New Detroit Arts Residency to Elevate Labor Artists
UNION HALL ARTS RESIDENCY
DETROIT, MI – The UAW Education Department is proud to support the UNITE HERE Education and Support Fund (501c3) and Talking Dolls Studio to pilot the Union Hall Arts Residency this summer in Detroit, MI. This four-week artist residency program will bring together 4-6 union members from various unions to hone their artistic skills and unleash their creative expression to make art for our movement.
Candidates for the residency program will be paired with mentors from within the movement and adjacent artist communities who will support knowledge exchange with emerging creative practices. Participants will move between the practical and the imaginative through hands-on studio training and experiential learning. Developing skills gained during their residency, artists will learn individual and collective creative practices, gain exposure to historical approaches, contemporary strategies, and novel creative ideas informed by the values and history of the union movement.
Every successful movement for lasting social change requires arts and culture. Artists give us joy and life in dark times, cutting through the noise and fostering the creative thinking that allows us to imagine a better future. So much of the most enduring and popular forms of art and culture have come from working-class communities.
Detroit’s autoworkers made Motown.
Spirituals sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Quilters unveiled the truth about HIV/AIDS.Workers Create a Better World
DEADLINE TO APPLY:
June 1, 2026
MORE INFORMATION
INFORMATION SESSIONS
Union Hall Arts will host several virtual information sessions about the program in advance of the application deadline. Interested applicants are encouraged to attend a session to meet the program organizers and learn more about what the residency will entail. Please visit www.unionhallarts.org to sign up for an information session. In addition to contacting Union Hall Arts directly, questions about this program can be referred to education@uaw.net.
EXPECTATIONS
- Participants are expected to participate in all aspects of the program. This is a full-time, in-person commitment to your craft and creativity, requiring you to be in Detroit and on a leave of absence from work for the duration of the residency, so you can be a part of daily studio time, workshops, field trips, and other activities.
- Participants must adhere to a code of conduct that is consistent with our union values of solidarity.
SPONSORSHIP
The UAW Education Department will sponsor any UAW members who are selected to participate in the residency as follows, in accordance with UAW Travel and Expense policies.
HOUSING ACCOMMODATIONS
This residency will be hosted at Talking Dolls Studio, located at 7145 E Davison St, Detroit, MI 48212. Participants from UAW local unions located more than 50 miles from the studio will be provided housing accommodations in Detroit for the duration of the program. The International Union, UAW will arrange and pay for the housing accommodations, if applicable.
TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS & TRANSPORTATION COSTS
The International Union, UAW will arrange and pay the transportation costs associated with the program. Participants from UAW local unions located within 300 miles from the studio will be required to drive. Participants from UAW local unions located greater than 300 miles from the studio will be required to travel to Detroit by air, unless otherwise approved. All travel related expenses will be provided in accordance with the UAW Travel and Expense Reimbursement Policy.
ELIGIBILITY TO APPLY
Applicants to this program must be nominated and sponsored by their union to be eligible for selection.
To receive sponsorship from the UAW, the applicant must:
- Be an active member in good standing at a UAW local union
- Be at least 21 years old with a valid driver’s license
- Be able to take union leave from their employer and be present in Detroit for the duration of the program, August 10 – September 7, 2026
- Submit all required application materials following the process indicated by Union Hall Arts
- Receive approval from their local union to participate in the program. The UAW local union president must sign the Sponsoring Union Nomination Form, which must be submitted alongside other application materials
- Meet all other eligibility requirements of the program, as indicated on www.unionhallarts.org
You do not have to be a “professional” artist to apply, but you MUST be able to demonstrate through application materials (photos, video, audio or written material) a creative passion, emerging practice or existing body of work that you hope to further explore through the residency.
HOW TO APPLY
- Receive approval from your local union to participate in the program. Your UAW local union president must sign the Sponsoring Union Nomination Form, which must be submitted alongside other application materials.
- Apply at www.unionhallarts.org. Applicants must submit a personal video or written statement, plus ten images of their work.
- Sponsoring unions are required to submit a form on behalf of their candidate, sharing any special artistic or leadership skills the candidate has demonstrated, and how the candidate would contribute to the program.
- Visit www.unionhallarts.org for more information.
Gordon Osborne, a barista in NYC, draws Black history on the coffee cups at work with the same ink pens customers use to sign receipts.
“While I have a deep love for coffee, my true passion lies in art. Despite my supervisors initially discouraging me from sketching during work, I couldn’t resist the challenge and started using coffee cups as my canvas. The clients were amazed by my artwork, and it even got displayed at my station. I realized that my art could also be my voice.”
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