The Living New Deal got off to a running start this year, with new projects, new grants, a merger and an assortment of talks, tours and online events. Read on for some highlights from the first half of 2024:
NEW DEAL ART INITIATIVE RECEIVES TERRA FOUNDATION GRANT
LND has received a $25,000 grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art* for a workshop on "Forgotten Federal Art Legacies: New Deal to CETA," to be held next spring at the California College of the Arts (CCA). Mary Okin, director of LND's Advocating for New Deal Art (ANDA) initiative, will organize the convening in collaboration with Professor Jacqueline Francis, dean at CCA and a specialist in African American and New Deal art. The event will bring together art historians and curators, local Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) artists and graduate students to consider the contributions of New Deal public art to the present. New Deal and CETA art programs, both of which got their start in San Francisco, are rarely considered in tandem even though they are closely intertwined. Since 2009, the Living New Deal has been documenting and mapping New Deal artworks across the country and drawing attention to undocumented and endangered New Deal artworks. In 2023, we launched ANDA to consider what more can be done to study, preserve and teach about New Deal visual art and its history.
*The Terra Foundation for American Art, established in 1978 with offices in Chicago and Paris, supports organizations and individuals locally and globally with the aim of fostering intercultural dialogues and encouraging transformative practices that expand narratives of American art, through the foundation’s grant program, collection, and initiatives.
The LND welcomed a new chapter to the fold this year. Formerly part of the National New Deal Preservation Association (NNDPA), which is winding down its work, the Santa Fe-based group wished to continue as the New Mexico Chapter of the Living New Deal. The new chapter will gradually transition over to the Living New Deal’s website, accounting system, team and boards.
In April, the NNDPA hosted "The New Deal: Inspiration and Hope,” a two-day conference featuring New Deal experts and showcasing publication of “The New Deal – Looking Back, Moving Forward,” a collection of essays by New Deal historians. The highlight of the conference was a celebration of Kathy Flynn, founder, author and guiding light of the NNDPA. Thank you, Kathy, for all you have done to keep the New Deal legacy alive!
SIERRA CLUB HONORS SUSAN IVES FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENTS
In May, the Sierra Club Bay Chapter celebrated its 100th anniversary, honoring outstanding Bay Area activists. Susan Ives, the Living New Deal’s Communications Director, received the Ed Bennett Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of a career dedicated to the environment. Susan is a longtime leader in protecting the environment, including Restore Point Reyes Seashore, Massachusetts Environmental Trust, the Grand Canyon Trust and the International Greenbelt Movement. She served on the boards and as advisor to Save the Bay, The Bay Institute, Sierra Club Marin Group, Old Growth Forest Network, Friends of the Urban Forest, Marin Watershed Alliance, Heyday Books and nonprofits dedicated to protecting public lands.
WHAT A TEAM!
Our Los Angeles Research Assistant Natalie McDonald received a $10,000 grant for her ongoing research into the New Deal’s imprint on the nation’s second largest city. Natalie just received a Master’s degree in History at CSU-Northridge, garnering the Outstanding Student Award. Earlier this year, Natalie did a fine job representing LND on NPR’s Marketplace about LA’s New Deal infrastructure.
Living New Deal Researcher-at-Large Evan Kalish has joined our group of contributing writers to "On the Road," first-person travel stories posted to the Living New Deal’s website. Evan writes about far-flung New Deal sites he visits across the country. He calls the series "Where in the World is Evan?"
Independent researcher Eton Rosenbloom has also joined LND's stable of “On the Road” writers, writing on New Deal sites he visits as part of his project, "Eton Does L.A."
Living New Deal Founder Gray Brechin continues to be a popular speaker about the Living New Deal around the Bay Area. In May, LND Director Dick Walker spoke about the New Deal and the Living New Deal at the Architectural Heritage Center in Portland, Oregon.
Annie Rothstein Segan and Brodie Hefner led a tour of Brooklyn’s New Deal-built Red Hook housing in May as part of Jane’s Walk, an annual festival offering free, community-led walks of New York City.
In June, the Living New Deal hosted “A Chance to Harmonize” at the North Berkeley Library, a city landmark built by the WPA. The conversation about the New Deal’s little-known federal Music Unit featured author Sheryl Kaskowitz, musician Alexis Harte and LND Advisor Harvey Smith. Harvey, author of Berkeley and the New Deal, will be leading a WPA tour in July for San Francisco’s Laborfest.
OUR WEBINARS REACH A GROWING AUDIENCE!
The Living New Deal’s popular webinars showcase leading scholars and writers on the New Deal’s policies, programs and its outsized personalities.
June 25, 2024, The Best of Brawls: FDR, La Guardia, Moses, and the Making of the Model New Deal City, with historian Kevin Baker and professors Kimberley Johnson and Mason Williams and New York Times columnist Terry Golway.
June 11, 2024, Whose Stories? The People’s Recorder, Exploring the Legacy of the Federal Writers’ Project, with writer and producer David Taylor and author Susan DeMasi.
April 16, 2024, Ranger of the Lost Art, The Search for the New Deal’s Missing National Park Posters, with author Doug Leen.
March 26, 2024, Folk Music and the New Deal: Collecting the Hidden Soundtracks of the Great Depression, with author Sheryl Kaskowitz and author and folklorist Catherine Kerst.
February 29, 2024, A New Deal for Quilts, with historian and author Janneken Smucker.
LND has received a $25,000 grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art* for a workshop on "Forgotten Federal Art Legacies: New Deal to CETA," to be held next spring at the California College of the Arts (CCA). Mary Okin, director of 
(CETA) artists and graduate students to consider the contributions of New Deal public art to the present. New Deal and CETA art programs, both of which got their start in San Francisco, are rarely considered in tandem even though they are closely intertwined. Since 2009, the Living New Deal has been documenting and mapping New Deal artworks across the country and drawing attention to undocumented and endangered New Deal artworks. In 2023, we launched ANDA to consider what more can be done to study, preserve and teach about New Deal visual art and its history.
In June, the Living New Deal presented its 
Kevin Baker, director of the Living New Deal’s New York Chapter, did the honors along with Professor Kimberly Johnson, chair of the book award review committee. The New Deal Book Award recognizes outstanding nonfiction works about the New Deal era (1933-1942). Seventeen books were nominated for the 2023 award. Many thanks to the hard-working review committee members! The deadline for 
The LND welcomed a new chapter to the fold this year. Formerly part of the National New Deal Preservation Association (NNDPA), which is winding down its work, the Santa Fe-based group wished to continue as the New Mexico Chapter of the Living New Deal. The new chapter will gradually transition over to the Living New Deal’s website, accounting system, team and boards. 
In May, the Sierra Club Bay Chapter celebrated its 100th anniversary, honoring outstanding Bay Area activists. Susan Ives, the Living New Deal’s Communications Director, received the Ed Bennett Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of a career dedicated to the environment. Susan is a longtime leader in protecting the environment, including Restore Point Reyes Seashore, Massachusetts Environmental Trust, the Grand Canyon Trust and the International Greenbelt Movement. She served on the boards and as advisor to Save the Bay, The Bay Institute, Sierra Club Marin Group, Old Growth Forest Network, Friends of the Urban Forest, Marin Watershed Alliance, Heyday Books and nonprofits dedicated to protecting public lands.
Our Los Angeles Research Assistant Natalie McDonald received a $10,000 grant for her ongoing research into the New Deal’s imprint on the nation’s second largest city. Natalie just received a Master’s degree in History at CSU-Northridge, garnering the Outstanding Student Award. Earlier this year, Natalie did a fine job representing LND on 
