Art Specialist Barbara Bernstein Tells All

In my elementary school in Highland Park, Illinois, were scenes of Robin Hood by Mildred Waltrip, a WPA painter. WPA murals hang in the library at my high school. I thought it was so cool when I later learned that these treasures were from a Depression-era government arts program. I happened upon a mimeographed list of New Deal murals and began scouting for them during my lunch hour. I looked in the phone book for artists on the list and visited their studios—remnants of Bohemian Chicago. They were delighted by my interest and shared their stories and photos with me. In 1976, I won a grant to make a documentary about the Illinois Art Project. “Silver Lining” features New Deal art and artists around the state. When I moved to San Francisco in 1984, exploring public art seemed a good way to get to know the city. I loved the murals at Coit Tower and the Beach Chalet, and Benny Bufano’s sculptures. My husband, John Tibbets, had the idea for a website with maps and photos and programmed the first iteration of the New Deal Art Registry in 2007, which led us to the Living New Deal and my becoming their Public Art Specialist. I wish government would hire photographers to take high-quality photos of all the New Deal murals for Americans to use. After all, they belong to all of us.