Public Works of Art Project

The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) was a New Deal work-relief program that employed professional artists to create sculptures, paintings, crafts and design for public buildings and parks during the Great Depression in the United States. The program operated from December 8, 1933, to May 20, 1934, administered by Edward Bruce under the United States Treasury Department, with funding from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.

Although the program lasted less than one year, it had employed 3,749 artists, who produced 15,663 works of art. The PWAP served as way to employ artists, while having competent representatives of the profession create work for display work in a public setting.

Overview and purpose

thumb|[[Edward Bruce (New Deal)|Edward Bruce, Eleanor Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury L. W. Robert Jr., and Forbes Watson look at a map of PWAP's 16 regional districts after the project was announced in December 1933.]]

The purpose of the Public Works of Art Project was "to give work to artists by arranging to have competent representatives of the profession embellish public buildings." Artworks from the project were shown or incorporated into a variety of locations, including the White House and the House of Representatives. Participants were required to be professional artists, and in total, 3,749 artists were hired, and 15,663 works were produced:

The PWAP sought to produce images focused on the "American Scene", and commissioned paintings and murals that depicted "optimistic visions of America during a time of economic desperation." However, many artists disliked the idea of creating art that focused only on the positive aspects of living in America, as people were still experiencing dire hardships and personal tragedies from the Great Depression.

The proposal's greatest advocate was Ned Bruce, an artist as well as an expert on monetary policy who had joined the Treasury Department in 1932. In October 1933, Bruce had a series of gatherings at his home to discuss the possibility of government support for the visual arts. When the funding source was identified as the sticking point, Biddle and Bruce met with Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes, who administered the Public Works Administration. Ickes supported the art program that was proposed, and believed it could be funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, led by Harry L. Hopkins. Recognizing the value of a work-relief program for workers in the visual arts, Hopkins allocated $1 million in FERA funds to the program.

PWAP was organized into 16 regional districts headed by the following administrators:

Notable works

Coit Tower murals

thumb|Murals inside Coit Tower

The first and largest of the projects sponsored by the PWAP were the murals in San Francisco's Coit Tower, begun in December 1933 and completed in June 1934. A total of 44 artists and assistants were employed, many of them faculty or former students of the California School of Fine Arts (CSFA). Among the lead artists were Maxine Albro, Victor Arnautoff, Jane Berlandina, Ray Bertrand, Roy Boynton, Ralph Chessé, Ben Cunningham, Rinaldo Cuneo, Harold Mallette Dean, Parker Hall, Edith Hamlin, George Albert Harris, William Hesthal, John Langley Howard, Lucien Labaudt, Gordon Langdon, Jose Moya del Pino, Otis Oldfield, Frederick E. Olmsted, Suzanne Scheuer, Ralph Stackpole, Edward Terada, Frede Vidar, Clifford Wight, and Bernard Zakheim.

After a majority of the murals were completed, the Big Strike of 1934 shut down the Pacific Coast. Though it has been claimed that allusions to the event were subversively included in the murals by some of the artists, in fact the murals were largely completed before the strike began and none of those that were not completed by that time show any reference to the strike.

Griffith Observatory's Astronomers Monument

thumb|upright|left|Astronomer's Monument at Griffith Observatory, 1934

The Astronomers Monument, commissioned by the Public Works of Art Project in 1933, sits outside of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California. The Astronomers Monument was designed by Archibald Garner, and created by Garner and five other artists. Each artist was responsible for sculpting one of the astronomers featured in the monument, and in total the monument features six influential astronomers: Hipparchus (about 150 BC);  Nicholas Copernicus (1473–1543); Galileo Galilei (1564–1642); Johannes Kepler (1571–1630); Isaac Newton (1642–1727); and William Herschel (1738–1822). One of the artists, George Stanley, was also the creator of the famous "Oscar" statuette presented at the Academy Awards.

On November 25, 1934, about six months prior to the opening of the Observatory, a celebration took place to mark the completion of the Astronomers Monument. The only "signature" on the Astronomers Monument is "PWAP 1934" referring to the program which funded the project and the year it was completed.

Muse of Music, Dance, Drama

thumb|Postcard of the Muse of Music, Dance, Drama monument, 1940

This Art Deco style monument serves as the gateway to the Hollywood Bowl, and is said to be the largest of hundreds of monuments in Southern California constructed during the New Deal. The 200-foot long, 22-foot high sculpture is also a fountain and was constructed with concrete and covered with slabs of decorative granite.

