WPA Federal Arts Project

In a time when Art is being cut from our schools and being shutdown as not important enough for our children’s institutions it is interesting to look back at a time in our history when our nation was struggling and yet art was still a priority.  The WPA valued art enough to put money and effort into keeping artists employed.  The Federal Art Project was a big push toward helping the art movement survive, gain support, and move forward.   

 This is an example of a poster created by the FAP.  "Shall the Artist Survive" is not just a question of the time but a question throughout history.  The arts have always been somewhat under appreciated and this can be seen today as well.  The FAP gave the arts a step in the right direction by helping artist who would have never gotten together otherwise to collaborate on posters and advertisements. 

This ad promoting the WPA shows a style of Heroic Realism.  But also shows the characters as silhouettes. 

 These next two posters use a Bauhaus style common at the time.  This style was a major player in the modernist movement.  The shapes and asymmetry are very visually appealing.  The posters show the progression of art in a time of starving artists.  During the depression the WPA was able to promote the works of many artists who would have never made there name know had it not been for the help of the FAP.  

Art is always being under appreciated and put second to other programs.  Even in today's society.  I wonder how much will be lost if art keeps being putting last, especially in education.  I am glad that during a time of depression in the past, arts were still deemed important and given the resources to progress.  Unfortunately the future does not seem so bright for current and future artists.   I am however excited to see individual being able to create art on their own with cheaper resources due to technology but I am scared to see what the future will bring if we do not inspire art within our youth community.