Links to On-Line Exhibits of New Deal Art


Bienes Center for the Literary Arts
An Exhibition of Works Progress Administration (WPA) Literature and Art from the Collections of the Bienes Center for the Literary Arts (http://www.broward.org/library/bienes_about.htm)

Chicago School Art Collection

Cleveland Public Library
The Exhibit Hall : New Deal art at the Cleveland Public Library : exhibit resources, New Deal art collection: This digital exhibit features images of all of the Library's PWAP murals, as well as a selection of easel paintings, ceramic sculpture, graphic arts, drawings, and costume dolls. The ceramic sculptures were made for the PWAP project and the later Federal Art Project of the Works Project Administration (WPA/FAP). The costume dolls were also produced by a WPA project. 5 murals are currently being restored.

Coit Tower Exhibit
Images of Coit Tower PWAP murals in San Francisco, CA by Nick Cuccia.

Coit Tower Organization - w/artists' biographies

Illinois State Museum Collections:
"The collection of fine and decorative arts documents the progression and history of art in Illinois. It is the only such public collection in Illinois. Especially significant collections include: the 20th-century paintings (relating to Illinois); the Illinois WPA collection of paintings, prints, and sculpture; the 19th-century folk art collection, the historical and contemporary Illinois photograph collection, the flat textiles collection (which contains outstanding examples of Illinois quilts and cov erlets); the collection of Illinois ceramics (manufactured when Illinois was the second largest clay producing state); the collection of waterfowl decoys (which is one of the best, representing the work of carvers along the Mississippi Flyway).

Lance Semanek's WPA Art page (Staunton, IL HS)
A page on the Staunton post office mural created by Lance Semanek for a high school art class.

Lane Tech High School Art Collection
"The magnificent art that beautifies Lane Technical High School is the largest and most comprehensive collection in any school in Chicago, the Midwest, and perhaps the United States....It has artwork created for the new Lane Tech. 1934-1941.....Eleven frescoes, two oil on canvas murals, oil on steel fire curtain, two mahogany carved murals, and two concret cast fountain statues."

Library of Congress American Memories Page
Historical Collections for the Digital Library. Search the Library of Congress collections or Tour their virtual galleries.

Murals: Discovering Community Stories
The Nebraska Post Office Project - includes curriculum ideas for teachers.

Oak Park, IL Post Office
"The two-story structure, which has the dimensions of a four-story building, was constructed at an original cost of $7000,000 by Public Works Administration (PWA) workers. The Oak Park post office was built around the same time that the Evanston post office and the main branch of the Chicago post office were constructed. All were PWA projects, or "makework" projects, as they were often called. "

Old Town School of Folk Music
There is a photograph of the 1936 mural by Frances Coan that formerly hung in the Chicago Public Library, Hild Branch, now the Old Town School of Folk Music at 4544 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL.

Pigments and eggs
Kathy Foster, curator of 19th- and 20th-century art at the IU Art Museum, is involved in the restoration of the Benton murals that hang in the foyer of the Auditorium, the University Theatre and Woodburn Hall. Many who have visited the Bloomington campus are familiar with the panels, which were commissioned by the State of Indiana and displayed at the 1933 Century of Progress, the Chicago World's Fair.

The Diego Rivera Museum
This site is a must for anyone who is studying the great artist who helped re-animate the fresco as an art form.

San Francisco City College - Diego Rivera Murals
This is a great site showing and discussing the timeless murals of Diego Rivera installed in the San Francisco City College. Even though these murals were NOT funded by the WPA or any of the other New Deal art programs, they were done around the time of the WPA and certainly should be studied to show the influences of Rivera on other WPA artists. http://www.riveramural.org/rivera/home.html

Save the Kiowa Murals of Tahlequah, OK
"The artists were Stephen Mopope and James Auchiah, both members of the Kiowa tribe. The history of the murals goes back to 1933 when an experimental Federal art program was initiated under the title, Public Works of Art Projects.... As early as April of 1994 Jake Chanate, coordinator of Veteran's Affairs, and members of the campus Native American Student Association voiced their concerns about the destruction of the historical murals during the renovation of Seminary Hall. Today, a campus committee to save the mural has been organized to address these concerns."

Sin Nombre
Hispana and Hispano Artists of the New Deal Era - featuring the works of Hispanic Artists in New Mexico - a great resource for New Mexico/Hispanic WPA artists!

The Slate Valley Museum in Granville, NY
This "Works Progress (later Projects) Administration's Federal Art Project" mural was painted by Martha Levy in 1939 for the Granville (NY) High School.

The Handbook of Texas
The WPA in Texas

US Department of the Interior
Bureau of Reclamation - images and biographies of many artists

The Story of the Murals
An exhibit of murals in Virginia.

Waterloo, IA Public Library
Waterloo Public Library, 415 Commercial Street, Waterloo, Iowa 50701, (319)291-4521 or (319)291-4476 Information Services. Hours: Monday-Thursday: 9-9; Friday & Saturday: 9-5; Sunday: 1-5. Site of murals done by Edgar Britton

WPA Art in California State Parks
State Museum Resource Center 2505 Port Street West Sacramento CA 95691

WPA Art in the Reference Room
The Oregon State Library Reference Room contains a number of WPA art works. These include wood carvings by Gabriel Lavare, on eastern white oak; brass panels, and painted marks of five early printers.

New Deal Murals in Kentucky Post Offices

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

New York WPA Murals
Extant Murals and Sculptures From the Government Art Projects in New York - a great site for New York research. http://newdeal.feri.org/ndart/nys.htm


Home
Email Nancy

© 2005 Nancy Lorance
All Rights Reserved.