysler Technology Center,
Auburn Hills, Mich., photography
* Erin Doyle-Groom, photographer, Chelsea, Mich., Proving Grounds,
photography
* Christina Haylett, process engineer, UAW Local 212, DaimlerChrysler
Technology Center, Auburn Hills, Mich., painting
* Larry D. Jones, welder equipment repairer, UAW Local 1264, Sterling
Stamping Plant, Sterling Heights, Mich., wood carving
* Norman (Monte) Landis, hi-lo driver, UAW Local 136, St. Louis North
Assembly Plant, photography
* Gordon Machek, industrial sculptor, UAW Local 412, DaimlerChrysler
Technology Center, Auburn Hills, Mich., photography
* Claude F. McKee, test driver, UAW Local 509, Arizona Proving Grounds,
Wittmann, Ariz., photography
* Stan Michalik, die maker, UAW Local 869, Warren, Mich., Stamping
Plant, photography
* Craig Reed, machine repairman, UAW Local 685, Kokomo, Ind.,
Transmission Plant, photography
* Jeff Speiser, mechanic/technician, UAW Local 412, DaimlerChrysler
Technology Center, Auburn Hills, Mich., photography
* Louis J. Stavale, zone technical advisor, Cincinnati Zone Office,
photography
* Marie Stone, assembler, UAW Local 1413, Huntsville, Ala., Electronics
Plant, quilting
* Stephen J. Taylor, product engineer, Jeep and Truck Engineering,
Detroit, photography
Art chosen for the exhibition will be displayed at the National Training
Center, located near downtown Detroit, for most of the next year. The
exhibition also will travel to the 2001 UAW-DaimlerChrysler Annual Meeting and
Joint Conference in Las Vegas in March, where the first-, second- and third-
place winners will receive special recognition.
In addition to Finkel, judges for the 2000-2001 Artists at Work program
were Paul Holoweski, an art consultant and appraiser; Krishelle Myers, an
artist and designer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan, and Henry
Tanakta, an art professor at Oakland Community College.
Artists at Work is one of more than 30 joint union-management programs
administered by the UAW-DaimlerChrysler National Training Center. Programs
provide job-related training and enrich the quality of life for 80,000
UAW-represented DaimlerChrysler workers, as well as family members and
retirees.