Federal Art Project

The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the largest of the New Deal art projects. It was created not as a cultural activity, but as a relief measure to employ artists and artisans to create murals, easel paintings, sculpture, graphic art, posters, photography, theatre scenic design, and arts and crafts. The WPA Federal Art Project established more than 100 community art centers throughout the country, researched and documented American design, commissioned a significant body of public art without restriction to content or subject matter, and sustained some 10,000 artists and craft workers during the Great Depression. According to American Heritage, “Something like 400,000 easel paintings, murals, prints, posters, and renderings were produced by WPA artists during the eight years of the project’s existence, virtually free of government pressure to control subject matter, interpretation, or style.”<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Background

Template:See also Template:Multiple image The Federal Art Project was the visual arts arm of Federal Project Number One, a program of the Works Progress Administration, which was intended to provide employment for struggling artists during the Great Depression. Funded under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, it operated from August 29, 1935, until June 30, 1943. It was created as a relief measure to employ artists and artisans to create murals, easel paintings, sculpture, graphic art, posters, photographs, Index of American Design documentation, museum and theatre scenic design, and arts and crafts. The Federal Art Project operated community art centers throughout the country where craft workers and artists worked, exhibited, and educated others.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The project created more than 200,000 separate works, some of them remaining among the most significant pieces of public art in the country.<ref name="Kalfatovic">Template:Cite book</ref>

The Federal Art Project's primary goals were to employ out-of-work artists and to provide art for nonfederal municipal buildings and public spaces. Artists were paid $23.60 a week; tax-supported institutions such as schools, hospitals, and public buildings paid only for materials.<ref name="NYT American Murals">Template:Cite news</ref> The work was divided into art production, art instruction, and art research. The primary output of the art-research group was the Index of American Design, a mammoth and comprehensive study of American material culture.

As many as 10,000 artists were commissioned to produce work for the WPA Federal Art Project,<ref name="Brian Naylor"/> the largest of the New Deal art projects. Three comparable but distinctly separate New Deal art projects were administered by the United States Department of the Treasury: the Public Works of Art Project (1933–1934), the Section of Painting and Sculpture (1934–1943), and the Treasury Relief Art Project (1935–1938).<ref name="GSA Inventory Project">Template:Cite web</ref>

The WPA program made no distinction between representational and nonrepresentational art. Abstraction had not yet gained favor in the 1930s and 1940s, so was virtually unsalable. As a result, the Federal Art Project supported such iconic artists as Jackson Pollock before their work could earn them income.<ref>Atkins, Robert (1993). ArtSpoke: A Guide to Modern Ideas, Movements, and Buzzwords, 1848-1944. Abbeville Press. Template:ISBN.</ref>

One particular success was the Milwaukee Handicraft Project, which started in 1935 as an experiment that employed 900 people who were classified as unemployable due to their age or disability.<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp The project came to employ about 5,000 unskilled workers, many of them women and the long-term unemployed. Historian John Gurda observed that the city's unemployment hovered at 40% in 1933. "In that year," he said, "53 percent of Milwaukee's property taxes went unpaid because people just could not afford to make the tax payments."<ref name="Handicraft WPR">Template:Cite web</ref> Workers were taught bookbinding, block printing, and design, which they used to create handmade art books and children's books. They produced toys, dolls,<ref name="MOWA">Template:Cite web</ref> theatre costumes, quilts,<ref name="Handicraft WPR"/> rugs, draperies, wall hangings, and furniture that were purchased by schools, hospitals,<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp and municipal organizations<ref name="My Day November 13">Template:Cite web</ref> for the cost of materials only.<ref name="UWM">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2014, when the Museum of Wisconsin Art mounted an exhibition of items created by the Milwaukee Handicraft Project, furniture from it was still being used at the Milwaukee Public Library.<ref name="Handicraft WPR"/>

Holger Cahill was national director of the Federal Art Project. Other administrators included Audrey McMahon, director of the New York Region (New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia); Clement B. Haupers, director for Minnesota;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> George Godfrey Thorp (Illinois),<ref>Smithsonian. Archives of American Art. George Godfrey Thorp papers, 1941–1970</ref> and Robert Bruce Inverarity, director for Washington. Regional New York supervisors of the Federal Art Project have included sculptor William Ehrich (1897–1960) of the Buffalo Unit (1938–1939), project director of the Buffalo Zoo expansion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notable artists

