Labor Mural Reproductions on Display At the Blue Hill Library

Blue Hill, Maine - Full-sized reproduction of the labor mural that was ordered removed by Governor Paul LePage from the Maine Department of Labor in Augusta is on display at the Blue Hill Public Library through Friday December 14th. The panels were removed in March 2011 and approximately a year later a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit that sought to have the mural reinstated.

In 2007, artist Judy Taylor was selected by the Maine Arts Commission to create a mural depicting the history of labor in Maine. She created eleven panels, painted on board in oil, each on a different theme, and integrated them into one mural. The History of Maine Labor mural shows working scenes from early artisan workshops, natural resource economies, manufacturing and traditional industries in Maine and highlights pivotal events and people in the history of Maine labor. The panels are titled as follows: Apprenticeship, Child Labor, Women in the Textile Mills, The Secret Ballot, First Labor Day, Woods Workers, The ’37 Shoe Strike, Labor Reformers, Rosie the Riveter, Jay Strike, and The Future of Maine Labor.

Circulating these reproductions was the idea of artist and curator Nancy Nesvet, of VisArts in Rockville, MD, a nonprofit arts center, and was created free of charge by Portland Color, with the kind permission of the artist, Judy Taylor.

The exhibit is located on the Library’s first floor and is available for viewing during Library hours. For more information contact the Library at 374-5515.