BY MICKENZIE HANNON

The Homer and Dolly Hand Art Center at Stetson University opened its doors Friday to an exhibition that explores the political impact of art with a focus on labor movements throughout history.

“The Beauty of Politics” exhibition delves into contemporary labor movements and the 1913 silk mill worker strike, where anxieties about layoffs and obsolescence loomed large following the introduction of machines designed for weaving silk ribbon more efficiently.

The exhibit pairs drawings and sketches from modernist painter Oscar Bluemner made during the time of a silk mill worker strike in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1913, with contemporary works by local artist Luca Molnar. Though Bluemner’s works weren’t overtly political, the vibrant red paint he used resonated with the labor movement.

Bluemner’s daughter donated his collection to Stetson University in 1997, and it’s been on display since the Hand Center’s opening in 2009.

Art curator Katya Kudryavtseva said she wanted to breathe new life into the collection by pairing contemporary artists’ work with Bluemner’s pieces.

“I have wanted to collaborate with contemporary artists on Bluemner exhibitions, and the reason for that was to make the collection more relevant to the contemporary spectators,” she said.

She approached Stetson assistant professor of studio art Luca Molnar with the idea to do a show about a year ago.

“Her works are incredibly complex and incredibly layered,” Kudryavtseva said of Molnar. “That is interesting to me as an art historian, that layered approach to painting. Her paintings do have a narrative, but this narrative is far from coherent and prepackaged.” 

Molnar created three paintiπngs and six drawings that respond to the history of the strike and tie in contemporary issues around labor rights. Unlike the paintings, Molnar said, her colored-pencil drawings are not densely layered.

The more prominent painting on display, Hot Strike Summer, showcases the Paterson pageant poster with nods to contemporary labor issues like the 1979 Greensboro Massacre and 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, as well as writer Mabel Dodge. Dodge was instrumental in funding the Paterson pageant, a play staged in Madison Square Garden to raise awareness about the 1913 silk workers strike, starring the strikers themselves.

While many of the events referenced in the exhibition took place half a century or longer ago, Molnar said they resonate with ongoing fights for equal pay and fair working conditions.

 “There’s a ton of parallels between what was going on in 1913 and movements today,” Molnar said. “The Writers Guild strike, to me, was really parallel and that it’s this introduction of new technology of AI that has the potential to do some really interesting things but can also kind of push out workers or be used in immoral ways or ways that don’t balance the use of the technology with labor rights.”

Her painting Thief focuses on the Industrial Workers of the World’s fight to ban child labor, centering on 16-year-old Duvan Robert Tomas Perez, who died at the Mar-Jac Poultry plant in Mississippi last year.

Stetson art studio junior Natalie Thomas helped Molnar with Thief and assisted with the studio installation.

The team transformed the gallery into an early 1900s Greenwich Village apartment, drawing inspiration from Dodge who was also known to host gatherings at her apartment for intellectuals and radical thinkers to mingle and discuss politics. Molnar’s team installed molding, painted some of the walls a deep red color and added wallpaper they commissioned from a company in Sharon Springs, New York, that specializes in historical reproductions.

“I think it’s really unique and really complementary to the works in the show,” Thomas said of the wallpaper. “You don’t see it very often where a gallery space is not just white.”

In a speech during the exhibition opening reception, Kudryavtseva paid homage to the late Dolly Hand, who donated $1 million to build the Hand Center that now houses the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection and showcases works by other artists throughout the year.

“We would like to celebrate her life and legacy and express our eternal gratitude for her generosity and vision,” Kudryavtseva said.

Thomas noted that communities tend to share similar artwork styles, often causing repetitive artistic expressions. She commended the center’s vision and emphasis on showcasing student and faculty work that focuses on contemporary issues.

Molnar mirrored their sentiments, adding that the center helps broaden visitors’ understanding of contemporary art.

“It’s hard for me to imagine Stetson and the creative arts department without the Hand,” she said. “A lot of our students work at the Hand, and so they get this hands-on experience installing shows, being around these works of art. That is really just an enormously beneficial experience for them as they go into the world.”

Molnar and Kudryavtseva will host an artist and curator talk at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, at the Hand Art Center, located at 139 E. Michigan Ave., delving deeper into the historical significance of the exhibit and the creative process behind its conception. The exhibit will remain open for viewing until March 23.