“The School for Workers survived McCarthyism. It may not survive Walker.”

The School for Workers was established in 1925 as an extension program of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

They had planned an art exhibit of posters and other political art created during the past year of labor struggle in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Republicans wouldn’t hear of it.

The Progressive:

The University of Wisconsin’s School for Workers was planning on hosting an “Art in Protest” festival on campus next month.

Now it’s been canceled.

One Republican lawmaker in Wisconsin, Representative Steve Nass, who has been a longtime thorn in the university’s side, was unhappy about the exhibit, and his chief of staff, Mike Mikalsen, gave an earful to the director of the School for Workers last week, suggesting that the exhibit could imperil the school’s funding.

This morning, Corliss Olson, the director of the School for Workers, after consulting with other faculty, sent out an e-mail canceling the program.

The School for Workers is the oldest university-based labor education program in the country. One of the first operational components of the Wisconsin Idea, the School and its faculty have long brought teaching, research, and outreach to thousands of workers, unions and employers throughout Wisconsin and the nation.

Last fall, the School for Workers joined with a number of other individuals and organizations in planning an event, scheduled for March 2012, entitled “Art in Protest”. The event was modeled, in part, on longstanding events on the east and west coasts. These Labor Arts Exchanges are unique festivals commemorating the cultural and artistic expression of working people.

In 2011, Wisconsin’s working people were confronted in ways unseen in decades. The unprecedented citizen involvement in response to the Governor’s proposal to severely restrict the collective bargaining rights of public employees resulted in a dramatic array of artistic expression. Songwriters, poets, quilters, photographers, cinematographers and others have used their craft to convey their emotions and their messages. The organizers of the Labor Arts Exchange wished to recognize the creativity and artistic expression that resulted from these events and offer an opportunity for artists to share their work.

“The School for Workers survived McCarthyism,” said Mike Konopacki, a labor cartoonist who was working on the exhibition. “It may not survive Walker.”