Did Eleanor Roosevelt tie her support of the arts to greater citizenship and human rights?
I don’t recall a specific occasion, but it wouldn’t have been uncharacteristic of her or contradictory to her understanding of the role of the arts in human life. She basically saw the arts as a means to enrich individual lives and civilization. During her appointment to the United Nations, she chaired the committee that drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 27 of that document states: “Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.” Artists in the Federal Arts Project included Jacob Lawrence, Eleanor Coen, Georgette Seabrook along with Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock; the work of these artists reached rural communities and inner-city neighborhoods. How were these artists chosen? The FAP was famous, or notorious, depending on your point of view, for having no selection process for artists other than documented financial need. In addition, one of the guidi
