Inspired by the New Deal arts programs, Creative Action Network (CAN), an online community of mission-driven artists, announced a crowdsource campaign to create a new collection of “See America” posters celebrating America’s national parks. Within a few weeks about two… read more
Popular opposition to the sale of America’s historic post offices is gathering momentum; Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) introduced HR 466, urging the U.S. Postal Service to halt all sales of historic postal buildings across the country. Earlier this month Lee… read more
The City Council in West Hollywood, California is pushing an ill-conceived plan to demolish the Plummer Park Community Clubhouse, built by the WPA in 1938. Preservationists had nominated the building to the National Register of Historic Places, but the City Council opposed it. One councilmember went so far as to say they should tear the building down right away.
The government and the news media would like us to believe that the recession triggered by the financial crisis of 2008 is behind us and the economy is up and running at a fine clip. But the reality is not… read more
The old Bethesda Post Office, built by the WPA in 1938, was recently closed and sold to a private developer – a story that is all too common today (see Save the Post Office). But the prominent mural by Robert Gates,… read more
Stephen Seufert, a recent college graduate and blogger in Pennsylvania, has sent us this excellent op-ed piece he recently published in a local paper, The Bucks County Courier-Times. Thank you, Stephen, and we hope that more young Americans come to… read more
Friends of Civic Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, are trying to raise $1.2 million by mid-January to do repair and maintenance on the stadium, built 75 years ago by the WPA. By raising the money, they hope to persuade the Eugene… read more
By Sean Burns University of Illinois Press, 2011 Like many others, I made the pilgrimage to Casilli Street in San Francisco to interview the American folklorist Archie Green. As usual, he was sitting in the front window of his home… read more
“Art, Activism, and the WPA,” on exhibit at the University of Richmond Museums in Virginia, focuses on the passionate social engagement of New Deal artist Leon Bibel (1913-1995), whose work depicts “the social ills of racism, poverty, unemployment, and… read more
Our National Forests, no less than their infrastructure, are a mess after decades of neglect. The Rim Fire at Yosemite National Park last summer made that abundantly clear as it burned over 400 square miles of the Sierra Nevada flank… read more