Barbara Banks, Worker (2019)
Barbara Banks, Worker, (2019)

Worker

Barbara Banks

In 2017, a bricklayer was working on south façade of the 1926 Elliott building. As he swiped a trowel of mortar, brick in hand, poised to place, he paused, turned to Geran Harris of Willis Smith Construction and said “You know Geran, 100 years ago, guys just like us first laid these bricks.”

That simple, yet movingly profound acknowledgement set this project in motion.

Building a new art museum involves thousands of people. Some of those people’s names will be on brass plaques and some names will grace galleries and lobby walls. The names of others will be in archives and files and rosters and press clippings. But there is a group of people who were integral in physically reshaping the historic Sarasota High School—the construction workers. Their skills, experience, expertise, training, intelligence, ingenuity, tradecraft and work ethic all come together in the hands that laid the brick, sawn the lumber, welded the steel, and ran the lines.

The Museum commissioned SHS alumna Barbara Banks to celebrate and memorialize the workers. Banks is an accomplished photographer, whose creative path was forged at the historic Sarasota High School, where she studied under H.O. Davis, an artist and educator who inspired countless students at the high school. She was the ideal creative partner for this project.

Barbara Banks’ exquisite portrait photographs of the individuals who lent their talents to remake the building celebrate a class of people who often remain invisible. Banks’ project, Worker, seeks to make visible the invisible, to put a face to the labor that resulted in the Museum.

“Because these shoots took place on site day-after-day over many months, an intimate bond was created, as I would repeatedly observe individuals who were deeply engaged in their work. This alone was fascinating – like entering the sacred space of an artist’s studio. When we spoke about their particular art and trade, and the fact that their portrait would be a permanent part of an art museum, they lit up. Faces and body language revealed a sense of surprise, shifting to pride – eyes would widen to a “smile,” body language opened – conveying an unspoken sense of honor. Many verbalized gratitude for being “seen,” as they live with being overlooked, invisible. These incredible and memorable moments were and continue to be celebratory.”

– Barbara Banks

This project comes at an interesting time in the economic history of the United States, and the history of labor globally. We are on the cusp of a seismic shift in labor, as mass automation looms on the horizon. What we see in these photographs—manual labor connecting human beings across millennium—will soon be a rarity, rather than the norm. The craft involved in these trades cannot be replicated by machine, and the micro-decisions and judgments that craft and trade people exhibit in the field—their connoisseurship—will never be replicated by a machine. Millions of years of evolution—the iterative design process—have gone into refining the machine that is the human body. A.I. simply can’t compete with human creativity.

Barbara Banks: Worker is presented by The Memory Project, comprised of exhibits, archives, and public programming devoted to preserving, stewarding and interpreting the historic Sarasota High School site.

Photos from the Exhibition

Abel

Abel

Abel

Abel

Adan

Adan

Ahmad

Ahmad

Alex

Alex

Alexander

Alexander

Andrew

Andrew

Anthony

Anthony

Ariel and Benny

Ariel and Benny

Armando

Armando

Arturo

Arturo

Aubrey

Aubrey

Aud

Aud

Augustine

Augustine

Augustine

Augustine

Balthazar

Balthazar

Barnabe

Barnabe

Barry and Bradley

Barry and Bradley

Ben

Ben

Ben

Ben

Benjamin

Benjamin

Bill

Bill

Bill

Bill

Bill

Bill

Billy

Billy

Bobby

Bobby

Brandon

Brandon

Brian

Brian

Calino

Calino

Carno

Carno

Casimero

Casimero

Chris

Chris

Chris

Chris

Chris

Chris

Chris

Chris

Chris

Chris

Christopher

Christopher

Chris, Travis, Jorge, Jason, and Dennis

Chris, Travis, Jorge, Jason, and Dennis

Chuck

Chuck

Cody

Cody

Corey

Corey

Cornelio

Cornelio

Cristina

Cristina

Cruz

Cruz

Damian

Damian

Dan

Dan

Daniel

Daniel

Dave

Dave

Dave

Dave

David

David

David

David

David

David

Dennis

Dennis

Don

Don

Ed, AJ, and Brad

Ed, AJ, and Brad

Efiqenio

Efiqenio

Elisio

Elisio

Elmer

Elmer

Emelio

Emelio

Emilio

Emilio

Enrique

Enrique

Eugene

Eugene

Eunice and Quirina

Eunice and Quirina

Ezequial

Ezequial

Ezequial

Ezequial

Felipe

Felipe

Felipe

Felipe

Felipe

Felipe

Fernando

Fernando

Francisco

Francisco

Franklin

Franklin

Freddy and Alfredo

Freddy and Alfredo

George

George

George

George

Geran

Geran

Gilbert

Gilbert

Gilbert

Gilbert

Greg

Greg

Guillermo

Guillermo

Guillermo

Guillermo

Guri

Guri

Hank

Hank

Harry

Harry

Hector

Hector

Hector

Hector

Helena

Helena

Henzell

Henzell

Hugo

Hugo

Ivan

Ivan

James

James

James

James

James

James

Jason

Jason

Jason

Jason

Javier

Javier

Javier

Javier

Javier

Javier

Jeff

Jeff

Jeni

Jeni

Jesus

Jesus

Jimmy

Jimmy

Jimmy

Jimmy

Joe

Joe

Joe

Joe

Joe, Javier, Chris, Dennis, and Cornelio

Joe, Javier, Chris, Dennis, and Cornelio

Joe

Joe

Joe

Joe

John

John

John

John

John

John

Jorge

Jorge

Jose

Jose

Jose

Jose

Jose

Jose

Jose

Jose

Jose

Jose

Jose

Jose

Jose and James

Jose and James

Jose, Jesse, Willy, and Colvyn

Jose, Jesse, Willy, and Colvyn

Joshua

Joshua

Josias

Josias

Jovani

Jovani

Juan

Juan

Juan

Juan

Juan

Juan

Juan

Juan

Juan

Juan

Junior

Junior

Kirk

Kirk

Kurt

Kurt

Kyle

Kyle

Lilian

Lilian

Lindsay

Lindsay

Lorenzo

Lorenzo

Louis

Louis

Luis

Luis

Malachi

Malachi

Manuel

Manuel

Marie

Marie

Mark

Mark

Mark

Mark

Marshall

Marshall

Martin

Martin

Marty

Marty

Marvin

Marvin

Mauricio

Mauricio

Mauricio

Mauricio

Michael

Michael

Mick

Mick

Miguel

Miguel

Miguel

Miguel

Miguel

Miguel

Mike

Mike

Mike

Mike

Mike

Mike

Mike

Mike

Myron

Myron

Nathan

Nathan

Omar

Omar

Omar, Gordon, and George

Omar, Gordon, and George

Onex

Onex

Orle

Orle

Oscar

Oscar

Osman

Osman

Patricio

Patricio

Quirina

Quirina

Randy

Randy

Raphael

Raphael

Raul

Raul

Raul

Raul

Raul

Raul

Ricardo

Ricardo

Rick

Rick

Rocky

Rocky

Rogelio

Rogelio

Ronny

Ronny

Salvador

Salvador

Salvador

Salvador

Samual

Samual

Santos

Santos

Stacey

Stacey

Steve

Steve

Steve

Steve

Tim

Tim

Tom

Tom

Tony

Tony

Tony

Tony

Transito

Transito

Travis and Jason

Travis and Jason

Wayne

Wayne

Willy

Willy

Woodrow

Woodrow

Zack

Zack