The structure was completed in 1940 by George Stanley, also a contributor to the Griffith Observatory's Astronomers Monument and who is better known as the sculptor who molded the original Academy Awards' Oscar statue. The structure was refurbished in 2006.

Selected easel paintings

Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge was commissioned by the Public Works of Art Project in 1934. The artist, Ray Strong, painted a depiction of the Golden Gate Bridge while it was under construction. Building the Golden Gate Bridge seemed impossible at the time it was built, due to the wind and overall complexity of the bridge design. This painting was commissioned as a tribute to the engineering and design feats undertaken during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. This painting represents the American Idealism art style.

Additional works

File:Juan Duran SAAM-1964.1.148 1.jpg|Kenneth M. Adams, Juan Duran (New Mexico)

File:Northern Minnesota Mine SAAM-1964.1.49 1.jpg|Dewey Albinson, Northern Minnesota (Minnesota)

File:Ivan Albright, The Farmer's Kitchen, ca. 1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.74.jpg|Ivan Albright, The Farmer’s Kitchen (Illinois)

File:Quarry at New Hope.PNG|Bernard Badura, Quarry at New Hope (Pennsylvania)

File:BBadu.jpg|Bernard Badura, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

File:Jicarilla Apache Fiesta SAAM-1985.7 1.jpg|Laverne Nelson Black, Jicarilla Apache Fiesta (New Mexico)

File:Corn Dance, Taos Pueblo SAAM-1964.1.77 1.jpg|Norman S. Chamberlain, Corn Dance, Taos Pueblo (California)

File:Aircraft No 5 by George A. Danchuk.jpg|George A. Danchuk, Aircraft No. 5 (Ohio)

File:Valley Farms SAAM-1964.1.40 1.jpg|Ross Dickinson, Valley Farms (California)

File:Industry SAAM-1964.1.92 1.jpg|Arthur Durston, Industry (California)

File:Inside a Lumber Mill SAAM-1964.1.158 1.jpg|Claire Falkenstein, Inside a Lumber Mill (California)

File:Racing SAAM-1965.18.9 1.jpg|Gerald Sargent Foster, Racing (New Jersey)

File:Clinton, Mo. SAAM-1974.28.63 1.jpg|Harry Louis Freund, Clinton, Mo. (Missouri)

File:Subway, Furedi, 1934.jpg|Lily Furedi, Subway (New York)

File:Suburban Apartments SAAM-1964.1.155 1.jpg|Lloyd Goff, Suburban Apartments (New York)

File:Alki Point Lighthouse SAAM-1974.28.154 1.jpg|Z. Vanessa Helder, Alki Point Lighthouse (Washington)

File:E MartinEEE. Martin Hennings, Homeward Bound, 1933-1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.62SAAM-1964.1.62 1.jpg|Ernest Martin Hemmings, Homeward Bound (New Mexico)

File:Factory SAAM-1964.1.185 2.jpg|Louis Hirshman, The Factory (Pennsylvania)

File:Oyster Shuckers SAAM-1965.18.42 1.jpg|Catherine M. Howell, Oyster Shuckers (Louisiana)

File:Georgetown Waterfront SAAM-1974.89.5 1.jpg|Rowland Lyon, Georgetown Waterfront (Washington, D.C.)

File:Mountain Lions SAAM-1964.1.80 1.jpg|Ila Mae McAfee, Mountain Lions (New Mexico)

File:Horses at Night, Frank Mechau.jpg|Frank Mechau, Horses at Night (Colorado)

File:Storm SAAM-1966.31.14 1.jpg|Abram Molarsky, The Storm (New Jersey)

File:Timber Bucker SAAM-1965.18.35 1.jpg|Ernest Ralph Norling, The Timber Bucker (Washington)

File:Old Man River SAAM-1964.1.25 1.jpg|John T. Robertson, Old Man River (Iowa)

File:Americana (No. 2) SAAM-1964.1.23 1.jpg|William S. Schwartz, Americana (No. 2) (Illinois)

File:Parkville, Main Street SAAM-1964.1.124 1.jpg|Gale Stockwell, Parkville, Main Street (Missouri)

File:Untitled SAAM-1974.28.74 1.jpg|Elizabeth F. Summers, Untitled (Missouri)

File:Industry SAAM-1964.1.32 1.jpg|Charles W. Ward, Industry (New Jersey)

