 In the midst of the Great Depression the federal government initiated a series of programs to hire unemployed artists and writers. Today, these provide a lens through which American history, values and everyday life were viewed in the 1930s. The first such program, the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), 1933-1934, hired more than 3,700 artists during its 5-month existence. They produced more than 15,000 artworks in practically every type of public building. PWAP was replaced by the Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture (TSFA),1934-1943, which sponsored competitions and awarded commissions to selected artists who turned out more than a thousand post office murals. The WPA launched the Federal Art Project (FAP) in 1935, along with the Federal Writers’ Music and Theater Projects. All came under attack from Republicans in Congress and ultimately were defunded. The creative output that resulted from this unprecedented era of government sponsorship is now regarded as an American Renaissance.
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By Susan DeMasi
The Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) employed thousands of out-of-work editors, writers and others in its quest to create a self-portrait of America. Through its publications, the FWP endeavored to celebrate the nation’s mosaic of racial, ethnic and cultural identities. READ MORE
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 Turning Controversy into Consensus
By Bill Jeffway
When the Postal Service, citing public concerns, announced last year it planned to remove or cover New Deal murals at the Rhinebeck, New York Post Office, the town saw an opportunity to open a discussion about racial justice and Black history.
READ MORE
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 The Living New Deal Welcomes New Advisory Board Member
Lizabeth Cohen has joined the Living New Deal’s Advisory Board. She is Professor of American Studies and History at Harvard and former dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. She is author of several books including Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939. Cohen has won many honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship. READ MORE
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 Dorothea Lange, Photography as Activism
Fridays-Sundays, 11am-5pm PDT
The Oakland Museum of California
The museum has reopened with an expanded installation of Lange’s work from its permanent collection. View the digital archive.
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Living New Deal Webinar Series, “The Next New Deal”
 "How the New Deal Transformed Washington, D.C."
Thursday, July 22, 2021, 2pm EDT
The Northwest Neighbors Village
Take a virtual tour of the New Deal’s additions to our nation’s capital. Learn about the Living New Deal’s new map, “A Guide to the Art and Architecture of Washington, D.C."
Featuring Richard Walker, Director of the Living New Deal.
REGISTER
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 "The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of the Federal Writers’ Project"
Tuesday, August 31, 5pm PDT (8pm EDT)
A conversation with the author, Scott Borchert, and writer David Kipen.
A "21st Century Federal Writers’ Project" is in the offing. Reactionary forces ultimately scuttled the New Deal Federal Writers’ Project. Will they do the same today? Free. REGISTER
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 Why The New Deal Matters
Thursday, September 30, 5pm PST (8PM EDT)
A conversation with the author, Eric Rauchway, and Lizbeth Cohen about how the New Deal fundamentally changed American life, and why it remains relevant today. Free. REGISTER
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Some links may limit access for nonsubscribers. Please support local journalism, if you can.
The Real Deal
As cultural workers have had their livelihoods crushed by the pandemic, the New Deal’s arts projects are suddenly relevant again
By Scott Borchert
Air Mail, May 29 2021
Revived New Deal Program Would Employ Out-Of-Work Writers To Document Current Times
There's a new push in Congress to revive a signature program from the New Deal: The Federal Writers' Project.
By Chris Greenspon
LAist.com, May 9, 2021
NYC Launches a $25M WPA-style Recovery Program for the Arts
City Artist Corps is expected to create jobs for more than 1,500 artists in New York City
By Hakim Bishara
Hypoallergic.com, May 9, 2021
How Greenwich Village Shaped Eleanor Roosevelt
A new book by Jan Jarboe Russell, Eleanor in the Village, explores how life in Greenwich Village — with its radicals, artists, early feminists and lesbians — made an impact on Roosevelt’s personal and political convictions, and by extension on her husband’s liberalism.
By Karen Iris Tucker
The Washington Post, June 4, 2021
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"Judge parties and candidates, not merely by what they promise, but by what they have done, by their records in office, by the kind of people they travel with, by the kinds of people who finance and promote their campaigns. By their promoters ye shall know them."
— FDR, 1938
In Case You Missed It
Inside Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's Life in San Francisco
Rivera's influence can be seen in the large-scale murals New Deal artists painted at Coit Tower, Beach Chalet and UCSF.
Coit Tower mural by Victor Arnautoff
Photo: Susan Ives
Listen: "Inside Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's Life in San Francisco"
By Marisol Medina-Cadena, KQED, December 3, 2020
YOUR DONATIONS KEEP THE NEW DEAL SPIRIT ALIVE.
The Living New Deal thanks you for your generous support!
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