In order to see how the topic of art might be dealt with in the future, we can look to the past. In 1935 during the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WGA), the largest agency of the New Deal, created Federal Project Number One. It was a group of projects that helped to relieve artists, writers, actors, and musicians. With the support of the government, artists were commissioned to create art for federal buildings, photographers captured images of the Great Depression, writers wrote about the New Deal, and actors lifted the spirits of audiences across the country. Supporting the arts was not a top priority for Franklin D. Roosevelt, but his first lady, Eleanor, believed that Number One was essential for the development of culture in the U.S. and she encouraged him to take the necessary steps to put it into action. Opponents of the New Deal pressured the White House to scale Number One in the late 1930′s, but the work of that time remains with us today and serves as an illustration of climate of the Great Depression.
May 14, 2009 at 8:15 pm
great choice of picture and good post.