The UAW and DaimlerChrysler Corp. today opened their largest jointly sponsored employee art exhibition to celebrate the diverse talents of men and women who design, engineer and build Chrysler Group vehicles.

The 2004-2005 Artists at Work Exhibition features 156 pieces of art, ranging from metal sculpture and painting to underwater photography, by 63 UAW-represented and non-bargaining unit employees.

The Artists at Work Exhibition may be viewed online at http://www.uawdcx.com.

UAW and DaimlerChrysler officials joined other guests in recognizing the employee-artists at an evening reception and ribbon cutting at the UAW-DaimlerChrysler National Training Center. Artists at Work is the country's only juried art show for union and management employees from a major corporation.

From more than 800 entries, four judges from the professional art community chose pieces for the 2004-2005 exhibition, the fifth sponsored by the National Training Center. Judges awarded "best of show" prizes to three employees and honorable mention citations to 13 others.

Forty-one Artists at Work participants are UAW members from 18 union locals, while 22 participants are from non-bargaining unit ranks. Representing a cross section of the corporation, 22 locations have employees in the exhibition, with the largest number from the DaimlerChrysler Technology Center in Auburn Hills, Mich. The artists range from millwrights and engineers to assemblers and sales managers.

UAW Vice President Nate Gooden, director of the union's DaimlerChrysler Department, said Artists at Work sends a powerful message about the diverse skills of autoworkers.

"The new exhibit is the best we have had, and it serves as a reminder that people who work on the shop floor have multiple talents that often aren't recognized by the general public," said Gooden. "We are proud of UAW members and their artistic achievements, as well as their everyday contributions on the job."

John S. Franciosi, DaimlerChrysler senior vice president of employee relations, said Artists at Work has had a positive impact on employee morale since it began in 1999-2000.

"The corporation is pleased to again join with the UAW in providing this creative outlet for our employees," said Franciosi. "Artists at Work brings out the best in our people. It shows we value the talents they demonstrate on and off the job that help to give us a competitive edge."

Since its inception, the Artists at Work program has exhibited 612 pieces of art by 282 DaimlerChrysler employees.

This year's first-place award winner, Douglas McLaughlin, is a photo instrumentation specialist and UAW Local 412 member at the DaimlerChrysler Tech Center. He won with his "Highway 43" and "Wisdom, MT" entries, dramatic black and white photographs of the same road shot from different directions only a few seconds apart on the same day.

Herman Spaeth, the second-place award winner, is a release analyst at Jeep and Truck Engineering in Detroit. Titled "Natural Edge Hickory Bowl," his winning entry was created using the centuries-old art form of wood turning. Spaeth uses simple tools to shape bowls, vases and other objects as they turn on a lathe. The third-place award went to Karen Jagenow, a technical illustrator and UAW Local 412 member at the DaimlerChrysler Tech Center. Her provocative winning entry, "Scrap," is a metal sculpture made from fan blades, a camshaft, engine valves and other old auto parts. It was her first welded sculpture.

The 13 employees who received honorable mentions are:

• Stephen Biesiada, assembler, Toledo (Ohio) North Assembly Plant, UAW Local 12, acrylic painting
• Corbet R. Blanton, electrician, Toledo North Assembly, UAW Local 12, five turned wood pieces
• Kenneth A. Borkin, photographer, DaimlerChrysler Technology Center, UAW Local 412, photograph
• Timothy M. Feher, technical illustrator, Jeep and Truck Engineering, UAW Local 412, airbrush
• Stanford J. Giles, millwright, Kokomo (Ind.) Casting Plant, UAW Local 1166, hand metal engraving
• Elizabeth V. Jordan, welder, Toledo Machining Plant, UAW Local 1435, pencil drawing
• Eric Krosnicki, millwright, Mack Avenue Engine I Plant, Detroit, UAW Local 51, welded metal
• Rod Leisure, pipefitter, Kokomo Transmission Plant, UAW Local 685, scratchboard
• Sandi Lopez, environmental specialist, Warren (Mich.) Truck Assembly Plant, photograph
• Terence L. Malosh, team leader, Toledo North Assembly, UAW Local 12, digital photograph
• Craig A. Reed, skilled trades chief steward, Kokomo Transmission, UAW Local 685, underwater photograph
• Dennis Sabatowich, weld inspector, Warren Truck Assembly, UAW Local 140, welded sculpture
• Gunther Schabestiel, photo instrumentation specialist, DaimlerChrysler Technology Center, four photographs

Art chosen for the exhibition will be displayed at the National Training Center, located near downtown Detroit, for the rest of the year. The first-, second- and third-place award winners will receive special recognition at the 2005 UAW-DaimlerChrysler Annual Meeting and Joint Conferences next month in Las Vegas.

Artists at Work is one of 30 joint union-management programs administered by the National Training Center. Programs provide job-related training, work- life services and other educational opportunities for about 60,000 active UAW- represented DaimlerChrysler workers, as well as family members and retirees. Non-bargaining unit employees also benefit from NTC programs. For further information, contact Ron Russell, UAW-DaimlerChrysler National Training Center, (313) 567-4934, rrussell@ucntc.org .