Hello, dear readers. It’s been a while. I have been working several day jobs until just a few weeks ago, and my blog posts have suffered. I would check into myself to think about what topics to write about, and I came up empty. All of my energy went towards my day jobs and survival, and I did not have much juice left to work on my creative projects. This is why we need to bring back a version of the Federal Art Project from the Works Progress Administration.
Some background: The Federal Art Project from the Works Progress Administration was a Great Depression-era program created by FDR. This program hired artists to create artworks for municipal buildings, hospitals, and schools, as well as theater and arts classes in underserved communities. The precedent of this program was the Mexican government’s support of muralists after the Mexican Revolution. It was seen as a way to build national pride and soothe the country’s psyche, also much needed in America during the Great Depression. Several well-known artists got their start in the WPA: Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Thomas Hart Benton, Dorothea Lange, and Jacob Lawrence, among many others.
WPA artists Helen Forbes and Dorothy Puccinelli in front of their mural for the San Francisco Zoo. (Photo from The Living New Deal.)
There were only two caveats to working in the program: no nudes and nothing overtly political. There were no requirements in style or ability. Artists were given studio spaces, materials, and a living wage. Roosevelt saw the arts as a true marker of democracy, where citizens could express themselves freely in any creative form. He wanted to bring culture and beauty to the average person, and change the perception of art as a luxury. He also believed it was the duty of the government to serve its citizens and lift them up. How revolutionary is that?
Imagine what the world would be like if artists and other creatives were able to create their work without financial insecurity, and the arts were valued as a necessary balm for trying times. What if the best parts of history were repeated and improved, in order to keep moving society forward? Imagine the places we would go!