Some 10,000 artists were commissioned to work for the Federal Art Project.<ref name="Brian Naylor"/> Notable artists include the following:

• William Abbenseth<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Berenice Abbott<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Ida York Abelman<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Gertrude Abercrombie<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Benjamin Abramowitz<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Abe Ajay<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Ivan Albright<ref name="When Art Worked">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
• Maxine Albro<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Charles Alston<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Harold Ambellan<ref name="Willert Park Courts">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Luis Arenal<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Bruce Ariss<ref name="Pacific Grove">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Victor Arnautoff<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Sheva Ausubel<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Jozef Bakos<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Henry Bannarn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Belle Baranceanu<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Patrociño Barela<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Will Barnet<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Richmond Barthé<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Herbert Bayer<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• William Baziotes<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Lester Beall<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Harrison Begay<ref name="WPA Art Gallup New Mexico">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Daisy Maud Bellis<ref>Edward Alden Jewell (August 27, 1933). "“Musings Way Down east,” New York Times"</ref><ref name="Connecticut State Library 1933">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Rainey Bennett<ref name="New Horizons">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
• Aaron Berkman<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Leon Bibel<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Robert Blackburn<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Arnold Blanch<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Lucile Blanch<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Lucienne Bloch<ref name="NYT American Murals"/>
• Aaron Bohrod<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Ilya Bolotowsky<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Williamsburg">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Adele Brandeis<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Louise Brann<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Edgar Britton<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Manuel Bromberg<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• James Brooks<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Librarian Praises WPA">Template:Cite news</ref>
• Selma Burke<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Letterio Calapai<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Samuel Cashwan<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Giorgio Cavallon<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Daniel Celentano<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Dane Chanase<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Fay Chong<ref name="Mahoney">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Claude Clark<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Max Arthur Cohn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Eldzier Cortor<ref name="GSA film">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Arthur Covey<ref name="Connecticut Inventory">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Alfred D. Crimi<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Francis Criss<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Allan Crite<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Robert Cronbach<ref name="Willert Park Courts"/>
• John Steuart Curry<ref name="Connecticut Inventory"/>
• Philip Campbell Curtis<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• James Daugherty<ref name="Connecticut Inventory"/>
• Stuart Davis<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Adolf Dehn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Willem de Kooning<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Joseph De Martini<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Burgoyne Diller<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Isami Doi<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Mabel Dwight<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Ruth Egri<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Fritz Eichenberg<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Jacob Elshin<ref name="Mahoney"/>
• George Pearse Ennis<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Angna Enters<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Philip Evergood<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Louis Ferstadt<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Alexander Finta<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Joseph Fleck<ref name="WPA Art Gallup New Mexico"/>
• Seymour Fogel<ref name="NYT American Murals"/><ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Lily Furedi<ref name="Photo Division Files">Template:Cite web</ref>
• George Michael Gaethke<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Todros Geller<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Aaron Gelman<ref name="Connecticut Inventory"/>
• Eugenie Gershoy<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Enrico Glicenstein<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Vincent Glinsky<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Bertram Goodman<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Arshile Gorky<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Harry Gottlieb<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Blanche Grambs<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Morris Graves<ref name="Mahoney"/>
• Balcomb Greene<ref name="Williamsburg"/>
• Marion Greenwood<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Waylande Gregory<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Philip Guston<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Irving Guyer<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Abraham Harriton<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Marsden Hartley<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Knute Heldner<ref name="KnowLA">Template:Cite web</ref>
• August Henkel<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Ralf Henricksen<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Magnus Colcord Heurlin<ref name="Connecticut Inventory"/>
• Hilaire Hiler<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Louis Hirshman<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Donal Hord<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Axel Horn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Milton Horn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Allan Houser<ref name="WPA Art Gallup New Mexico"/>
