New Deal Art Projects

during

the Great Depression

“Autumn Fields,” Avery Johnson, Liberty, Indiana, 1939, $670

The Federal Art Projects

With the beginning of the New Deal under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933 muralist George Biddle approached schoolmate Roosevelt with the idea of work for artists. Roosevelt was receptive to the idea. This led to the establishment of four different art projects which are listed below with photographs of work from each project. In addition to providing work for the artists, the projects brought art to people who would not otherwise see art and helped to create a sense of hope in the people. All of the art was done for public buildings.

Public Works Art Project (PWAP)

The Public Works Art Project (PWAP) was established in November 1933 under the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and ended in June 1934 when additional funds were not available. Under the Treasury Department, PWAP did a variety of types of visual art, including murals and easel paintings for public buildings including a few post offices. In line with CWA, weekly wages were $26.50 to $42.50.

Three of nine murals titled “Scenes of Industry” at Highland Park High School in Highland Park, Illinois. The murals were painted on board by Edgar Britton in 1934. The building was torn down and replaced. No one knew about the murals until Hana Field, as an eighth grader, did a history project on New Deal art. She called High Park High School. A custodian found them, when he decided to look at some things in the attic. The boards had been saved to cover broken windows. They are now cleaned and restored and are in the media center.

The mural in the court room of the post office and federal court house in Terre Haute, Indiana is credited to the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP), but the artist Frederick Well Ross dated it June 1934. The date indicates that it was painted under PWAP. The mural is titled “The Signing of the Magna Carta.”

The Section was established in November 1934 by the Treasury Department. The Public Building Administration made an agreement with the Section to give them one percent of the funds appropriated for new federal buildings for decoration. The Section commissioned 1200 murals and 300 sculptures for new buildings before it ended in 1943. Commissions were awarded on the basis of work submitted to competitions held by the Section. Artists were sometimes chosen for smaller post offices based on their work submitted for a larger post office. A regional committee reviewed the work submitted and made recommendations, which were sent to the Section office in Washington, D.C. for the final decision. Commissions were based, at least in some degree, on the size of the work and the cost of producing it. Part of the commission was paid when the contract was signed; part of it whena full-sized color cartoon was submitted; and the final payment was paid when the work was completed and approved by the postmaster or other official in charge.

The Piggott, Arkansas post office is home to Dan Rhodes’ “Air Mail” painted in 1941 for $700. Rhodes also painted murals for the Marion and Storm Lake, Iowa; the Glen Ellyn, Illinois; and the Clayton, Missouri post offices.

Left: This is a portion of the mural painted by Milford Zornes for the Claremont, California post office in 1937. The mural, “California Landscape,” extends around the lobby. Right: The Golden, Colorado post office mural, “Building the Road,” was painted by Kenneth Evett in 1941 for $850. Evett also painted murals for the Caldwell and Horton, Kansas and the Pawnee City,Nebraska post offices

“Settlers Fighting Alligator from Rowboat” was painted by Joseph D. Myers in 1941 for the Lake Worth, Florida post office.

Steven Dohanos painted six panels for the West Palm Beach, Florida post office titled “Legend of James Edward M. Hamilton, Mail Carrier” in 1940 for $2,400. Dohanos also painted murals for the Charlotte Amalia, Virgin Islands post office and the Elkins Forest Service Building in West Virginia.

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