Artists | Syracuse Cultural Workers

Artists

SCW has worked with well over 1,000 artists since our 1982 founding. We're always looking for new artists interested in collaboration and new work from folks we've worked with before.

Call For Art
We accept art and photography submissions year-round. Please take a look at our Call for Art page and download our Art Call for specifications and deadlines for specific products, payment terms, etc. Profiled below are artists whose work is currently being sold in poster, card or t-shirt form. As we extend this section we'll add artists, for example, whose work has only appeared in the Peace Calendar. This is one way we honor the cultural workers whose creativity brings inspiration and awe - coupled with progressive social change - into all our lives.

Dik Cool, Publisher

 

 

What Are Cultural Workers?
This statement is from the 1979 Peace Calendar which opposed nuclear power and weapons. It was published by the Syracuse Peace Council, coordinated by myself. The statement holds up reasonably well after 30 years and, hopefully, answers a frequently asked question about SCW’s name.

“Cultural Workers” The term “cultural worker” may be new to some people. We use it to suggest several things. First, that the task of creating culture in a society is not the work of an elite, highly-paid few—which has become the case in our mass-market society; for example, if a restaurant needs a painting for its wall or a musician to entertain its customers, why not seek out the talents of local people rather than the highly-paid “notables that have made it..” Second, that people who create culture are legitimate workers who deserve to be recognized and valued for their work, not “patronized.” Third, that the process of creation is based in a desire to improve the lives of people not to just turn a profit. Fourth, that all of us, in some way, are capable of being cultural workers if we can only free ourselves from “I’m not talented” paralysis that elitism and competition produce in our capitalist society.

Most of the wonderful cultural workers that SCW works with are struggling. They need and deserve all of our support.

-Dik Cool