How Did The New Deal Influence The Federal Art Project Of Work

It is easy today for someone to see the effects famous artworks have had: the toy clocks that look like they are melting and dripping off the table, the parodies of artworks on coffee mugs, and the artistic styles that still appear across the world. Many of these products and influences originated from the 1930s. This time was characterized by the Great Depression, upcoming World War II, the entering of communism on the world stage. Economic strife and political orientation found their way into the world of art, helping to develop new movements of Surrealism, Social Realism, and Regionalism along with artists, such as Salvador Dali, that will continue to captivate large audiences for times to come. For much of the decade, Surrealism and Social

Roosevelt outlaid the New Deal to help America through the hard times. Considered to be its most successful aspect, the New Deal created the Works Progress Admin (WPA) and the Federal Art Project (FAP)- the New Deal established the WPA which then established the FAP. These groups hired thousands of impoverished American artists, paying them to complete murals, public works, and private works. What the artist created was up to their own volition, but one of the “main aims of [it] was to invoke familiar images that spoke of shared values and American progress” (“Federal Art Project of Works Progress Admin” 1). This would help save the American people in their time of need, proving respite from the evils of the depression and rejuvenating the American people. It helped foster a community of wage earning artists that would have never existed in the depression’s climate. This created a plethora of art for a country greatly in need for vision and motivation. In return, the FAP “demonstrated that art was worthwhile work and not a leisure activity on the side” (“Federal Art Project of Works Progress Admin” 5). The government established for the first time in American History art as a job and not just a hobby. People were now able to make a living solely off their art. Furthermore, this fostered a community of upcoming artists that would lead future global art movements from their home of America. Even Jackson Pollock would enroll right from the programs gestation to later become one of America’s most renowned