Contreras, Belisario R., 1916-

Between 1933 and 1942 the Roosevelt administration developed a number of different federal art programs. The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), initiated by Edward Bruce, was administered by the Treasury Department and financed by relief funds from the Civil Works Administration (CWA). PWAP was an emergency measure that functioned only from December 1933 to January 1934. A second program, the Section of Painting and Sculpture, also established by Bruce within the Treasury Department, operated from October 1934 to June 1943. A third measure, the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP), organized by Bruce and funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), operated from July 1935 to June 1938. The fourth measure, the WPA Federal Art Project (WPA/FAP), established by administrator Harry L. Hopkins and directed by Holger Cahill, continued the federal program from September 1935 through May 1943.

Artist, art historian; Albuquerque, New York; d. 1990.

Author.

During the Depression, the Roosevelt administration organized art programs to create jobs for unemployed and destitute artists. It was the first time that the federal government supported the arts on a national scale.

The New Deal art programs were instituted primarily by Edward Bruce - lawyer, business man, and professional painter - and Holger Cahill - a well known writer, museum curator, and art expert. Bruce's and Cahill's task was to articulate the artist's goals to the administration and to guide the specific direction of the federal art programs.

New Deal art was derived from three basic cultural sources: the Depression era, the attempt to develop a uniquely U.S. American art style, and the Mexican mural movement. In the 1920's Mexican muralists depicted on public walls the social ideas of the Mexican revolution. Bruce and Cahill took over this idea and developed programs which employed artists to paint murals in public buildings such as post offices, public libraries, public schools, and federal government buildings. These murals focus on important historical events and contemporary scenes of American life. Cahill and Bruce also developed other programs to support easel painting, sculpture and graphic arts.

Between 1933 and 1942 the Roosevelt administration developed a number of different federal art programs. The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), initiated by Edward Bruce, was administered by the Treasury department and financed by relief funds from the Civil Works Administration (CWA). PWAP was an emergency measure that functioned only from December 1933 to January 1934. A second program, the Section of Painting and Sculpture, also established by Bruce within the Treasury Department, operated from October 1934 to June 1943. A third measure, the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP), organized by Bruce and funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), operated from July 1935 to June 1938. The fourth measure, the WPA Federal Art Project (WPA/FAP), established by administrator Harry L. Hopkins and directed by Holger Cahill, continued the federal program from September 1935 through May 1943.