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In the 1930s, the Great
Depression
had every U.S. family in its grasp. Some of these were artists and
Harry
Hopkins under President Franklin Roosevelt started an experimental
program
known as the Public Works Art Program. This program was short lived,
however,
Harry Hopkins transitioning from the Federal Emergency Relief
Administration
to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), created the Federal Arts
Project (FAP) in 1935 and directed by Holger Cahill. The FAP was a sub unit of
the WPA.
United States wide, the Federal Art Project
existed in the forty-eight states. Its strongest outreach program was
in
art education for children. FAP maintained more than 100 community art
centers across the nation, managed art programs, and held art
exhibitions
of works produced by children and adults. Under this program thousands
of posters, prints, sculptures, paintings, drawings, and murals were
produced,
which were then, in turn, loaned to schools, libraries, galleries, and
other institutions. These programs spawned a new awareness of and
appreciation
for American art and provided jobs for needy artists. World War II
brought
its demise as efforts were concentrated on the war effort; however,
during
its life an estimated number of artworks produced were: 2,566 murals,
17,744
sculptures, 108,099 easel paintings and 240,000 prints.
The FAP had two goals: 1) To provide artworks
for non-federal public buildings and 2) To provide jobs
for
unemployed artists on relief rolls.
There were three types of FAP activities:
1) Production of works of art--easel division. This emphasized
nationalism and the rediscovery of America in artwork subjects; mural
division,
where the focus was on works for public places with regional
differences
occurring e.g. Chicago for realistic American scenes, New York City for
abstract murals, and California for an Oriental theme; sculpture, where
artists were encouraged to work in less expensive materials; and
graphic
arts, which produced posters for the government.
2) Art education -- including the establishment of community art
centers.
Art centers as institutions devoted to community education rather than
practical training were rare before FAP. By December 1936, there were
25
art centers in the south and west. The heart of the community art
center
was its educational program through classes for adults and children.
Miami
and Key West had active WPA community art centers.
3) Art research through the Index of American Design. The goal
was to make an historical and pictorial record of the daily life of
American
people. They produced 20,000 index plates in six years of operation.
Specific
kind of designs studied included: textiles, glass, ceramics, copper,
brass,
to name a few and regional varieties such as the Shaker materials in
New
England.
To qualify for work in FAP, artists
had to meet the professional standards as artists, and also the relief
requirements of their state WPA relief board. After being selected to
be
on the project, artists were reviewed periodically and could be removed
from a project if their financial status changed or if their work was
unsatisfactory.
The art projects ended in mid-1943, when the
government
turned its attention towards
(The WPA also administered the Federal Writers
Project which accomplished much the same for needy writers. It was
directed
by Henry Alsberg and administered by Ellen Woodward. U.S. One - Maine
to
Florida (1938, Modern Age Books, Inc. New York) was one of its works.)
- THE FLORIDA KEYS -
Joan van Breemen and Lambert Bemelman
were
two FAP sculptors whose art was done in or for the Florida Keys.
Bemelman's
work can be seen at Hurricane Memorial at Mile Marker 81.5.
Not depicted are additional FAP work on the
Hurricane Memorial by other FAP artists. John Klinkenberg did the
bronze
plaque installed just below the bas relief. Ceramist Adela Gisbet did
the
ceramic tiles for the cover of the crypt. General designers were Allie
Mae Kitchens and Emigdio Reyes. To read about the Hurricane Memorial
click HERE.
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