Our Recent Discoveries
By Phyllis Wrynn ___________________________________ The first of the five bronze figures in George Segal’s “Depression Breadline” sculpture at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial depicts Works Progress Administration (WPA) artist Leon Bibel—a lifelong friend of Segal’s. Many notable American artists relied… read more
The former Roosevelt Hospital has recently reopened its doors as a senior housing complex. The facility was originally constructed in 1937 as a tuberculosis sanitarium and funded by the Public Works Administration. According to the Edison-Metuchen Sentinel and the American Planning Association, “The new… read more
Bernard Zakheim’s family has recently discovered the original, 10 feet high charcoal sketch drawings for his mural, The Library, located at the Coit Tower in San Francisco. Painted by Zakheim in 1934, the mural became the center of political controversy. Several… read more
An effort is underway to restore Eleanor Roosevelt’s childhood home in Clermont, New York. Eleanor Roosevelt’s grandfather built the home in 1872 and she spent much of her youth there. After decades of neglect, Van Lamprou, a co-founder of Dolce… read more
Since its completion in 1942, “Modern Education/School Activities” experienced the wear and tear and water damage that come with the decades. But who knew that this 16’ x 40’ oil-on-canvas mural, Painted by Frank Talles Chamberlain through the Public Works… read more
Recently, Living New Deal Research Associate Andrew Laverdiere discovered a yearbook chronicling the work of the Maine Emergency Relief Administration (MERA) in 1934. Loaded with detailed breakdowns of how relief was administered, the structural organization of the Emergency Relief Administration, and expenditures… read more
The New Deal, more than any other federal infrastructure or works project in the history of the United States, provided national support for the development of new work in the arts. The New Deal was also unique to the extent… read more
With good reason, histories of the New Deal have emphasized the failure of its programs to overcome the traditional barriers of race, ethnicity, and gender in American life. The New Deal revolutionized many aspects of US society and politics, but not its racial order. Indeed,… read more
From 1936 to 1942, 400 artists in 36 states, operating under the auspices of the Federal Art Project, fanned out into the American countryside to paint the everyday objects they found there. The result—18,527 watercolors of furniture, clothing, ceramics, quilts,… read more
A daring exhibition at the University of Santa Clara in 1976 began the rediscovery of a buried civilization then itself only forty years in the past. “New Deal Art: California,” a six-month exhibition at the De Saisset Gallery, pulled out of storage… read more