What was the aim of the New Deal art programs?
The New Deal art programs of the 1930s were work relief projects above all. In an effort to maintain national unity in the midst of the Great Depression, the federal government stepped in and put people to work on what they considered productive projects. Harry Hopkins, producer and director of the Works Project Administration (WPA) relief programs, said the federal government was “. . . taking 3.5 million people off relief and putting them to work on the best possible projects we can.” There was no shame or embarrassment because the federal government emphasized the importance of work, and glorified work as that which defines us as Americans. The American dream of improvement and progress was still prevalent, so working was about what you could contribute to the betterment of the nation as a whole. A variety of New Deal visual arts programs operated under the aegis of government agencies. Examples include the Works Project Administration’s Federal Art Project (WPA-FAP); the Historical
