Everson Museum of Art
Syracuse, NY
315-474-6064
Public Works of Art Project of 1934: Works on Paper
The Everson Museum of Art will present Public Works of Art Project
of 1934: Works on Paper beginning March 3, 2000 and running through
May 14, 2000. The exhibition, culled from the Everson Museum' s permanent
collection, will explore the depth of work created under this early federal
work relief program. Works in the exhibition by approximately twenty artists
- including Mortimer Borne, Paul Busch, Don
Freeman, Mabel
Dwight, Victoria
Hutson Huntley,Agnes
Tait, Prentiss
Taylor, Georges Schreiber and Emil Holzhaver - will portray scenes
of the urban landscape and traditional views of rural life, as well as social
problems of the early 1930s - racism, class inequalities, and unemployment
exacerbated by the Great Depression. (left: Victoria Hutson (1900-1971),
Lackawanna Bridge, 1934, lithograph, 9 x 13 1/4 inches, Gift of the
PWAP of NYC)
In
the wake of the Great Depression, a concern for professional artists' employment
led the Roosevelt administration to allocate funds to the Public Works of
Art Project (PWAP). The PWAP ran from December 1933 to June 1934 and was
the first federal attempt to sponsor the fine arts. It employed 3,749 artists,
working in a wide variety of media. Under the guidance of Edward Bruce,
artist and lawyer, it concentrated on hiring established artists, designating
the theme the "American Scene" as appropriate subject matter.
The artists were given the task of creating works to embellish public buildings
- including one artwork for each member of Congress as well as for public
schools, orphanages, libraries, museums and practically every other type
of public building. Don Adams and Arlene Goldbard state in their New Deal Cultural Programs:
Experiments in Cultural Democracy that "PWAP exhibitions
in many cities were well-attended: 33,000 people showed up in a single day
for an opening in Los Angeles. PWAP ended in April, 1934, along with the
rest of the CWA." (left: John Edward Costigan (1888-1972),
Group of Workers #1, 1934, lithograph, 12 x 14 1/4 inches, Gift of
the PWAP of NYC)
PWAP
was part of the Civil Works Administration (CWA), an experimental program
in federal work relief, providing the unemployed with public service jobs
during the bitter winter of 1933-34 when the number of unemployed ranged
from 8 to 17 million workers , this, at a time when the total U.S. population
was just 125 million. Not only did federal funding help artists flourish,
it changed America's relation to art by bringing it into federal and public
spaces where many could see and interact with the work. (left: Harry
Leroy Taskey (b. 1892), Manhatten Sheep, 1934, lithograph, 14 1/2
x 11 5/8 inches, Gift of the PWAP of NYC)
Ed: If you are interested in "American Scene"
art of the 1930s and 40s you may enjoy the WPA
Period Print Collection Directory from the University of Montana.
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