A New Deal: Artists at Work

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt launched his ambitious Works Progress Administration (WPA) programs that sent millions of unemployed Americans back to work, including more than 5,000 artists. Under the auspices of the WPA, the Federal Art Project afforded opportunities to a diverse group of artists, including women, African Americans, and immigrants from countries such as Russia, China, and Germany. The Gibbes is one of a select group of institutions across the country that houses an historic collection of Federal Art Project prints. This monumental effort to put artists back to work resulted in a collection of artwork intended to capture the national spirit from the coast to coast, and encourage creativity in the face of great challenges.