Public Works of Art Project
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]
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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 were subversively included in the murals by some of the artists.
Griffith Observatory's Astronomers Monument
Another significant project funded by PWAP is the Astronomers Monument at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. The monument is a large outdoor concrete sculpture on the front lawn that pays homage to six of the greatest astronomers of all time: Hipparchus (about 150 B.C.); Nicholas Copernicus (1473–1543); Galileo Galilei (1564–1642); Johannes Kepler (1571–1630); Isaac Newton (1642–1727); and William Herschel (1738–1822). Soon after the PWAP began in December 1933, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Park Commission, PWAP commissioned a sculpture project on the grounds of the new Observatory (which was under construction). Using a design by local artist Archibald Garner and materials donated by the Women's' Auxiliary of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Garner and five other artists sculpted and cast the concrete monument and figures. Each artist was responsible for sculpting one astronomer; one of the artists, George Stanley, was also the creator of the famous "Oscar" statuette presented at the Academy Awards. On November 25, 1934 (about six months prior to the opening of the Observatory), a celebration took place to mark completion of the Astronomers Monument. The only "signature" on the Astronomers Monument is "PWAP 1934" referring to the program which funded the project and the year it was completed.
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.
- James Michael Newell
External links
- "1934: A New Deal for Artists" is an exhibition featuring artworks from the Public Works of Art Project at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. This site contains a slide show, public programs, and recent news stories
- Art Becomes Public Works – 1934 magazine article on the PWAP
- [2]
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