• Eitaro Ishigaki<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Edwin Boyd Johnson<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Sargent Claude Johnson<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Tom Loftin Johnson<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• William H. Johnson<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Leonard D. Jungwirth<ref name="GSA film"/>
• Reuben Kadish<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Sheffield Kagy<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Jacob Kainen<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• David Karfunkle<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Leon Kelly<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Paul Kelpe<ref name="Williamsburg"/>
• Troy Kinney<ref name="Connecticut Inventory"/>
• Georgina Klitgaard<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Gene Kloss<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Karl Knaths<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Edwin B. Knutesen<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>
• Lee Krasner<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Kalman Kubinyi<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Yasuo Kuniyoshi<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Jacob Lawrence<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Edward Laning<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Michael Lantz<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Blanche Lazzell<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Tom Lea<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Lawrence Lebduska<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Joseph Leboit<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• William Robinson Leigh<ref name="WPA Art Gallup New Mexico"/>
• Julian E. Levi<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Jack Levine<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Monty Lewis<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Elba Lightfoot<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Abraham Lishinsky<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Michael Loew<ref name="WPA Murals Approved NYT">Template:Cite news</ref>
• Thomas Gaetano LoMedico<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Louis Lozowick<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Nan Lurie<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Guy Maccoy<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Stanton Macdonald-Wright<ref name="FAP Group Photo">Template:Cite web</ref>
• George McNeil<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Moissaye Marans<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• David Margolis<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Kyra Markham<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Jack Markow<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Mercedes Matter<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Jan Matulka<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Dina Melicov<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Hugh Mesibov<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Katherine Milhous<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Jo Mora<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Helmuth Naumer<ref name="WPA Art Gallup New Mexico"/>
• Louise Nevelson<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• James Michael Newell<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Spencer Baird Nichols<ref name="Connecticut Inventory"/>
• Elizabeth Olds<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• John Opper<ref name="St. Petersburg Times May 1990">Template:Cite news</ref>
• William C. Palmer<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Phillip Pavia<ref name="Connecticut Inventory"/>
• Irene Rice Pereira<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Jackson Pollock<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• George Post<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Gregorio Prestopino<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Mac Raboy<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Anton Refregier<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Ad Reinhardt<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Misha Reznikoff<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Mischa Richter<ref name="Connecticut Inventory"/>
• Diego Rivera<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• José de Rivera<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Emanuel Glicen Romano<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Mark Rothko<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Alexander Rummler<ref name="Connecticut Inventory"/>
• Augusta Savage<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Concetta Scaravaglione<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Louis Schanker<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Edwin Scheier<ref name="Scheier NH"/>
• Mary Scheier<ref name="Scheier NH">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Carl Schmitt<ref name="Connecticut Inventory"/>
• William S. Schwartz<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Georgette Seabrooke<ref name="Harlem Hospital Murals NYT">Template:Cite news</ref>
• Ben Shahn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• William Howard Shuster<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Mitchell Siporin<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• John French Sloan<ref name="Brian Naylor"/>
• Joseph Solman<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• William Sommer<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Isaac Soyer<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Moses Soyer<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Raphael Soyer<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Ralph Stackpole<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Cesare Stea<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Walter Steinhart<ref name="Connecticut Inventory"/>
• Joseph Stella<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Harry Sternberg<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Sakari Suzuki<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Albert Swinden<ref name="Williamsburg"/><ref name="Dunlap Murals NYT">Template:Cite news</ref>
• Rufino Tamayo<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Elizabeth Terrell<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp
• Lenore Thomas<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp
• Dox Thrash<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
• Mark Tobey<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp<ref name="Mahoney"/>
• Harry Everett Townsend<ref name="Connecticut Inventory"/>
• Edward Buk Ulreich<ref name="Librarian Praises WPA"/>
• Charles Umlauf<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>
• Jacques Van Aalten<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Stuyvesant Van Veen<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Herman Volz<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Mark Voris<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• John Augustus Walker<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Andrew Winter<ref name="Brian Naylor"/>
• Jean Xceron<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Edgar Yaeger<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Bernard Zakheim<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Karl Zerbe<ref name="New Horizons"/>Template:Rp

Community Art Center program

Template:Multiple image The first federally sponsored community art center opened in December 1936 in Raleigh, North Carolina.<ref name="ALA"/>

