Art & Architecture: Legacy & Loss

News items that speak to the vast legacy of New Deal art and architecture and to controversies about the loss of historic works or their relevance to modern times.

• A Silver Lining

  • February 25, 2022

  A Silver Lining With the economy in shambles and one in four workers unemployed, FDR appointed Harry Hopkins to come up with programs to provide relief. Public works projects would provide millions of jobs and become the backbone of the economic recovery. Hopkins recognized that artists, too, needed work. “Hell,” he ...
• Los Tres Grandes

  • February 18, 2022

  At the end of Mexico’s long revolution (1910-1920), a time of stability emerged. The newly elected government of President Alvero Obregón dedicated funds for construction, education and the arts. With the aid of his Minister of Education José Vasconcelos, Obregón launched a national initiative to build schools and employed artists to decorate ...
• A Cornerstone for Conservation

  • January 24, 2022

  In 1940, The Washington Post featured a 9-page photo essay on the capital’s new Department of Interior building. In photographs and text, the agency’s diverse functions were richly described. The building’s fashionable Art Deco or Moderne design and large, colorful public murals express New Deal progressive sentiments and faith in ...
• Nicholas Kristof Draws Comparisons between “Build Back Better” and New Deal

  • November 26, 2021

  In a piece titled, "Biden's Plan Isn't 'Spending' but 'Investing,'" Nicholas Kristof compares President Biden's “Build Back Better” plan to the New Deal programs that built the physical infrastructure of the nation. Using the example of the Yamhill-Carlton High School built by the Public Works Administration, Kristof argues that the ...
• LND Advisor June Hopkins Participates in Roosevelt House Panel

  • November 5, 2021

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahaHrfz3qb4 Living New Deal Advisor June Hopkins, the granddaughter of key New Dealer Harry Hopkins, participated in a panel discussion with other descendants of the original F.D.R. Cabinet and Brain Trust descendants during a conference titled, "The New Deal Then and New: What is the Role of Government in Response to ...
• Why we need a new WPA

  • April 11, 2021

  In an CNN opinion piece titled, "Why we need a new WPA," Paula M. Krebs makes a case for addressing today's economic woes by using policy lessons from a time when the government stepped in to provide paid work for construction workers and artists alike. Read the full piece here. ...
• Welcome to our Webinar Series: "The Next New Deal"

  • March 12, 2021

  "The New Deal and Far-Right Extremism: Saving the Republic"Featuring: Kevin Baker, author and historianWednesday, March 24, 7:00pm EDT7:00pm Eastern/4:00pm PacificRSVP  A link to the webinar will be provided upon registering. German American Bund rally, Madison Square Garden, New York, 1939Credit: Wikimedia Commons Please join us for a Living New Deal NYC Zoom ...
• New Deal Arts Programs - Lessons for Struggling Artists Today

  • February 28, 2021

  In a piece published in Artnet, Ben Davis, reflects on calls to help distressed art institutes in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic by drawing on the lessons of the New Deal Arts Programs. Davis examines the history of the programs and sets out to dispel a few misconceptions. "Without ...
• FDR’s Legacy and Joe Biden’s Greatest Challenge

  • December 8, 2020

  David Riemer and June Hopkins Previously published in The Hill. https://t`hehill.com/opinion/white-house/527275-fdrs-legacy-and-joe-bidens-greatest-challenge When Joe Biden gave his acceptance speech as president-elect, he referred to “FDR in 1932 — promising a beleaguered country a New Deal.”  Biden and his backers have frequently compared the crises Roosevelt faced in 1932 with the crises Biden faces today. Acting boldly like FDR, it seems, ...
• New Book: “'New Deal' means being prepared for conflict"

  • December 3, 2020

  In his book titled, “'New Deal' means being prepared for conflict," author Steffen Lehndorff examines what we can learn from the New Deal of the 1930s. The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic requires urgent social, economic, and environmental reforms. Lehndorff reflects on the New Deal, how it was set ...