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Murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the United States through the Section of Painting and Sculpture, later called the Section of Fine Arts, of the Treasury Department. The murals were intended to boost the morale of the American people from the effects of the Depression by depicting uplifting subjects. Murals were commissioned through competitions open to all artists in the United States.[1] Almost 850 artists were commissioned to paint 1371 murals, most of which were installed in post offices, libraries, and other public buildings.[2] 162 of the artists were women. The murals were funded as a part of the cost of the construction with 1% of the cost set aside for artistic enhancements.[2]
His 1939 mural The British Come to See Monty Python, commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, is currently in storage at the Low Countries Museum of Art
_____ was an American artist and a member of the _________ artists colony. She painted murals for the WPA Fine Arts Section during the Great Depression.
Her work is featured in MOMA in NYNY and AIC in CHGO.
She received honorary degrees fron CCAC and AIC.
She was awarded the highest recognition for graphic design, the AIGA medal in 2004
In 1939, one of __________'s paintings was selected to appear at the _____________________Gallery and in 1942 she installed a commissioned piece for the WPA in the post office in Anywhere, Oklahoma. The work, entitled "What a Wonderful Day" depicted a shining sun and was an oil on canvas installation. (Olga Mohr)
Marlene Park and Gerald Markowitz, Democratic Vistas, Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal, Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1984, pp. 96, 141, 147, 207, 210-211, 215-216, 232.
[5] Engendering Culture: Manhood and Womanhood in New Deal Public Art and Theater. Smithsonian
"Works Progress Administration 1935-1943." Historic Events for Students: The Great Depression. Ed. Richard C. Hanes and Sharon M. Hanes. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2002. 306-324. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 May 2016.
After his inauguration in March 1933, President FDR initiated work relief programs that culminated in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935. The Works Progress Administration was designed to get the unemployed off of the relief (welfare) rolls by providing work, at minimal pay, until they could find work in the private sector. Some of the WPA projects targeted unemployed artists, musicians, writers and actors. The cultural work relief programs promoted authentically American art. The resulting artwork was sometimes wonderful, often bad, and occasionally very critical of America, capitalism, and the government. It was this aspect of the work relief programs that provided fodder for critics and ultimately led to the program's demise.
In November 1933 Roosevelt set-up the Civil Works Administration (CWA) to provide temporary jobs to a few million of the unemployed. It put four million people to work within four weeks. Also in 1933, Roosevelt created the Public Works Administration (PWA) under the direction of Secretary of Interior Harold L. Ickes. The PWA was an ambitious program that employed workers to construct thousands of new public facilities all across the country including more than five hundred municipal water systems, almost three hundred hospitals, and more than five hundred schools. With the introduction of the Works Progress Administration in 1935, the PWA and the WPA were constantly battling for funding until the PWA was disbanded in 1939. FDR created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935 to take over some responsibilities of the FERA, the PWA, and the CWA. Like the others the WPA was created to provide work relief for the unemployed. It was the largest public works program ever attempted — in the number of people employed, in money expended, and in volume of results.
Roosevelt appointed Harry Hopkins, a social worker with years of experience directing relief and work relief programs, to lead the WPA. Wages were intentionally kept significantly below positions in the private sector, even tho private sector jobs were unavailable. The WPA wrestled with how to make the jobs sufficiently attractive to boost the morale of the unemployed workers, without making them so attractive that the workers would prefer them to private employment. Low wages were one way that the WPA jobs were made less attractive.
By 1936 the Federal Art Project (FAP) employed more than six thousand artists with about half involved in the direct creation of art. They created more than 40,000 paintings and 1,100 murals. The best known and most lasting of the works of art created under FAP were the murals painted in public buildings across the nation. The FAP murals represented a renewed interest in American life. Victor Arnautoff's "City Life" in San Francisco's Coit Tower is one of the best examples... subjects were often pro-labor...and, as a result. accusations of "communism" grew toward the end of the 1930s. Many artists employed by the Federal Art Project would later become famous: Jackson Pollack, Willem De Kooning, Anton Refregier, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi to name a few.
The WPA provided work relief for millions of people during the Great Depression. It took an innovative approach to include cultural expression into its employment program. In doing so the WPA quickly came under attack from conservatives in Congress.
Southern states did poorly at employing women in the WPA, especially black American women. Part of this had to do with segregation requirements. Black and white men could work together on outdoor projects. But the women's projects, which were indoors, had to be entirely segregated, making them more costly to run. In addition many Southerners objected to employment programs that would compete with domestic services for black American women. They wanted black American women to be available to work as maids and cooks in white people's homes for low wages.
