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Event—Adult Education

The WPA and the Arts: Federal Project Number One

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Taught by Kathleen Murphy Skolnik

Weekly on Thursdays, Apr 10–May 01, 2025

2:00pm–4:00pm

4 sessions, $225 ($202 for Newberry members, seniors, and students)

At the Newberry

Learn about the public art that gave relief to many of the American workers in need during the Great Depression.

A poster with a blue, star-patterned background and white and red rectangles. It reads, "See how W.P.A welfare services protect Americans. Exhibition, National Museum, Tenth and Constitution Aves. July 8-31. Federal Works Agency."

Poster for exhibition of WPA welfare services, Federal Art Project, c. 1936-1941. Source: The Library of Congress.

Class Description

Painters, sculptors, printmakers, photographers, actors, dancers, directors, musicians, composers, and writers were among the millions of Americans left unemployed by the Great Depression. This class will examine the government-sponsored work relief provided to art professionals by the Work Progress Administration's Federal Project Number One through the Federal Art, Theatre, Music, and Writers' Projects and the Historical Records Survey. It will include a visit to the Newberry collection to view material related to these programs, such as the FAP’s Index of American Art.

Kathleen Murphy Skolnik teaches art and architectural history at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. She is the co-author of The Art Deco Murals of Hildreth Meière and a contributor to Art Deco Chicago: Designing Modern America.

Materials List

Instructor-Distributed Materials

A Brief Syllabus

  1. The Federal Art Project (FAP)
  2. The Federal Art Project continued and the Federal Theater Project (FTP)
  3. The Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) and The Historical Records Survey
  4. The Federal Music Project (FMP)

Cost and Registration

4 sessions, $225 ($202 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.

We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($225), Community Supported ($215), and Sponsor ($235). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.

To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.

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