Day Jobs and Bringing Back the WPA's Federal Art Project

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!

Visual Smorgasbord in Washington DC, Chicago, and Rapid City, SD

Three weeks ago I took the train from Fayetteville, NC to Omaha, NE, then took a car to Rapid City, SD.  I had two seven hour layovers in Washington DC and one four hour layover in Chicago, so I used my time to visit some area museums and galleries.

Washington DC

On my first layover in Washington DC, I visited the National Gallery of Art and attended two tours, one on the choices artists make and what they mean, and one on 19th century painting.  I saw my favorite Monet painting there!  -->Madame Monet and Her Son, 1875. <--  The tour regarding artist choice was not as fruitful as I had hoped, but I thoroughly enjoyed the tour through 19th century painting.  The National Gallery has a lovely collection of Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, as well as Modern Art.  While visiting the East Building, I ran into Modern artists such as Matisse, Picasso, and Mondrian, as well as Ernst Kirchner (I enjoyed his brushwork and color), Sol LeWitt, Jasper Johns, and Alexander Calder.

On my second layover in Washington DC, I went to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, which was a bit on the dry side.  I might have been tired since it was the last leg of my journey, but it didn't hold many gems for me other than its large collection of folk art and WPA paintings.  I was enchanted by the WPA paintings for their slice-of-American-life imagery, heavy, sensuous forms, and wonderful use of color.  The folk art had quite a bit of religious imagery which surprised me, but lent a new perspective on imagery from Revelations and the Crucifixion, as well as the Throne of God.  

Chicago

On my first layover in Chicago, I had a chance to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art.  They had a significant exhibition of Alexander Calder's work, which was a delight, and a large retrospective exhibition of the work of Doris Salcedo, whose work I had never seen before.  She creates sculptures and installations addressing the feeling of loss due to violence.  Her work was highly symbolic and abstract, and a great catalyst for thinking about my own beliefs about art and the use of personal symbols.

Rapid City

While in Rapid City, I created a small mural in their Art Alley, which is an alleyway that is open to taggers and street artists to use as their personal canvas.  Justin and I painted a bunny giving a peace sign and a giant panda saying I love you in sign language.  I signed it with my instagram handle and got a follower!  She took a picture of the work and created her own version of it with emojis!  So cool!  :)

I also visited the Dahl Arts Center in downtown Rapid City.  They featured an exhibition that had the creme de la creme of South Dakota artists.  There was some incredible variety among the works there.  I was impressed and I got some great inspiration for painting and printmaking.  An artist separate from the South Dakota artists exhibition that they featured was poster artist Jay Ryan (thebirdmachine.com).  His imagery, colors, and printing process were also inspirational. Imma hafta go look up some videos on YouTube and see if there are any videos on his processes.  

It was a wonderful trip that was artistically and spiritually refreshing.  Not only did I get to see Justin, but I also got to see some wonderful artwork to inspire and reflect upon as I start to seriously create my own work for my MFA.