State	City	Name	Notes
Alabama	Birmingham		Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Alabama	Birmingham	Healey School Art Gallery	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Alabama	Mobile	Mobile Art Center, Public Library Building	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Arizona	Phoenix	Phoenix Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
District of Columbia	Washington, D.C.	Children's Art Gallery	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	Bradenton	Bradenton Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	Coral Gables	Coral Gables Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	Daytona Beach	Daytona Beach Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	Jacksonville	Jacksonville Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	Jacksonville	Jacksonville Beach Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	Jacksonville	Jacksonville Negro Art Center	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Florida	Key West	Key West Community Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	Miami	Miami Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	Milton	Milton Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	New Smyrna Beach	New Smyrna Beach Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	Ocala	Ocala Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	Pensacola	Pensacola Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	St. Petersburg	Jordan Park Negro Exhibition Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	St. Petersburg	St. Petersburg Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	St. Petersburg	St. Petersburg Civic Exhibition Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	Tampa	Tampa Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Florida	Tampa	West Tampa Negro Art Gallery	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Illinois	Chicago	Hyde Park Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Illinois	Chicago	South Side Community Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Iowa	Mason City	Mason City Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Iowa	Ottumwa	Ottumwa Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Iowa	Sioux City	Sioux City Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Kansas	Topeka	Topeka Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Minnesota	Minneapolis	Walker Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp<ref name="Rash WPA Roots">Template:Cite news</ref>
Mississippi	Greenville	Delta Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Mississippi	Oxford	Oxford Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Mississippi	Sunflower	Sunflower County Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Missouri	St. Louis	The People's Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Montana	Butte	Butte Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Montana	Great Falls	Great Falls Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
New Mexico	Gallup	Gallup Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp<ref name="WPA Art Gallup New Mexico"/>
New Mexico	Melrose	Melrose Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
New Mexico	Roswell	Roswell Museum and Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
New York City	Brooklyn	Brooklyn Community Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
New York City	Manhattan	Contemporary Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
New York City	Harlem	Harlem Community Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
New York City	Flushing, Queens	Queensboro Community Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
North Carolina	Cary	Cary Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
North Carolina	Greensboro	Greensboro Art Center	<ref name="ALA">Template:Cite journal</ref>
North Carolina	Greenville	Greenville Art Gallery	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
North Carolina	Raleigh	Crosby-Garfield School	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
North Carolina	Raleigh	Needham B. Broughton High School	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
North Carolina	Raleigh	Raleigh Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
North Carolina	Wilmington	Wilmington Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oklahoma	Bristow	Bristow Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oklahoma	Claremore	Claremore Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oklahoma	Claremore	Will Rogers Public Library	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oklahoma	Clinton	Clinton Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oklahoma	Cushing	Cushing Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oklahoma	Edmond	Edmond Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oklahoma	Marlow	Marlow Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oklahoma	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oklahoma	Okmulgee	Okmulgee Art Center	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oklahoma	Sapulpa	Sapulpa Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oklahoma	Shawnee	Shawnee Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oklahoma	Skiatook	Skiatook Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oregon	Gold Beach	Curry County Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oregon	La Grande	Grande Ronde Valley Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Oregon	Salem	Salem Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Pennsylvania	Somerset	Somerset Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Tennessee	Chattanooga	Hamilton County Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Tennessee	Memphis	LeMoyne Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Tennessee	Nashville	Peabody Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Tennessee	Norris	Anderson County Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Utah	Cedar City	Cedar City Art Exhibition Association	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Utah	Helper	Helper Community Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Utah	Price	Price Community Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Utah	Provo	Provo Community Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Utah	Salt Lake City	Utah State Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Virginia	Altavista	Altavista Extension Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Virginia	Big Stone Gap	Big Stone Gap Art Gallery	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Virginia	Lynchburg	Lynchburg Art Gallery	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Virginia	Richmond	Children's Art Gallery	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Virginia	Saluda	Middlesex County Museum	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Washington	Chehalis	Lewis County Exhibition Center	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Washington	Pullman	Washington State College	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Washington	Spokane	Spokane Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp<ref name="Mahoney SAC">Template:Cite web</ref>
West Virginia	Morgantown	Morgantown Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
West Virginia	Parkersburg	Parkersburg Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
West Virginia	Scotts Run	Scotts Run Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Wyoming	Casper	Casper Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Wyoming	Lander	Lander Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Wyoming	Laramie	Laramie Art Center	<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Wyoming	Newcastle	Lander Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Wyoming	Rawlins	Rawlins Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Wyoming	Riverton	Riverton Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Wyoming	Rock Springs	Rock Springs Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Wyoming	Sheridan	Sheridan Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp
Wyoming	Torrington	Torrington Art Gallery	Extension art gallery<ref name="Kalfatovic"/>Template:Rp

