Mick Hangland-Skill

Image © Mick Hangland-Skill

Artist Statement

Since the first installment of my On Strike series (On Strike: Nabisco, 2021), the labor movement has accelerated at an immeasurable pace. The rise of economic inequality and the coming-of-age of a new generation keen on protecting their rights as workers has contributed to the largest labor moment in decades. Public approval of unions is at 68%; in 2023 alone nearly 500,000 workers went on strike. A few thousand of those on the picket lines were Portland's own teachers.

On November 1, the Portland Association of Teachers left the classrooms and took to the streets to demand higher wages, better working conditions, and increased support for their students. Over the course of the almost month-long strike, I made portraits of teachers and students on the picket lines. They represent schools across the district and a diverse assortment of socioeconomic backgrounds. Their goal: to ensure the success of their students and the sustenance of their profession. This collection of portraits mark the second installment-surely not the last-of my On Strike series chronicling the labor movement's impact in Portland.

My family history is built upon 100 years of union labor in Portland: Shipbuilders and longshoremen mark every generation of my genealogy. While I have yet to know the honor of joining a union (such is the artist's life), documenting the current wave of the labor movement is my attempt at connecting with my family's past, and supporting my community's future.

Mick Hangland-Skill | Portland, OR