 Eagle and palette design regarded as the logo of the Federal Art Project | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 29 August 1935 |
| Dissolved | 1943 |
| Jurisdiction | United States |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Agency executive | |
| Parent department | Works Progress Administration (WPA) |
The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the largest of the New Deal art projects. It was created not as a cultural activity, but as a relief measure to employ artists and artisans to create murals, easel paintings, sculpture, graphic art, posters, photography, theatre scenic design, and arts and crafts. The WPA Federal Art Project established more than 100 community art centers throughout the country, researched and documented American design, commissioned a significant body of public art without restriction to content or subject matter, and sustained some 10,000 artists and craft workers during the Great Depression. According to American Heritage, “Something like 400,000 easel paintings, murals, prints, posters, and renderings were produced by WPA artists during the eight years of the project’s existence, virtually free of government pressure to control subject matter, interpretation, or style.”[1]
- ^ Laning, Edward (1970-10-01). "When Uncle Sam Played Patron of the Arts: Memoirs of a WPA Painter". American Heritage. 21 (6). Retrieved 2022-10-01.