In this episode Lauren Wetmore speaks with writer and organizer Dana Kopel about her widely-read article “Against Artspolitation: Unionizing the New Museum,” published in September 2021 by The Baffler. In conversation, Kopel expands on “the personal and messy dimensions” of unionizing work, and reflects on the challenges of calling out the exploitation, abuses, and hypocrisies of an art industry that, at the time, she was actively working in. She doesn’t hold back on the sacrifices made or the consequences suffered as a result of this successful union drive, but she also stresses that there is never a sole author. Kopel ...

Rachel Ichniowski talks to three representatives from the New Museum Union’s Bargaining Committee—Dana Kopel, Francesca Altamura, and Gabe Gordon—about the decision by staff to form a union, and the details of their first five-year contract, which was agreed upon with the museum on October 1, 2019. Staff at the New Museum voted to unionize in January 2019. The formation of the union, which is a part of UAW Local 2110, has been closely watched amid calls for greater transparency in art and culture sector workplaces. The New Museum employs over 140 people, and counts over 70 staff members as part of the ...