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05-27-14

Inside Alcatraz: The New Industries Building

Interior of the New Industries Building at Alcatraz

Interior of the New Industries Building; photo: Jan Stürmann

Visitors to @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz will encounter the island from new perspectives — not just metaphorically, but literally. With artworks occupying the New Industries Building, A Block, the Hospital, and the Dining Hall, the exhibition invites visitors into historic spaces that (with the exception of the Dining Hall) have usually been off limits to the public. This summer on Field Notes, we’ll be sharing stories from these remarkable spaces. We start our tour with the New Industries Building.

Sewing work room in the New Industries Building at Alcatraz

Inmates in the sewing work room; photo courtesy National Park Service

“You are required to work at whatever you are told to do.”
— USP Alcatraz Regulation 21: Work

In the federal penitentiary on Alcatraz, work was a privilege. One of the rewards for good behavior was a job, and for many inmates during the last two decades of the prison’s existence, that job was in the New Industries Building. Built between 1939 and 1941, this two-story laundry and manufacturing facility was designed to replace the Model Industries Building nearby, which had been the site of several escape attempts.

Working in “the Industries” offered its own kinds of escape — from boredom and physical inactivity, from social isolation, and even from a full prison term. In exchange for his labor, an inmate could earn a shortened sentence — an average of two days’ “good time” for a month’s work — as well as a little money to send to family or save for the future. (In the prison’s early days, the wage was five to 12 cents per hour.) Work could be a relief from the tedium of hours spent alone in a cell, and the daily walk down from the cellhouse to the New Industries Building offered expansive views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate.

For some prisoners, though, the sight of the city was a tormenting reminder of how far they really were from freedom, and work was not a respite but another dreary routine. Former inmate Jim Quillen remembered his job in the New Industries brush shop as “the most frustrating and boring, not to mention aggravating, work I have ever done — before, during, or after my release from prison.” Although workers had slightly more freedom to move and communicate at work than in the cellhouse, they were still under constant control: unarmed guards patrolled the floor, carrying whistles to signal to armed guards in the gun gallery overhead in case of trouble. (Visitors to @Large will be able to view artworks from inside the gun gallery.)

Gun gallery in the New Industries Building at Alcatraz

Gun gallery in the New Industries Building; photo: Jan Stürmann

Former guard Jim Albright described the New Industries Building as “filled with the assorted sounds of clothes washers and dryers, band saws, grinders, hammers, and sewing machines. . . . The combined scents of laundry detergent, cleaning fluids, and other chemicals once filled the air.” Workers here did laundry for military bases all over the Bay Area — initially, the entire upper floor was a laundry facility, the largest in San Francisco at the time — and manufactured clothing, gloves, shoes, brushes, and furniture for government use. During World War II, prisoners were also called upon to help the war effort: workers made tens of thousands of cargo nets for the US Navy and repaired the large buoys that secured the submarine net across San Francisco Bay.

Inmates making cargo nets in the New Industries Building on Alcatraz

Inmates making cargo nets; photo courtesy National Park Service

The official employer of workers on Alcatraz was not the penitentiary itself, but Federal Prison Industries, Incorporated, a government corporation launched in 1934 to create “factories with fences” in federal prisons. This corporation still exists today; operating under the name UNICOR, it has expanded to provide not only manual labor for government industry but also business services — such as prisoner-staffed call centers — for private companies.

The workshops in the New Industries Building started shutting down in October 1962, before the entire prison closed in 1963. Today, visitors to the national park can still see the views that were so tantalizing for the men who worked here, and observe the numerous birds that now use the cliffs outside New Industries as a nesting ground.

See the New Industries Building for yourself when you visit @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, on view September 27, 2014, through April 26, 2015. Advance tickets are strongly recommended; to purchase, visit Alcatraz Cruises.

