Section of Painting and Sculpture
Encyclopedia
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
.
Overview
Similarly to the Works Progress AdministrationWorks Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
, the Section was part of a government project aimed at providing work for all Americans throughout the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
during the 1930s. The Section's main function was to select high quality art to decorate public buildings in the form of murals, making art accessible to all people. Because post offices were usually visited by everyone, they were the places selected to display these projects. Commissioned artists were provided with the guidelines and themes for each project, and scenes of local interest and events were generally represented. The muralist movement was inspired by the Mexican muralists
Mexican murals
Mexican murals are an important part of Mexican culture and history. Murals have been used for political, social, environmental, and cultural representation.-Mayans and Aztecs:...
, but Section murals did not portray the harsh social or economic realities of the time. Rather, they celebrated historical events and courageous acts. Many of these murals have disappeared, or fallen into disrepair, others have been restored thanks to renewed interest in their historical and artistic significance. Painters of these murals include Marion Gilmore and Ralph (Ralf) Henricksen
Ralph (Ralf) Henricksen
Ralph Christian Henricksen was an American born art educator, watercolorist, painter, and muralist.-Education:...
.
In existence during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the Section of Painting and Sculpture was a public art
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
program administered by the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
. Like other New Deal public art programs, the Section (as it was commonly called) was designed to increase employment among artists, but it was unusual in awarding commissions competitively, based on artistic talent. In total, the Section commissioned more than 1,300 murals and 300 sculptures, many of which were placed in post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
s throughout the United States of America.
Creation of the Section
The Section was created in 1934 and led by Edward BruceEdward Bruce (New Deal)
Edward Bruce was the director of the Public Works of Art Project and the Section of Painting and Sculpture, two New Deal relief efforts that provided work for artists in the United States during the Great Depression...
. Bruce had also led the Treasury Department's Public Works of Art Project
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...
, the first federal art program, created in 1933 after the American painter George Biddle
George Biddle
George Biddle was an American artist best known for his social realism, combat art, and his strong advocacy of government-sponsored art projects...
suggested the idea to President Roosevelt. Other federal art programs followed, including the Federal Art Project
Federal Art Project
The Federal Art Project was the visual arts arm of the Great Depression-era New Deal Works Progress Administration Federal One program in the United States. It operated from August 29, 1935, until June 30, 1943. Reputed to have created more than 200,000 separate works, FAP artists created...
(created in 1935 by the Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
, an independently operating federal agency) and the Treasury Relief Art Project (created in 1935 with funds granted by the WPA to the Treasury Department). The Section of Painting and Sculpture was renamed as the Section of Fine Arts in 1939 and operated until 1942.
The Section’s primary objective was to "secure suitable art of the best quality available for the embellishment of public buildings." Artworks created under the Section of Fine Arts were site-specific murals and sculptures for newly constructed federal buildings and post offices. 1% of the costs of each new federal building was set aside to fund the program.
The art
Unlike the other New Deal art programs, the Section awarded commissions through competitions and paid artists a lump sum for their work. Competitions were open to all artists, regardless of economic status, and artists' proposals were reviewed without identifying the name of the artist who had made the submission.The Section sought entries that reflected local interests and events, and the Section encouraged the artists to think of the communities, not the Section, as the artists' "patron." Indeed, artists awarded commissions were encouraged to visit the community to ensure that their murals reflected the community. Although many of the artists did not make such visits, it was common for artists to correspond with the town (as well as the Post Office Department and the Section). Some local communities rejected the approved designs, and the artists would work to respond to these concerns and save their commissions.
The program also encouraged artists to reflect the building’s function. For example, the Ariel Rios Building
Ariel Rios Building
The Ariel Rios Federal Building is located in the Federal Triangle in Washington, D.C., across 12th Street from the Old Post Office, which the new building was designed to replace....
, which was constructed in the early 1930s as the headquarters for the U.S. Post Office Department and which was one of the first buildings to receive works of art under this program, contains 25 murals created with support from the Section intended to depict the history of mail delivery and the settlement of the American West
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
. (These murals have been the subject of controversy, most recently when visitors and federal employees at the Ariel Rios Federal Building expressed complained that six of these murals include offensive stereotypes of Native Americans.)
Final years
In 1939, under the Reorganization ActReorganization Act of 1939
The Reorganization Act of 1939, Pub. L. No. 76-19, 53 Stat. 561, 5 USC 133 , is an American Act of Congress which became law on April 3, 1939, and which gave the President of the United States the authority to hire additional confidential staff and reorganize the executive branch for two years...
, all Treasury Department and WPA arts programs were incorporated into the Federal Works Agency
Federal Works Agency
The Federal Works Agency was an independent agency of the Federal government of the United States which administered a number of public construction, building maintenance, and public works relief functions and laws from 1939 to 1949...
, but the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and other factors were soon to end the programs. Edward Bruce died of a heart attack in January 1943. By the end of 1943, all of the New Deal art programs had been shut down.
External links
- New Deal/WPA Art Project
- A New Deal for the Arts (National Archives and Records AdministrationNational Archives and Records AdministrationThe National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
online exhibition) - Summary of federal art programs prepared by the General Services AdministrationGeneral Services AdministrationThe General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
- Article on the Section from the website of the Arkansas Post Office Mural Project of the University of Central ArkansasUniversity of Central ArkansasThe University of Central Arkansas is a state-run institution located in the city of Conway, the seat of Faulkner County, north of Little Rock and is the fourth largest university by enrollment in the U.S. state of Arkansas, and the third largest college system in the state. The school is most...
's College of Fine Arts and Communication]