Public Works of Art Project

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The Public Works of Art Project was a program to employ artists, as part of the New Deal, during the Great Depression. It was the first such program, running from December 1933 to June 1934. It was headed by Edward Bruce, under the United States Treasury Department and paid for by the Civil Works Administration.^[1]

Contents 1 San Francisco PWAP 2 See also 3 External links 4 References

[edit] San Francisco PWAP

The largest of the projects sponsored by the PWAP is the Coit Tower murals in San Francisco’s Coit Tower. This project was also largely controversial because of the strong influence of Diego Rivera in the city, and the interest of the PWAP to keep publicly sponsored art projects non-revolutionary. Among the artists selected to work on the mural were Victor Arnautoff, Bernard Zakheim, John Langley Howard, Ray Boynton, Ralph Stackpole, Jose Moya del Pino, Otis Oldfield, Jane Berlandina, and William Hesthal. During the painting of the murals, the Big Strike of 1934 shut down the Pacific Coast. As a result, allusions to the event are were subversively included in the murals by some of the artists.

[edit] See also

• Federal Art Project, a New Deal federal arts program operated by the Works Progress Administration which ran from 1935 to 1943.
• Section of Painting and Sculpture, a New Deal federal arts program also operated by the United States Department of the Treasury.

[edit] External links

• Art Becomes Public Works - 1934 magazine article on the PWAP.

[edit] References

1. ^  History of the New Deal Art Projects. wpaMurals.com - New Deal Art During the Great Depression. Retrieved on July 29, 2005. "Public Works of Art Project ... under the Treasury Department with funds ... from the CWA / December 1933 - June 1934 / National Director: Edward Bruce"

Pohl, Frances K. Framing America. A Social History of American Art. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2002 (pages 365-366 & 385)