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About New Deal Art and the WPA

The WPA/FAP sponsored nationwide competitions in divisions of all major visual art forms and activities. Artists who were selected on the basis of their sketches were compensated for finished art works. Most work was placed in tax-supported buildings. In all, the program was responsible for about 23,000 watercolors and drawings, 2,250 murals, 13,000 pieces of sculpture, 85,000 paintings, and over 1,000,000 easel pictures.

Some problems that occurred with the program included fluctuating funds, frustrating bureaucratic procedures, and varied reaction to the art that was produced. The program had a rather turbulent history and ceased to exist in 1943.

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Resources:

* Lohman, Meisha. "Treasures from the Basement: A WPA Art Discovery," Heritage. Vol 11, No. 3. Spring 1995.

* McKinzie, Richard. The New Deal for Artists. Princeton: Princeton Viking Press, 1973.

* O'Connor, Frances, ed. The New Deal Art Projects: An anthology of Memoirs. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Press, 1972.

* Newark Middle School. Newark, New York

* Additional resources will soon include an interview with Domenic Iacono, Associate Director of the Syracuse University Art Museum on WPA art.

New Deal Intro|| About New Deal Art|| Resources and Links|| Standards, Ideas, and Objectives