Index of American Design

File:Index-of-American-Design-Illinois.jpg

Federal Art Project Illinois poster for an exhibition of the Index of American Design

The Index of American Design program of the Federal Art Project produced a pictorial survey of the crafts and decorative arts of the United States from the early colonial period to 1900. Artists working for the Index produced nearly 18,000 meticulously faithful watercolor drawings,<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp documenting material culture by largely anonymous artisans.<ref name="Christensen">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Objects surveyed ranged from furniture, silver, glass, stoneware and textiles to tavern signs, ships's figureheads, cigar-store figures, carousel horses, toys, tools and weather vanes.<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp<ref name="Herzberg">Template:Cite news</ref> Photography was used only to a limited degree since artists could more accurately and effectively present the form, character, color and texture of the objects. The best drawings approach the work of such 19th-century trompe-l'œil painters as William Harnett; lesser works represent the process of artists who were given employment and expert training.<ref name="Christensen"/>Template:Rp

"It was not a nostalgic or antiquarian enterprise," wrote historian Roger G. Kennedy. "It was initiated by modernists dedicated to abstract design, hoping to influence industrial design — thus in many ways it parallelled the founding philosophy of the Museum of Modern Art in New York."<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp

File:Cahill-Harlem-Community-Art-Center-1938.jpg

Holger Cahill, national director of the Federal Art Project, speaking at the Harlem Community Art Center (October 24, 1938)

Like all WPA programs, the Index had the primary purpose of providing employment.<ref name="NYT Jones">Template:Cite news</ref> Its function was to identify and record material of historical significance that had not been studied and was in danger of being lost. Its aim was to gather together these pictorial records into a body of material that would form the basis for organic development of American design — a usable American past accessible to artists, designers, manufacturers, museums, libraries and schools. The United States had no single comprehensive collection of authenticated historical native design comparable to those available to scholars, artists and industrial designers in Europe.<ref name="NYT Jewell">Template:Cite news</ref>

"In one sense the Index is a kind of archaeology," wrote Holger Cahill. "It helps to correct a bias which has tended to relegate the work of the craftsman and the folk artist to the subconscious of our history where it can be recovered only by digging. In the past we have lost whole sequences out of their story, and have all but forgotten the unique contribution of hand skills in our culture."<ref name="Christensen"/>Template:Rp

The Index of American Design operated in 34 states and the District of Columbia from 1935 to 1942. It was founded by Romana Javitz, head of the Picture Collection of the New York Public Library, and textile designer Ruth Reeves.<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp Reeves was appointed the first national coordinator; she was succeeded by C. Adolph Glassgold (1936) and Benjamin Knotts (1940). Constance Rourke was national editor.<ref name="Christensen"/>Template:Rp The work is in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Index employed an average of 300 artists during its six years in operation.<ref name="Christensen"/>Template:Rp One artist was Magnus S. Fossum, a longtime farmer who was compelled by the Depression to move from the Midwest to Florida. After he lost his left hand in an accident in 1934, he produced watercolor renderings for the Index, using magnifiers and drafting instruments for accuracy and precision. Fossum eventually received an insurance settlement that made it possible for him to buy another farm and leave the Federal Art Project.<ref name="When Art Worked"/>Template:Rp

In her essay,'Picturing a Usable Past,' Virginia Tuttle Clayton, curator of the 2002-2003 exhibition, Drawing on America's Past: Folk Art, Modernism, and the Index of American Design, held at the National Gallery of Art noted that "the Index of American Design was the result of an ambitious and creative effort to furnish for the visual arts a usable past."<ref>Drawing on America's Past: Folk Art, Modernism, and the Index of American Design by Virginia Tuttle Clayton, Elizabeth Stillinger, Erika Doss, and Deborah Chotner. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 2002.</ref>

