What’s Got You Worked Up? – CVPA Students Have The Answer With a New Organization

(Image provided by Worked Up)

Co-Authored by: ARH 390 – Art as Action Class Spring 2023

Worked Up is a group of CVPA students intent on amplifying the voices of UMass Dartmouth students who feel unheard. Our goal is to bring together students who want to work collectively to solve the issues facing us.

In the past year alone, there have been many concerning incidents on the UMass Dartmouth Campus that have impacted students, from safety to education.

Many issues have been brought to the attention of the administration at events such as Shake the Ship. The Student Government Association also does work to address the concerns of the student body.

However, there is something that students have yet to consider: an organization that could function as a labor union does, but for students.

Worked Up is starting a student organization that would do exactly this.

The group will be independent of our administration, focused on the needs of students. It would be a community and a chance for each student to have an equal opportunity to voice their concerns on campus.

The student body as a whole needs a safe space to organize its concerns without the administration looming overhead.

Worked Up is looking to unite students to build collective power.

Some concerns shared by Worked Up so far include safety, discrimination, accessibility, and infrastructural issues.

If you are interested in learning more, the students behind Worked Up are organizing a pop-up exhibition with the same name at the New Bedford Art Museum, located at 608 Pleasant St, on April 28th, from 6-8 PM.

Students will be present and available to share information and answer questions.

All are welcome!

The museum is a two-minute walk from the UMass Dartmouth CVPA Star Store campus, which is accessible by shuttle.

If you are interested in learning more about Worked Up, please attend this first meeting.

The collaborative exhibition Worked Up, curated and produced by UMass Dartmouth students in Gabo Camnitzer’s Art as Action course, examines the importance of unions and explores the parallels between workers’ rights and students’ rights.

Labor unions serve a fundamental role in our workforce by seeking to garner better pay and working conditions for all workers involved. Similarly, student unions advocate for the rights of students who are often overlooked by their administration, just as workers are overlooked by their employers.

Integral to the exhibition’s theme, the work on display seeks to amplify unheard voices by incorporating the narratives of local union workers through a culmination of artistic media, historical background, and contemporary context.

Despite the overwhelming benefits that derive from unionizing, labor unions are often stigmatized with many harmful myths surrounding their purposes.

Worked Up both addresses how organized labor advocates for a more equitable atmosphere and works to dispel common myths that discredit their potential for positive change.

What’s got you Worked Up?!

Please fill out a short survey to help inform us about the issues that concern you!

ARH 390 Participants: Ren Aguiar, Lauren Bigelow, Marisa Borges, Quinn Brophy, Gabo Camnitzer, Angel Chizea, Samantha Coray, Holly Croome, Samantha Crosier, Caro Cuevas, Emilia DeRego, Evan Grant, Monika Kristjánsdóttir, Lauren Logan, Sarah Mailloux, Kayla Rausch, Stephen Smith, Maple Song, and Christine Weir