The WPA helped many Americans to develop and cement their views about work relief. FDR believed accepting relief without working for it undermines the self-esteem of the recipient. Many of the buildings and highways and other projects built by the men of the WPA are still part of the American landscape. Much of the art, especially the many murals from the Federal Art Project, are still adorning public buildings around the United States.
^Park, Marlene and Gerald E. Markowitz, Democratic vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal, Temple University Press, Philadelphia 1984
^American Art Annual, Geographical Dictionary Of Murals and Sculptures commissioned by Section of Fine Arts, Public Buildings Administration, Federal Works Agency. The American Federation of Arts, 1941 pp 623 - 658
^Melosh, Barbara (1991). Engendering Culture: Manhood and Womanhood in New Deal Public Art and Theater. Smithsonian Institute Press. ISBN9780874747218. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
^McKenzie, Richard (1972). The New Deal for Artists (first ed.). Boston, MA: Princeton University Press. pp. 13 to 33. ISBN9780691046136. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
^O'Connor, Francis V. (1972). The New Deal Art Projects : An Anthology of Memoirs (First ed.). Smithsonian Institute Press. pp. 22 to 222. ISBN9780874741131. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
^Kennedy, Roger G. (2009). When Art Worked : The New Deal, Art, and Democracy (First ed.). New York, NY: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.. pp. 33 to 333. ISBN9780847830893. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
^Marling, Karal A. (1982). Wall-to-Wall America : A Cultural History of Post Office Murals in the Great Depression (First ed.). University of Minnesota Press. pp. 272 to 276. ISBN0816611165.
^Thompson, Mary Emma (2005). A Guide to Depression Era Art in Illinois Post Offices (Revised ed.). Self published. pp. 1 to 22. ISBN9780977028603.
^Federal Writers of the WPA (1947). Minnesota: A State Guide (Second ed.). Hastings House. ISBN0403021731.
^Park, Marlene and Gerald E. Markowitz, Democratic vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal, Temple University Press, Philadelphia 1984
^American Art Annual, Geographical Dictionary Of Murals and Sculptures commissioned by Section of Fine Arts, Public Buildings Administration, Federal Works Agency. The American Federation of Arts, 1941 pp 623 - 658
^Carlisle, John C., “A Simple and Vital Design: The Story of the Indiana Post Office Murals”, Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, 1995
^Hull, Howard, Tennessee Post Office Murals, The Overmountain Press, Jiohnson City Tennessee, 1996
^Opitz, Glenn B, Editor, Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers, Apollo Book, Poughkeepsie NY, 1986
^McGlauflin, ed., ‘’Who’s Who in American Art 1938-1939” vol.2, The American Federation of Arts,Washington D.C., 1937
^Petteys, Chris, “Dictionary of Women Artists: An international dictionary of women ratites born before 1900”, G.K. Hall & Co., Boston, 1985
^ Nunn, Tey Marianna, Sin Nombre:Hispana & Hispani Artists of the New Deal University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque 2001
^Becker, Heather, Art for the People:The Rediscovery and Preservation of Progressive and WPA-Era Murals in the Chicago Public Schools, 1904-1843
^Gray, Mary Lackritz, A Guide to Chicago’s Murals, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2001
^ Flynn, Kathryn A., Treasures on New Mexico Trails: Discover New Deal Art and Architecture , Sunstone Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico 1995
^ Berningham, Peter, The New Deal in the Southwest: Arizona and New Mexico, The University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson
^ Wakefield Goodspeed, Thomas, The University of Chicago Biographical Sketches, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1922
^ Rubinstein, Charlotte Streifer, American Women Artists: From Early Indian Times to the Present, G.K. Hall and Co., Boston, Massachusetts, 1982
^ Hillstrom, Laurie & Kevin, Contemporary Women Artists, Saint James Press, Farmington Mills, Michigan, 1999
^ Lester, Patrick D., The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters, SIR Publications, Tulsa, Oklahoma,
9780806199369, 701 pages, First edition, 1995
Most of the Post Office works of art were funded through commissions under the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture (later known as The Section of Fine Arts) and not the WPA.
“Often mistaken for WPA art, post office murals were actually executed by artists working for the Section of Fine Arts. Commonly known as “the Section,” it was established in 1934 and administered by the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department. Headed by Edward Bruce, a former lawyer, businessman, and artist, the Section’s main function was to select art of high quality to decorate public buildings if the funding was available. By providing decoration in public buildings, the art was made accessible to all people.” from “Articles from EnRoute : Off The Wall: New Deal Post Office Murals” by Patricia Raynor.[1]
