THE NEW DEAL:

Opening Saturday, November 26th, 2011
Closing Saturday, March 31st, 2012

	Front Street, 1934 by Agnes Tait Lithograph BMAM 1940.47
	Desert Waste,1930 by William C. Ostrander Etching BCF 1988.322

The New Deal is an exhibition of prints by American artists, along with photographic enlargements depicting American culture during the late 1920s and the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Featured in this exhibit are fifteen works of art on permanent loan by the Fine Arts Program, General Services Administration of the Federal Government. These prints were produced by unemployed artists paid to create multiple works of art in the lithographic, woodblock, and etching print mediums under the guidelines of the Public Works of Art Project. The subsidizing of unemployed workers with creative and artistic skills was part of our country’s initial steps in the 20th century to assist individuals and families who were affected by the rippling national financial crisis following the Wall Street stock market crash of October 1929 and, significant to the immense farming and livestock regions of the Midwest, years of drought during the early 1930s.

The arbitrary allocation of the fifteen works to the Blanden Memorial Art Gallery was part of the federal government’s dispersion of artwork to art centers and museums across the country. The allocation sought to provide the recipient community with images from geographically diverse artists. The Blanden Art Museum’s lithographic and etched prints have been framed for the first time since their arrival in 1935. The 1935 government assignment letter is an interesting cultural history object itself. Signed by Ann Craton, Art Section “for” Arthur Goldschmidt, Acting Director of the Professional Projects, Federal Emergency Relief Administration the letter begins …

“Dear Sir:
This Administration takes great pleasure in presenting to the Blanden Memorial Art Gallery, a group of fifteen representative prints, executed by unemployed artists under the Public Works of Art Project, which was part of the Civil Works Administration. As you may recall there were a number of Iowa artists employed on this project. We hope that these prints will be appreciated and enjoyed by all lovers of art and we hope that they will add greatly to the embellishment and decoration of your walls.”

Also installed in this exhibition are 1930s etchings by American artists, such as William C. Ostrander, from the museum’s permanent collection. Additionally, photograph enlargements installed in this exhibition visually depict the American culture at this period in time, approximately 70 years ago.

		Manufacturing Machinist, 1930s Cleveland Twist Drill, Ohio Private Collection