File:Santos Zingale Lynch Law 1934 oil on canvas UWM Art Collection Gift of the Works Progress Administration.jpg|Santos Zingale, Lynch Law (Wisconsin)

File:SAAM-1962.8.41 1.jpg|Anonymous, Underpass—Binghamton, New York (New York)

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Exhibitions

Los Angeles

An exhibition of Region 14 paintings and sculptures by 100 artists was presented March 11–25, 1934, at the Los Angeles Museum. Los Angeles Times critic Arthur Millier called the show a "Southern California Renaissance". Some 300 pieces were shown; Millier mentioned the following as emblematic of the "young, vigorous, colorful, varied" product of the PWAP artists:

CCC Workers bas relief, Donal Hord (later installed South Pasadena Junior High)
The Law, Archibald Garner (later installed Spring Street Courthouse)
Indian Girl, Eugenia Everett
"Three lovely figures," Ada May Sharpless
Decorative panels by Arthur Ames, James Redmond, William P. Everett, Conrad Buff
Paintings by Kim Clarke of ships and railroads
Watercolors by James Couper Wright, Joseph DeMers, Milford Zornes, and Everett L. Bryant

A report in the Los Angeles Post-Record said the show was drawing "huge crowds."

Baltimore

The Baltimore Museum of Art showed works by 30 PWAP artists from April 1–21, 1934, including a painting of the waterfront by Charles H. Walther. A second show was put on at the Maryland Institute in December 1934.

Cincinnati

The Cincinnati Museum of Art hosted a PWAP show April 22 to 29, 1934, including drawings of local subjects by local artist Glen Tracy.

Washington, D.C.

On Tuesday, April 24, 1934, FDR and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt attended the opening of National Exhibition of Art by the Public Works of Art Project, a Corcoran Gallery of Art show of 500 pieces created by PWAP artists. New York Times critic Edward Alden Jewell listed the following "smaller paintings" as those he wanted on the record as "especially successful":

Tenement Flats by Millard Sheets
San Pedro Harbor by Paul Starrett
Vendue by Robert Tabor
Old Baltimore Waterfront by Herman Maril
Barge Dock by Erle Loran
Old Pennsylvania Farm by
New England House by H.A. Coon
Spring Plowing by Helen Dickson
Waterfront Scene by Pino Lanni
The Young Artist by Gertrude A. Lambert
Winter Afternoon, Central Park by Agnes Tait
The Snow Shovelers by Jacob Getlar Smith
Paper Workers by Douglass Crockwell
Interior by Josephine Wupper
The Covered Bridge by Ivan Hoon

The New York Times featured photographs of three other paintings: Central Park by Carl Gustaf Nelson, Family Quilting by Dorothea Tomlinson, and The Squall by Gerald Foster. MoMA selected Employment of Negroes in Agriculture for inclusion in their show; "Earle Richardson's lush portrayal of four black cotton workers was the sole painting by a black artist" included in the show, and the first-ever exhibition of black art at MoMA. The Everhart Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania hosted a further scaled-down version of this show from October 24 to 30, 1934, with an exhibit of 50 oil paintings and watercolors.

Birmingham

In June 1934, the Birmingham Public Library exhibited an oil painting of the Tannehill Furnace by Carrie Hill and a portrait of John Herbert Phillips by Mrs. Effie Gibson; it had received but had yet to display five prints by "Eastern" artists.

Indianapolis

There was a PWAP show at the Herron Institute in Indiana in June 1934.

Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Museum hosted a show in October 1934 of "31 contemporary artists, featuring accessions acquired through the Public Works of Art Project."

Wilmington, Delaware

The Fine Arts Society of the Wilmington City Library put on a show of local PWAP art from October 15 to 27, 1934.

References

External links

Smithsonian Museum of American Art: PWAP paintings Flickr album
Public Works of Art Project. Report of the Assistant Director of the Treasury to Federal Emergency Relief Administrator, December 8, 1933 – June 30, 1934 (HathiTrust)
Living New Deal Project, a digital database of the lasting effects of the New Deal, Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley
New Deal Art Registry
1934: A New Deal for Artists, a link to Ann Prentice Wagner's article, "1934: A New Deal for Artists" in the Spring 2009 issue of ' Antiques and Fine Art magazine.
Additional photographs of the Coit Tower murals by Maxine Albro, Victor Arnautoff, et al.