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The Federal Art Project: Supporting Good Artists in Bad Times
January 27 - August 24, 2008
Among the many projects to come out of the Great Depression and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal government programs to combat massive unemployment are those that dealt with the arts, architecture and crafts of American workers. Michigan State University Museum presents an exhibition of pieces from public work projects in Michigan and on the Michigan State College campus during the 1930s and early '40s.
"The Federal Art Project: Supporting Good Artists in Bad Times" opens January 27, 2008 in the Heritage Gallery and runs through August 24, 2008. In addition, a historic mural makes its debut after a complete restoration. An opening reception is set for Sunday, February 3, at 2 p.m.
About the exhibit: More than 8,500,000 Americans were hired through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) mostly to build roads, public buildings and parks. Unemployed artists and writers were also given work through branches of the WPA known as the Federal Art Project and the Federal Writers' Project. Their lasting legacy can still be seen and enjoyed throughout the state and the nation.
Michigan State University and Michigan State University Museum collections are rich with examples of a WPA legacy of art and craft. Included in the exhibit are miniature barn models that were used to educate farmers across the state on more efficient construction techniques. Also in the exhibit: a series of dolls dressed in detailed period costumes, and a set of miniature pieces of historic furniture styles for MSC Home Economics students studying the history of clothing or furniture design. A large relief map of the campus was created in 1941 by WPA craftpersons. Its accurately detailed miniature buildings and natural features can be compared with the growth of the present campus.
Museum collections also house examples of Michigan Native American WPA projects that produced rustic furniture for hunting lodges as well as skis, snowshoes, fishing creels and decorative arts utilizing traditional native materials and craft techniques. Sculptures created by Leonard Jungwirth for the Michigan School for the Blind and a bust of Mark Twain by Samuel Cashwan reflect the Federal Arts Project. Jungwirth later became a sculpture instructor at MSU and created the well-known Sparty statue. The exhibition will also present some of the many local murals and sculptures through photographs of these works.
The Michigan State University Museum is commemorating American's New Deal Heritage and the nationwide 75th anniversary of the New Deal in 2008 with "The Federal Art Project: Supporting Good Artists in Bad Times." The Kresge Art Museum at Michigan State University is also taking part in this nationwide New Deal anniversary, with an exhibit set for September 2 - October 12, 2008: "Works On Paper Gallery: WPA Edgar Yaeger." For more information on the WPA, click here.
Also of interest: The Art Museum at MSU has also developed a New Deal Art and Architecture Campus Walking Tour, featuring WPA-era buildings, free-standing sculpture, low-reliefs and murals throughout the Michigan State University campus. Learn more about the museum's virtual walking tour of New Deal art and architecture in the Lansing, East Lansing area here.
Historic mural restored for Michigan State University Museum exhibit
The exhibit also features a newly restored WPA-era historic mural from the museum's collections. "Natural Resources of Northern Michigan," a 1936 painting by Carl H. Frezell (1901-1970) depicts underground and open pit mining, logging, agriculture, and tourism -- industries vital to the economy of Michigan's Upper Peninsula (UP) in the 1930s. His themes and large-scale, robust workers accentuate an optimistic view that the natural resources and labor force of the UP were keys to the nation's growth as it recovered from the Great Depression.
The mural was restored pro bono by Elizabeth Kendall (B.A. '84), owner of Parma Conservation in Chicago, Ill., one of the country's leading conservators of murals and paintings. The 70 x 181 inches oil-on-canvas mural has been part of the MSU Museum's historical collections since 1957 and was previously located in the MSU Museum auditorium. The painstaking conservation involved surface cleaning, stabilization of materials, protection from the ravages of long-term exposure to airborne pollutants and ultraviolet light, as well as repairing some dents and divots -- the unfortunate result of an errant tennis ball some years ago.
About Michigan State University Museum
The museum, initiated in 1857, is one of the oldest museums in the Midwest and is accredited by the American Association of Museums. In 2001, the MSU Museum became the first museum in the state to receive Smithsonian affiliate status from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the world's largest museum and research complex, thereby giving the MSU Museum broader access to Smithsonian cultural and scientific resources. The museum features three floors of special collections and changing exhibits and is located on West Circle Drive next to Beaumont Tower on the MSU campus in East Lansing, MI. The MSU campus also features the Kresge Art Museum at Michigan State University. Please see the museum's web site for admission prices and hours.
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