@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz is organized by the FOR-SITE Foundation in partnership with the National Park Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. Lead support for the exhibition is provided by Roger Evans and Aey Phanachet and by the Fisher family.
@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, Alcatraz

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  • #LandsEnd featured artist Andrea Chung’s video Come Back to Jamaica (2009), & Come Back to Yourself (2013), will be… https://t.co/HXwouRNnBa
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FOR-SITE collaborator @hankwillisthomas & artist @wideawakes designed  #EyesonIran flying billboards in solidarity with the women of Iran. 

The billboards can be seen this week on South beach, Miami and at @untitledartfair 

@forfreedoms multi-day, multi-media art installation spans Miami and artworks throughout @4freedomspark in NYC
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FOR-SITE collaborator @hankwillisthomas & artist @wideawakes designed #EyesonIran flying billboards in solidarity with the women of Iran. The billboards can be seen this week on South beach, Miami and at @untitledartfair @forfreedoms multi-day, multi-media art installation spans Miami and artworks throughout @4freedomspark in NYC
2 months ago
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1/9
This #GivingTuesday we want to celebrate and honor YOU and the other partners and supporters who have buoyed our wildest dreams. Access to all of our exhibition sites these past years—from the former Cliff House to Alcatraz to military batteries and churches—was gifted to us from our park partners. The 110 artists with whom we have worked blew us away with breathtaking, career-defining work, often under short order. FOR-SITE simply would not exist without the well of generosity and cooperation that is our friends, and we intend to express our gratitude this year. 

You can continue to support FOR-SITE by donating today at the link in bio.
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This #GivingTuesday we want to celebrate and honor YOU and the other partners and supporters who have buoyed our wildest dreams. Access to all of our exhibition sites these past years—from the former Cliff House to Alcatraz to military batteries and churches—was gifted to us from our park partners. The 110 artists with whom we have worked blew us away with breathtaking, career-defining work, often under short order. FOR-SITE simply would not exist without the well of generosity and cooperation that is our friends, and we intend to express our gratitude this year. You can continue to support FOR-SITE by donating today at the link in bio.
2 months ago
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2/9
The participating artists of FOR-SITE’s 2018 exhibition SANCTUARY, represented diverse ideologies and backgrounds (many including experiences as migrants and refugees), but their contributions to the exhibition—spectacularly varied in content and design—conformed to a single format, lending a unifying element that bridged racial, cultural, and religious differences. Installed on the floor of the historic Fort Mason Chapel, the four-by-six-foot wool rugs—woven in Lahore, Pakistan, using traditional materials and hand-knotting techniques—called to mind traditional prayer rugs, but they transcended religious connotations, encompassing thoughtful viewpoints on cultural identity, sense of place, and belonging.

Photo by @robertdiversherrick
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The participating artists of FOR-SITE’s 2018 exhibition SANCTUARY, represented diverse ideologies and backgrounds (many including experiences as migrants and refugees), but their contributions to the exhibition—spectacularly varied in content and design—conformed to a single format, lending a unifying element that bridged racial, cultural, and religious differences. Installed on the floor of the historic Fort Mason Chapel, the four-by-six-foot wool rugs—woven in Lahore, Pakistan, using traditional materials and hand-knotting techniques—called to mind traditional prayer rugs, but they transcended religious connotations, encompassing thoughtful viewpoints on cultural identity, sense of place, and belonging. Photo by @robertdiversherrick
2 months ago
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3/9
#LandsEnd featured artist @suzannehusky has explored interactions among humans, animals, and plants through a multifaceted art practice that includes sculpture, installation, photography, and film for the last 20 years. 

