GSA Fine Arts Collection Policy and Procedures 2007 - a guide to the GSA's current policies about WPA art ownership

GSA Regions and Historic Preservation Officers
The General Services Administration is divided into 11 regions, many with a Regional Historic Preservation Officer. The GSA is responsible for the management and preservation of WPA art.

GSA Owned and Leased Properties
A search site that will tell you the lease information, location, etc. for Federal properties such as old post office buildings. (http://www.iolp.gsa.gov/iolp/NationalMap.asp)

FirstGov
The Official site for searching through US government links and sites - a wonderful resource. (http://www.firstgov.gov/)

GSA Historic Buildings and the Arts Center of Expertise
"Historic Buildings and the Arts Center of Expertise provides technical expertise for the proper maintenance and conservation of historic buildings and fine arts assets in the GSA inventory and it serves to acquire future artworks. The Center consists of three separate but interrelated programs: Historic Buildings, Art-in-Architecture, and Fine Arts."

The GSA Fine Arts Collection"
"Art in Federal buildings is an American tradition which is proudly continued by the General Services Administration (GSA). The Fine Arts Collection is one of the nation's largest and most unique collections, consisting of over 5,000 paintings, sculpture and graphics dating from the 1850s through the 1960s. A large portion of the collection dates from the Works Progress Administration (WPA)." The GSA also has a wonderful database that can be viewed by artist or by state. Go to the GSA site and follow the links to the Fine Arts Program and then to the GSA Fine Arts Database.

The organizatonal structure of the GSA Fine Arts office has changed slightly. "The Fine Arts Program," "Art-in-Architecture Program," and "Design Excellence Program" all fall under the heading of "Design Excellence and the Arts". "GSA Historic Buildings and the Arts Center of Expertise" is now titled "Historic Buildings." Historic Preservation

The GSA and legal ownership of WPA art

PBS Cultural and Environmental Affairs
Information on historic public buildings and public art, much of it WPA, divided by state or by artist - site maintained by the GSA.

"A New Deal for the Arts NARA Exhibit"
"This National Archives and Records Administration exhibition describes and displays the work of the New Deal arts projects and discusses themes common to this government-sponsored art." (http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/new_deal_for_the_arts/index.html)

Guide to the NARA New Deal Art Page
This is a listing of the pages of the NARA New Deal Art Page with the images and artists identified. If you are interested in a quick check of NARA's page without wanting to spend time visiting it, refer to my guide page first.

Posters from the WPA Calendar
This calendar was created by the New York City Poster Division in 1938 to show government officials the skilled artistic work the Federal Art Project was doing for the WPA. The Library's copy of the calendar was a gift from Richard Floethe in 1975.

By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA 1936-1943
"A collection of 908 original posters produced from 1936 to 1943... Of the 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the Library of Congress's collection of more than 900 is the largest." http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaposters/wpahome.html

Non-Art WPA project records at NARA
Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States Alphabetical Index: http://www.archives.gov/research_room/federal_records_guide/alphabetical_index/guide_index_a.html

Doing Research at the Archives of American Art
You can borrow microfilms from the Archives of American Art through interlibrary loan. Follow the steps in the "Guide to Using AAA Microfilm"

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, Library of Congress, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html

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