• Panel from reredos at the Church of Sanctuario at Chimayo
  Panel from reredos at the Church of Sanctuario at Chimayo
• Fly Catcher, 1937. Frank McEntee. National Gallery of Art
  Fly Catcher, 1937. Frank McEntee. National Gallery of Art
• Magnus Fossum copying the 1770 Boston Town Coverlet (February 1940)
  Magnus Fossum copying the 1770 Boston Town Coverlet (February 1940)
• Boston Town Coverlet Magnus Fossum (1935–1942)
  Boston Town Coverlet
  Magnus Fossum (1935–1942)
• Poke Bonnet,Irene Lawson. Index of American Design. National Gallery of Art
  Poke Bonnet,Irene Lawson. Index of American Design. National Gallery of Art
• Daguerreotype Case Index of American Design
  Daguerreotype Case Index of American Design
• "Age of Chivalry" Circus Wagon, c. 1938
  "Age of Chivalry" Circus Wagon, c. 1938
• Noah's Ark with animals
  Noah's Ark with animals

Poster Division

File:Art classes for children LCCN98510141.jpg

WPA poster advertising art classes for children

Template:Anchor The WPA Poster Division was headed by Richard Floethe.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> The WPA Poster Division is thought to have produced upward of 35,000 designs and printed some two million posters, originally by hand but quickly transitioning to widespread adoption of the silkscreen process.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":0" /> The Poster Division began in New York City and by 1938 had artists in 18 states; the Chicago unit was the second-most productive after New York.<ref name=":0" /> According to preeminent New Deal art historian Francis V. O’Connor, only about 2,000 surviving examples of WPA poster art are held in the nation’s library and museum print collections.<ref name=":0" />

WPA Art Recovery Project

Hundreds of thousands of artworks were commissioned under the Federal Art Project.<ref name="Brian Naylor">Template:Cite web</ref> Many of the portable works have been lost, abandoned, or given away as unauthorized gifts. As custodian of the work, which remains federal property, the General Services Administration (GSA) maintains an inventory<ref name="GSA Inventory">Template:Cite web</ref> and works with the FBI and art community to identify and recover WPA art.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2010, it produced a 22-minute documentary about the WPA Art Recovery Project, "Returning America’s Art to America", narrated by Charles Osgood.<ref name="WPA Art Recovery Project">Template:Cite web</ref>

In July 2014, the GSA estimated that only 20,000 of the portable works have been located to date.<ref name="GSA Inventory"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2015, GSA investigators found 122 Federal Art Project paintings in California libraries, where most had been stored and forgotten.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• List of Federal Art Project artists
• Section of Painting and Sculpture
• Public Works of Art Project
• Farm Security Administration which employed photographers.

Further reading

• DeNoon, Christopher. Posters of the WPA (Los Angeles: Wheatley Press, 1987).
• Grieve, Victoria. The Federal Art Project and the Creation of Middlebrow Culture (2009) excerpt
• Template:Cite book
• Kelly, Andrew, Kentucky by Design: American Culture, the Decorative Arts and the Federal Art Project's Index of American Design, University Press of Kentucky, 2015, Template:ISBN
• Russo, Jillian. "The Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project Reconsidered." Visual Resources 34.1-2 (2018): 13-32.

External links

• The Living New Deal research project and online public archive at the University of California, Berkeley
• Recovering America's Art for America (2010), General Services Administration short documentary about efforts to recover WPA art
• Posters for the People, online archive of WPA posters
• WPA Posters collection at the Library of Congress
• New Deal Art Registry
• wpamurals.com Template:Webarchive – links to each state, with examples of WPA art in each
• Federal Art Project Photographic Division collection at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art
• "1934: A New Deal for Artists" Exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
• “Art Within Reach”: Federal Art Project Community Art Centers at George Mason University
• WPA Murals and American Abstract Artists at American Abstract Artists
• WPA Prints and Murals in New York
• Collection: "Art of the Works Progress Administration WPA" from the University of Michigan Museum of Art
• WNYC and the WPA Federal Art Project