California African American Museum (CAAM) presents, Industrial Residue in the Rust Belt: LaToya Ruby Frazier and Taylor Renee Aldridge in Conversation.

LaToya Ruby Frazier, known for practices that span photography, video, performance art and books, that center on the nexus of social justice, cultural change, and commentary on the American Experience, joins Taylor Renee Aldridge to discuss Frazier’s ongoing work in documentary film and photography.

In various interconnected bodies of work, Frazier uses collaborative storytelling with the people who appear in her artwork to celebrate working-class individuals and to address topics of industrialism, environmental justice, workers’ rights, human rights, and family. The Last Cruze extends this impulse by offering a monument to the workers of the former General Motors factory in Lordstown, Ohio, which was “unallocated” in 2019, leaving many of the factory workers unemployed. Frazier and Aldridge will discuss Black Americans’ contributions to the history of industrial advancement in this country, and how post-industrial decline continues to negatively impact working-class communities in Rust Belt cities, like Frazier’s hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania.

LaToya Ruby Frazier: The Last Cruze and related programs are presented in partnership with USC School of Architecture, USC Roski School of Art and Design, and USC Visions and Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative.

This lecture is in person; masks required. The gallery will open at 6:30 p.m. so you can view "The Last Cruze" before the talk.