Husky sculpts her trees from used clothes and found textiles, translating our cast-off clothing—informed by age and gender, class, culture, and politics—to the individualizing characteristics of trees, suggesting the deep interconnectedness of humans and their natural surroundings. “Forest” is both an homage to an ecological system that supports countless plant and animal species and a memorial to that same system under threat of erasure. #artaboutplace
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#LandsEnd featured artist @suzannehusky has explored interactions among humans, animals, and plants through a multifaceted art practice that includes sculpture, installation, photography, and film for the last 20 years. Husky sculpts her trees from used clothes and found textiles, translating our cast-off clothing—informed by age and gender, class, culture, and politics—to the individualizing characteristics of trees, suggesting the deep interconnectedness of humans and their natural surroundings. “Forest” is both an homage to an ecological system that supports countless plant and animal species and a memorial to that same system under threat of erasure. #artaboutplace
2 months ago
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4/9
#LandsEnd featured artist @danielbeltraphoto’s striking, large-scale aerial photographs of melting polar ice caps and oil spills highlight the rate and scale at which humanity is impacting our world. His juxtapositions of nature and destruction provide an almost overwhelming sense of physical scale and emotional dread, through flattened but dynamic images that flirt with abstraction.
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#LandsEnd featured artist @danielbeltraphoto’s striking, large-scale aerial photographs of melting polar ice caps and oil spills highlight the rate and scale at which humanity is impacting our world. His juxtapositions of nature and destruction provide an almost overwhelming sense of physical scale and emotional dread, through flattened but dynamic images that flirt with abstraction.
3 months ago
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5/9
FOR-SITE turns 20 in 2023! We feel extremely grateful to all of you, the artists, and to our long-standing park partners, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (@parksconservancy), the Presidio Trust (@presidiosf), and the @nationalparkservice, for such outstanding companionship and support of our work.

Stay tuned! The celebrations begin next month, in December, followed by a milestone anniversary year punctuated by programs and events, and a to-be-announced biennial exhibition open to the public.

In the meantime, you may have noticed we changed our name and branding, with our new website coming soon. The FOR-SITE Foundation is now FOR-SITE, yet we remain dedicated to the creation, understanding, and presentation of art about place.

We look forward to celebrating with you this next year!
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FOR-SITE turns 20 in 2023! We feel extremely grateful to all of you, the artists, and to our long-standing park partners, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (@parksconservancy), the Presidio Trust (@presidiosf), and the @nationalparkservice, for such outstanding companionship and support of our work. Stay tuned! The celebrations begin next month, in December, followed by a milestone anniversary year punctuated by programs and events, and a to-be-announced biennial exhibition open to the public. In the meantime, you may have noticed we changed our name and branding, with our new website coming soon. The FOR-SITE Foundation is now FOR-SITE, yet we remain dedicated to the creation, understanding, and presentation of art about place. We look forward to celebrating with you this next year!
3 months ago
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6/9
Election Day has arrived! VOTE for the planet and the future you want to see in the world 🌍🌊 🗳️
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Election Day has arrived! VOTE for the planet and the future you want to see in the world 🌍🌊 🗳️
3 months ago
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7/9
@anateresafernandez talking sea bodies and On the Horizon on @kqed live. #LandsEnd
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@anateresafernandez talking sea bodies and On the Horizon on @kqed live. #LandsEnd
3 months ago
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8/9
“The response among members of the visual arts community in the Bay Area was swift and certain: The Times story, a consensus of those who spoke with The Chronicle said, does not represent the region accurately, and they do not see a local decline.

The most common criticism of the Times’ reporting was that San Francisco should not be viewed through the lens of an art market, but rather as a larger arts community consisting of many public and private institutions as well as independent artists, arts workers and patrons.” - @tonybravosf 

@anateresafernandez “On the Horizon” at #FORSITE’s #LandsEnd exhibition featured  in @tonybravosf “S.F.’s art scene, disparaged by the New York Times, pushes back” for @sfchronicle_datebook
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“The response among members of the visual arts community in the Bay Area was swift and certain: The Times story, a consensus of those who spoke with The Chronicle said, does not represent the region accurately, and they do not see a local decline. The most common criticism of the Times’ reporting was that San Francisco should not be viewed through the lens of an art market, but rather as a larger arts community consisting of many public and private institutions as well as independent artists, arts workers and patrons.” - @tonybravosf @anateresafernandez “On the Horizon” at #FORSITE’s #LandsEnd exhibition featured in @tonybravosf “S.F.’s art scene, disparaged by the New York Times, pushes back” for @sfchronicle_datebook
3 months ago
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9/9

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