What can current arts activism groups learn from their efforts?
Quite a lot has changed since the 1930s in the world of federal arts policy. I think that one of the best lessons of the FAP, though, is that in terms of the arts, you must meet people where they are. You will have more success in engaging them if art is not mystifying or hard to grasp. Dana created exhibits from teacups and five-cent vases, not “difficult” modern art. What engages young people today? Animation, computer graphics, music. There have been recent examples of museums attempting to bring in new audiences using such strategies. The “Put the ‘OM’ in MoMA for example—yoga on Saturday mornings in the gallery! FAP was conceived not only to enrich the public with artwork, but also to preserve the creative skills of artists. What were the policy arguments that supported the latter? The WPA cultural projects made the argument that artists, musicians, actors, and writers were the same as any other white-collar worker. This “artist-as-worker” idea supported the contention that if the
