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Jay Abbott, Makenzie Alexander, JaKarrius Allen, Kiersten Little

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Jay Abbott, Makenzie Alexander, JaKarrius Allen, Kiersten Little

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Works Progress Administration, Federal Arts Project

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Negritude is a literary movement from around 1930-1950. This began among French-Speaking African and Caribbean writers in Paris to protest against French colonial rule. This movement was influenced by the Harlem Renaissance. Its leading figure was Léopold Sédar Senghor

The négritude movement played a crucial role in shaping the ideals of Pan-Africanism by promoting a shared sense of identity among people of African descent.it also expanded to visual arts, drawing influence from a range of styles and art movements including Surrealism.

Reference

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2025, February 21). Negritude. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/Negritude

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The WPA Federal Art Project was the most comprehensive and significant of the visual arts initiatives developed during the 1930s Depression by the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. It was also the first significant attempt at government support of the visual arts in the United States. The Works Progress (later Projects) Administration Federal Art Project (WPA/FAP) employed artists with a wide range of experience and styles, sponsored a more varied and experimental body of art, and had a far greater influence on later American movements than the Treasury Department's art programs, which are frequently confused with the Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture, Public Works of Art Project, and Treasury Relief Art Project.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/WPA-Federal-Art-Project

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This article was most recently revised and updated by

WPA Federal Art Project, first major attempt at government patronage of the visual arts in the United States and the most extensive and influential of the visual arts projects conceived during the Depression of the 1930s by the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is often confused with the Department of the Treasury art programs ( Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture, Public Works of Art Project, and Treasury Relief Art Project), but, unlike the Treasury's endeavours the Works Progress (later Projects) Administration Federal Art Project (WPA/FAP) employed artists with a wide range of experience and styles, sponsored a more varied and experimental body of art, and had a far greater influence on subsequent American movements. This was chiefly the result of the leadership of its national director, Holger Cahill, a former museum curator and expert on American folk art, who saw the potential for cultural development in what was essentially a work-relief program for artists. Cahill and his staff learned from the Public Works of Art Project of 1933-34 that any relief program faced the problem of attempting to produce art of high quality while trying to help the unemployed regardless of talent. In the fall of 1935 a range of creative, educational, research, and service projects was organized to preserve the skills of professional artists in mural, easel, sculpture, and graphic art divisions, of commercial artists in the poster and Index of American Design divisions, and of the less experienced in art education and technical jobs. The project also developed an audience by establishing more than 100 community art centres and galleries across the country in regions where art and artists were almost unknown. Cahill stated in 1936 that "The organization of the Project has proceeded on the principle that it is not the solitary genius but a sound general movement which maintains art as a vital, functioning part of any cultural scheme. Art is not a matter of rare, occasional masterpieces." This was in direct opposition to the philosophy of the Department of the Treasury programs, which sought to commission outstanding works rather than to provide work relief.

The WPA/FAP employed most of its artists from relief rolls, while maintaining a small number of nonrelief artists for supervisory positions. Artists received a basic wage of $23.50 per week and were expected to turn in one work within a specified number of weeks or to work a certain number of days on a mural or architectural sculpture project. Most easel painters, sculptors, and graphic artists worked at home; muralists and poster artists laboured in the field or in project workshops. The project's greatest problem was to balance the whims and irregular schedules of the creative process with the rigid timekeeping rules of the WPA bureaucracy. Another basic problem arose when budget reductions required the WPA to eliminate artists from its rolls; when too many termination notices were received, riots and sit-down strikes often occurred among the artists. To protect their precarious employment and to improve working conditions, artists organized nationally in an Artists' Union. Its leaders worked with the WPA/FAP administrators and emulated the practices of the labour movement; in 1937 Artists' Union became Local 60 of the United Office and Professional Workers of the CIO.

Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive/Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file no. LC-DIG-highsm-02850)

The project employed more than 5,000 artists at its peak in 1936 and probably double that number over the eight years of its existence. It produced 2,566 murals, more than 100,000 easel paintings, about 17,700 sculptures, nearly 300,000 fine prints, and about 22,000 plates for the Index of American Design, along with innumerable posters and objects of craft. The total federal investment was about $35,000,000.

Naomi Blumberg, Assistant Editor.

