![]() The artist has presented solo shows at organisations such as Bunker Projects, Pittsburgh, PA (2020) Rowan University Art Gallery, Glassboro, NJ (2018) and the Leslie Lohman Museum of Art, New York, NY (2016). ![]() Sidney Mullis received an MFA in Sculpture from Penn State University after garnering a BA in Studio Art from the University of Mary Washington. Mullis wrestles with the coming-of-age traditions that condition us to “tamp down our quirks and stifle our sillies,” in her words. The artist intermingles the moods – humour and gravity playfulness and profundity whimsy and solemnity – that are associated with separate life stages. The ways in which Mullis transforms objects parallel mortal transitions: from infancy to maturity from innocence to intimacy from birth to death. In those invented landscapes, childlike attitudes and reveries are resurrected. Sidney Mullis – Footsie Ring on Pointed Pillow, 2020 Like Gober, Mullis also presents her discrete sculptures in immersive installations. Her practice resonates with that of American sculptors like Robert Gober who in the 1970s began reconstructing and defamiliarising domestic objects to probe the human psyche. The experimental nature of her process means that some of these works will gradually change and fade – aligned with the artistʼs fixation on the passage of time.Įvocative and eerie, the artistʼs forms would equally arise in a kidʼs daydreams and an adultʼs nightmares. Mullis also applies a playground sand mixture to found items, inserting candles into the resulting art objects. For example, the artist whisks together colourful construction paper and gravestone dust (collected from a professional carver) to concoct a Play-Doh like pulp with which she builds shapes. Mullis reimagines adolescent toys, food, and substances with highly original techniques. Her art memorialises the facets of identity and behaviour that are left behind as we grow up. The Mass Moca union is part ofLocal 2110 of the United Auto Workers (UAW), which also includes workers at cultural institutions, nonprofits and museums across the Northeast and beyond such as the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Portland Museum of Art in Maine, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Jewish Museum and elsewhere.Pittsburg-based sculptor Sidney Mullis constructs uncanny and materially rich sculptures that ruminate on childhood. ![]() “Throughout negotiations, we’ve consistently demonstrated a willingness to listen and genuinely consider the union’s demands-and when their proposals provided for a positive employee experience, and supported our museum culture of teamwork, collaboration and excellence, we welcomed and worked with those objectives.” “While we respect our employees’ right to strike as a means of expressing their views, we are also disappointed in their decision, given the positive and collaborative environment that we have worked to foster,” a museum spokesperson says. However, according to the union, Mass Moca’s administration is proposing a $16 per hour minimum and no guaranteed increases in 20.Ī member of the Masschusetts Museum of Contemporary Art's union during the 19 August strike Courtesy UAW The union is seeking a minimum rate of $18 per hour for the first year of the contract and increases in 20 that would raise staff compensation closer to $20 per hour by the end of the contract. However, about two thirds of the bargaining unit’s members make under $15.50 per hour. The average wage in the Mass Moca bargaining unit is currently $17.30. However, the museum has been far more antagonistic toward the union during the time that we have been bargaining, and I place a lot of responsibility on the tactics being used by the museum's legal representation.” We found the museum to be more agreeable toward the union during the organising and voting period. “The union is disappointed by the change in tenor from the museum that has happened since negotiations started. “We are still far apart on a number of critical issues that are very important to us and our members,” Elliot says. Ahead of the strike, the union launched a fund that will enable employees who lost a day of pay because of their participation to still be compensated. ![]() Issues that prompted the union to organise today’s strike are related to wages, benefits, grievance and arbitration procedures, union security and pathways to advancement at the museum. Striking members of the Masschusetts Museum of Contemporary Art's union Courtesy UAW
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