From the Ashland Daily Tidings, on an art exhibit of portraits of women working in sweatshops:

While art in a government meeting space might be unusual, the paintings do tie in with a 2008 Ashland City Council decision that the city will not buy employees' uniforms from sweatshops. The council voted for the city of Ashland to join a consortium that monitors factories and pools information about where to buy sweatshop-free clothing.

Essley's paintings, which are part of a traveling exhibit, were brought to Ashland through the efforts of Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice, a group that campaigned for passage of the sweatshop-free uniforms policy, as well as the Ashland Public Arts Commission. Read the whole article here...

Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice, and MRG grantee, continues to build on the success of the sweatshop-free uniforms policy as part of their work on fair trade and globalization.

You can see the art that was on display at the artist Janet Essley's website.