United Scenic Artists

United Scenic Artists is a labor union representing designers and artists in the theater, opera, ballet, motion picture, television, and industrial exhibition industries. It originated as the United Scenic Artists Association and received its charter from the American Federation of Labor in 1918 as Local 829, an autonomous local of the Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades. The union’s main purposes were to safeguard and maintain the high standards of the member crafts and to fight unfair working conditions.

The union represents an array of creative professions, and has expanded and adapted its classifications to conform to changes in the entertainment industry. In the 1920s, when scenic designers and scenic artists began to be differentiated from each other, and one artist was no longer responsible for the various facets of stage design, the union accommodated to these changes. In the following decades the union continued revising its classification system to include studio shopmen, costume and lighting designers, display and panorama artists, muralists, and most recently, computer and projection artists.

USA Local 829 has also had a notable political history. During the 1920s, the local was active in a variety of AFL campaigns; many of its members participated in a 1922 strike in Albany to defeat the Duell-Miller Bill, which proposed to outlaw strikes and lockouts, thereby enforcing binding arbitration on labor disputes. In the early 1940s, the union wholeheartedly supported the war effort, and many members left the entertainment industry altogether for the war industries. Others were active in the Theatre Artists and Designers War Service, offering their labor to patriotic parades and pageants, and decorating windows for Russian War Relief.

Jurisdictional Disputes were commonplace for the USA, especially during the period when television and film were burgeoning industries. Particularly intense disputes arose between the union and locals of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) in the 1940s. Most notable of these confrontations was a 1948-1949 strike in Hollywood, which resulted in the USA losing jurisdiction over several categories of scenic artists in California to IATSE; even today, USA Local 829 members in California consist solely of theater designers. During the 1940s and 50s the television industry was growing rapidly as well, and Local 829 moved quickly to develop and secure its jurisdiction. Negotiations with major television networks were complicated and intense, resulting in several strikes during the 40s and 50s. In the 1960s and 70s, specialized contracts with the networks, commercial producers, and motion picture studios were developed to reflect the growth of these sectors.

Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, USA Local 892 continued to go through structural and jurisdictional changes. In 1983, a group of West Coast designers chose to affiliate with the union, which opened a Los Angeles office to serve them. In March of 1990, a merger with the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades (IBPAT), Local 350 in Chicago was effected and thereby jurisdiction was gained throughout the United States. However, in 1999 the union voted to disaffiliate with the IBPAT and re-affiliate with the IATSE, acquiring the new name, United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, IATSE.

From the guide to the United Scenic Artists Records, Bulk, 1912-1964, 1897-1984, (Bulk 1912-1964), (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)