BACKPublic Works of Art Program:
First Federal Relief Program for the Arts
December 1933 - June 1934
Project employment: over 3,000 artists nationwide
Number of artworks produced: 15,663
Goal 1: To furnish work for unemployed artists for the
"decoration, beautification and genderal embellishment of public
buildings."
Goal 2: To choose quality artworks that depicted the American scene.
Goal 3: To increase the public's interest in art by placing art in public buildings.
The Public Works of Art Project PWAP was FDR's first large-scale art program. It was housed under the Treasury Department's Procurement Division and funded by the Civil Works Administration (CWA).
Under PWAP, the country was divided into 16 regions. Each region received allocations based upon its population and the number of artists estimated to live there. PWAP's central office was located in Washington, DC and headed by Edward Bruce, who appointed regional chairperson and volunteer committee for each region.
Illinois was in Region 10 along with Wisconsin and Minnesota with regional headquarters in Chicago paid and volunteer staff included: Chairperson--Walter S. Brewster, stock broker and art collector; and Volunteer Committee Members--Thomas E. Tallmadge and John Holabird, architects; Jean Crawford Adams, Frances Foy, Edmund Giesbert, and Edgar Miller, painters; John Storrs, sculptor; Chester Johnson and Increase Robinson, art dealers; and others interested in the arts.
When PWAP ended in June 1934, it had employed over 3,000 artists nationwide with 15,663 pieces completed including sculptures, murals, oils and mosaics, Navajo blankets, portraits and stage sets. Works produced became the property of the Federal government.
When the CWA ended in 1934, unfinished PWAP projects went to the new Emergency Work Relief Program that was under the Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA).