Exhibition - 1934: A New Deal for Artists
When
Feb 27, 2009 (Friday) to
Jan 3, 2010 (Sunday)
Where
What
In 1934, Americans grappled with an economic situation that feels all too familiar today. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, the U.S. government created the Public Works ...
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Event details: Exhibition - 1934: A New Deal for Artists
Description
In 1934, Americans grappled with an economic situation that feels all too familiar today. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, the U.S. government created the Public Works of Art Program - the first federal government program to support the arts.
Officials in the Roosevelt Administration understood how essential art was to sustaining America's spirit. Artists from across the U.S. who participated in the program, which lasted only six months from mid-December 1933 to June 1934, were encouraged to depict the American scene.
The Public Works of Art Program not only paid artists to embellish public buildings, but also provided them with a sense of pride in serving their country. They painted regional, recognizable subjects - ranging from portraits to cityscapes and images of city life to landscapes and depictions of rural life - that reminded the public of quintessential American values such as hard work, community, and optimism.
1934: A New Deal for Artists celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Public Works of Art Program by drawing on the Smithsonian American Art Museum's unparalleled collection of vibrant paintings created for the program. The 56 paintings in the exhibition are a lasting visual record of America at a specific moment in time.
General Information
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Hours: Daily 11:30 am - 7 pm
Closed December 25
Admission: Free
Address: 8th and F Streets, NW
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown (Red, Yellow, and Green lines)
Phone: 202-275-1500
Email: info@saam.si.edu
Officials in the Roosevelt Administration understood how essential art was to sustaining America's spirit. Artists from across the U.S. who participated in the program, which lasted only six months from mid-December 1933 to June 1934, were encouraged to depict the American scene.
The Public Works of Art Program not only paid artists to embellish public buildings, but also provided them with a sense of pride in serving their country. They painted regional, recognizable subjects - ranging from portraits to cityscapes and images of city life to landscapes and depictions of rural life - that reminded the public of quintessential American values such as hard work, community, and optimism.
1934: A New Deal for Artists celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Public Works of Art Program by drawing on the Smithsonian American Art Museum's unparalleled collection of vibrant paintings created for the program. The 56 paintings in the exhibition are a lasting visual record of America at a specific moment in time.
General Information
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Hours: Daily 11:30 am - 7 pm
Closed December 25
Admission: Free
Address: 8th and F Streets, NW
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown (Red, Yellow, and Green lines)
Phone: 202-275-1500
Email: info@saam.si.edu
More about Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is dedicated to the art and artists of the United States. All regions, cultures, and traditions in this country are represented in the museum's collections, research resources, exhibitions, and public programs. Colonial portraiture, nineteenth-century landscape, American impressionism, twentieth-century realism and abstraction, New Deal projects, sculpture, photography, prints and drawings, contemporary crafts, African American art, Latino art, and folk art are featured in the collection. More than 7,000 American artists are represented, including major artists such as John Singleton Copley, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam, Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward Hopper, Jacob Lawrence, Robert Rauschenberg, Nam June Paik, and Martin Puryear.The Smithsonian American Art Museum, begun in 1829, is the first federal art collection. The museum began with gifts from private collections and art organizations established in the nation's capital before the founding of the Smithsonian in 1846. The museum has grown steadily to become a center for the study, enjoyment, and preservation of America's cultural heritage. Today the collection consists of more than 40,000 artworks in all media, spanning more than 300 years of artistic achievement. The museum's historic building has undergone a renovation and reopened on July 1, 2006.
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