Public Works of Art Project

E15545

The Public Works of Art Project was a New Deal-era federal program launched in 1933 to employ artists during the Great Depression by commissioning public murals and other artworks across the United States.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf New Deal art program
federal arts employment program
administeredBy Civil Works Administration
aimedAt professional artists
unemployed artists
appliesToDemographicGroup unemployed workers in the arts
appliesToJurisdiction United States
coordinatedBy U.S. Treasury Department
country United States
describedBySource U.S. federal New Deal program records
art history scholarship on New Deal art
dissolved 1934
employer art teachers
artists
craftspeople
endTime mid-1934
field visual arts
followedBy Section of Painting and Sculpture
Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project
follows no prior federal peacetime art employment program
fundedBy federal government of the United States
genre public art
hasCharacteristic emergency relief program
nationwide scope
short-term program
hasEffect employment of artists
production of easel paintings
production of prints
production of public murals
production of sculptures
hasLanguage English
historicalPeriod Great Depression
inception 1933
influenced later federal arts programs in the United States
location United States
mainSubject art during the Great Depression
notableWork public murals in government buildings
public murals in post offices
public murals in schools
partOf New Deal
purpose to create public art for federal buildings and public spaces
to provide employment for artists during the Great Depression
socialImpact increased public access to art
support for artists’ livelihoods
sponsor U.S. Treasury Department
startTime December 1933
topic government patronage of the arts
public murals in the United States

Referenced by (3)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Bernard Zakheim
Victor Arnautoff
employer
Coit Tower
muralsProgram

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