Queens Borough Public Library - Painting for Progress: Art and the New Deal

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Art and the New Deal

Art is beautiful. Art is thought-provoking. During the Great Depression, art was also progress, an important part of President Roosevelt's New Deal. Queens Library Gallery's Painting for Progress: Art and The New Deal takes a closer look at artworks originating from this historic period in American history.

The New Deal promised prosperity and pride to the nation during the depths of the Great Depression. President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his New Deal in the form of a series of relief programs, banking reform laws, and inspirational speeches delivered to the American public. In 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a government agency, was formed to provide paying jobs for unemployed workers. Among many projects, the WPA funded the Federal Art Project (FAP).

Through the Federal Art Project, thousands of out-of-work, struggling artists found employment. Their works were allocated for display in tax-supported institutions and federal buildings. New York City-based organizations received 20,000 works, and Queens Library received more than 450 drawings, etchings, paintings, and murals. Included in this collection are more than 80 watercolor renderings from the American Design Index Series. On view in the Gallery is a collection from the Series focusing on textile, costume and furniture from the 18th through 19th centuries.

Also on display are the newly restored murals "The Circus" and The Grand Finale of an Opera," by artist Max Spivak. These murals were commissioned by the WPA in 1938 for the Queens Borough Public Library, Astoria Branch.

Art is beautiful. Art is thought-provoking. During the Great Depression, art was also progress, an important part of President Roosevelt's New Deal. Queens Library Gallery's Painting for Progress: Art and The New Deal takes a closer look at artworks originating from this historic period in American history.

The New Deal promised prosperity and pride to the nation during the depths of the Great Depression. President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his New Deal in the form of a series of relief programs, banking reform laws, and inspirational speeches delivered to the American public. In 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a government agency, was formed to provide paying jobs for unemployed workers. Among many projects, the WPA funded the Federal Art Project (FAP).

Through the Federal Art Project, thousands of out-of-work, struggling artists found employment. Their works were allocated for display in tax-supported institutions and federal buildings. New York City-based organizations received 20,000 works, and Queens Library received more than 450 drawings, etchings, paintings, and murals. Included in this collection are more than 80 watercolor renderings from the American Design Index Series. On view in the Gallery is a collection from the Series focusing on textile, costume and furniture from the 18th through 19th centuries.

Also on display are the newly restored murals "The Circus" and The Grand Finale of an Opera," by artist Max Spivak. These murals were commissioned by the WPA in 1938 for the Queens Borough Public Library, Astoria Branch.