Why We Work. Daily Bread, Dynamic Times
Work in our culture is often boiled down to labor statistics: unemployment numbers, wage disparities, poverty rates, salaries, and gross domestic product. These factors have a place but are not at the center of a person’s experience of work. This exhibit, predominantly through the lens of photographer Ileya Grosman and the papal encyclical Laborem Exercens, explores the question Why We Work.
We see the great resignation, quiet quitting and new ways of working challenging the consolidated working habits (e.g. working remotely, online interactions, no defined working hours, etc.) We also see the struggle of workers and employers trying to find their way in these current parameters. Is this something unique to our post- pandemic era? Are we alone to face these struggles?
To answer these questions, we met with friends and witnesses who shared their personal stories of work as well as their fascination in front of the reality of toil and labor in their lives. We also explored the teaching of the Catholic Church addressed in the encyclicals on the “gospel of work.”
EXHIBIT PRESENTATION WITH JAY ROUSSEL, CURATOR: SAT, FEB 18, 2023 5:30 PM ET | FLOOR 2EXHIBIT TOURS: SAT, FEB 18 9:30, 10:30, 11:00, 1:00, 2:00, 2:30, 3:30 SPECIAL TOUR AT 6:15 LED BY FR. SAM FONTANA AND GRACE STOKMAN SUN, FEB 19 11:30, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 4:00, 5:00