Learn More in these related Britannica articles:

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WPA Federal Art Project | United States history

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WPA Federal Art Project, first major attempt at government patronage of the visual arts in the United States and the most extensive and influential of the visual arts projects conceived during the Depression of the 1930s by the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is often confused

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Wilfredo Lam - Lithograph Derriere Le Miroir

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The biggest challenge of the project was striking a compromise between the strict timekeeping regulations of the WPA bureaucracy and the whims and erratic timelines of the creative process. Another fundamental issue emerged when the WPA had to remove artists from its rolls due to budget cuts; riots and sit-down strikes among the artists frequently followed the receipt of too many notices of termination. Artists formed a national Artists' Union to safeguard their unstable jobs and enhance working conditions.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/WPA-Federal-Art-Project

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This article was most recently revised and updated by

WPA Federal Art Project, first major attempt at government patronage of the visual arts in the United States and the most extensive and influential of the visual arts projects conceived during the Depression of the 1930s by the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is often confused with the Department of the Treasury art programs ( Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture, Public Works of Art Project, and Treasury Relief Art Project), but, unlike the Treasury's endeavours the Works Progress (later Projects) Administration Federal Art Project (WPA/FAP) employed artists with a wide range of experience and styles, sponsored a more varied and experimental body of art, and had a far greater influence on subsequent American movements. This was chiefly the result of the leadership of its national director, Holger Cahill, a former museum curator and expert on American folk art, who saw the potential for cultural development in what was essentially a work-relief program for artists. Cahill and his staff learned from the Public Works of Art Project of 1933-34 that any relief program faced the problem of attempting to produce art of high quality while trying to help the unemployed regardless of talent. In the fall of 1935 a range of creative, educational, research, and service projects was organized to preserve the skills of professional artists in mural, easel, sculpture, and graphic art divisions, of commercial artists in the poster and Index of American Design divisions, and of the less experienced in art education and technical jobs. The project also developed an audience by establishing more than 100 community art centres and galleries across the country in regions where art and artists were almost unknown. Cahill stated in 1936 that "The organization of the Project has proceeded on the principle that it is not the solitary genius but a sound general movement which maintains art as a vital, functioning part of any cultural scheme. Art is not a matter of rare, occasional masterpieces." This was in direct opposition to the philosophy of the Department of the Treasury programs, which sought to commission outstanding works rather than to provide work relief.

The WPA/FAP employed most of its artists from relief rolls, while maintaining a small number of nonrelief artists for supervisory positions. Artists received a basic wage of $23.50 per week and were expected to turn in one work within a specified number of weeks or to work a certain number of days on a mural or architectural sculpture project. Most easel painters, sculptors, and graphic artists worked at home; muralists and poster artists laboured in the field or in project workshops. The project's greatest problem was to balance the whims and irregular schedules of the creative process with the rigid timekeeping rules of the WPA bureaucracy. Another basic problem arose when budget reductions required the WPA to eliminate artists from its rolls; when too many termination notices were received, riots and sit-down strikes often occurred among the artists. To protect their precarious employment and to improve working conditions, artists organized nationally in an Artists' Union. Its leaders worked with the WPA/FAP administrators and emulated the practices of the labour movement; in 1937 Artists' Union became Local 60 of the United Office and Professional Workers of the CIO.

Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive/Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file no. LC-DIG-highsm-02850)

The project employed more than 5,000 artists at its peak in 1936 and probably double that number over the eight years of its existence. It produced 2,566 murals, more than 100,000 easel paintings, about 17,700 sculptures, nearly 300,000 fine prints, and about 22,000 plates for the Index of American Design, along with innumerable posters and objects of craft. The total federal investment was about $35,000,000.

Naomi Blumberg, Assistant Editor.

Learn More in these related Britannica articles:

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WPA Federal Art Project | United States history

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WPA Federal Art Project, first major attempt at government patronage of the visual arts in the United States and the most extensive and influential of the visual arts projects conceived during the Depression of the 1930s by the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is often confused

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The Federal Art Project's skill classification system made it so that those who did not have much or any formal training and few/no exhibitions were relegated to lower-level jobs such as teaching in art centers. The majority of those who did not fit that criteria were African Americans, because they did not have those same opportunities. Additionally, the art centers African Americans taught at in the South specifically did not have the same resources as those in the North, making their jobs more difficult.

Reference

https://news.colgate.edu/researchmagazine/2023/08/complicating-the-consensus-black-artists-and-the-works-progress-administration-wpa.html/

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The Federal Art Project (FAP) under the Works Progress Administration, while providing employment for artists during the Great Depression, was problematic for Black artists due to systemic racism and discrimination. They faced limited representation in leadership roles, fewer opportunities, and unequal funding compared to white artists. Many FAP-sponsored art centers were segregated, restricting access to professional development, while commissioned works often favored mainstream (white) American narratives, sidelining Black cultural experiences. Additionally, institutional racism made it difficult for Black artists to gain visibility, receive major commissions, or exhibit their work on the same level as their white counterparts.

https://digitalworks.union.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1969&context=theses