Local 65-Build Your Union

Ralph Fasanella dedicated this painting to the Distributive Workers Union, Local 65 who he admired for its rank-and-file approach to organizing and its interest in providing workers with cultural outlets. The painting is a coherent statement of what the artist thought a trade union should be. Fasanella depicts workers flocking to the union hall to socialize, see musical and theatrical performances, and buy books. He believed that unions had to provide cultural and educational opportunities, “something for the brain as well as the belly.”

Painting by Ralph Fasanella provided by the Warsh – Mott Legacy.

See the Ralph Fasanella exhibit for more information.