The Artist and the Government: The P.W.A.P.

The Artist and the Government: The P.W.A.P. JOEL H. BERNSTEIN With the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the mass unemployment that hit the United States, drastic changes took place in the relationship of the Federal Government to the art community. By 1933, over 12,000,000 Americans were unemployed and the majority of the artists, who in good times were at best a marginally successful economic group, were exceptionally hard hit because of diminished private patronage. This was unfortunate because it was a period of exciting regional production and renewed interest in mural work that had been stimulated by the Mexican experiment that was started in 1926. At that time, Mexico, under the leadership of President Obregon, began to hire muralists at workmen"s wages to decorate public buildings and the best murals of Jose Orozco and Diego Rivera resulted. 1 When the Depression hit America full force and the impetus toward relief for the artists got underway, Alfred Barr, Director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, working through government officials, was a primary factor in bringing the idea to the attention of President Roosevelt. 2 He had conceived the idea that artists should have the same relief that other citizens were receiving and at every opportunity he promoted his plan. Finally Barr mentioned it to a young girl who was a member of the family of a cabinet member and she finally persuaded her parents to bring the matter to the attention of the President of the United States.8 At the same time George Biddle, himself a prominent muralist and also a classmate of Roosevelt's at Groton and Harvard, wrote to the President in May, 1933, advocating murals as a means of communicating the ideals of American democracy: There is a matter which I have long considered and which some day might interest your administration. The Mexican artists have produced the greatest national school of mural painting since the Italian Renaissance. Diego Rivera tells me that it was only possible because Obregon allowed Mexican artists to work at plumber's wages in order to express on the walls of the government buildings the social ideals of the Mexican revolution. The younger artists of America are conscious as they never have been of the social revolution that our country and civilization are going through; and they THE CANADIAN REVIEW OF AMERICAN STUDIES VOL. 1 1 NO. 2 1 FALL 1970 wouldbe very eager to express these ideals in a permanent art form if they were given the government's co-operation. They would be contributing to and expressingin living monuments the social ideals that you are struggling to achieve. And I am convinced that our mural art with a little impetus, can soon result, for the firsttime in our history, in a vital national expression. 4 Roosevelt generally endorsed the ideas expressed in Biddle's letter when he answered: "I am interested in your suggestion in regard to theexpression of modern art through mural painting. I wish you would talk some day with Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Robert, who isin charge of the Public Buildings Work." 5 Conferences with Assistant Secretary L. W. Robert, Jr., artists and others concerned were arranged and by November 29, 1933, Secretary Robertreleased the following statement: Provisions for the encouragement of the fine arts has always been recognized as one of the functions of the Federal Government, and it is obvious that such provisions should be enlarged in times of depression. The work of artists and craftsmengreatly aids everyone by preserving and increasing our capacity for enjoyment, and is particularly valuable in times of stress .... We consider it a great pleasure to encourage the movement, and hope that it will promote the appreciation of art in our country .... We plan to find opportunities for this work in the embellishment of Federal Buildings with murals, sculpture, and craftsmanship, in similar work on state and municipal buildings financed by the Federal Government, and in other directions where the opportunity develops .... We realize that the encouragement of art is a vital factor in our civilization. 6 Robert's statement, endorsed fully by the Government, represented a sharp break...