McKinney, Roland J. (Roland Joseph), 1898-

Museum director, mural painter and painter. Director of Baltimore Museum of Art and Los Angeles County Museum.

The Public Works of Art Project was the first of the New Deal programs created specifically to provide work for unemployed artists. The PWAP was established by the U.S. Treasury Department with an allocation of funds from the Civil Works Administration. The project ran from December of 1933 and until May of 1934 and generated nearly 16,000 works of art nationwide.The states receiving funding from PWAP were divided into regions. Region Four included Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. The states within Region Four each had a chairman that answered to Grant H. Code, the Regional Coordinator at the Treasury Department.In Maryland, the PWAP was administered by Mr. R. J. McKinney, director of the Baltimore Museum of Art from 1929-1937. Although most artists were dropped from the PWAP payroll at the end of April 1934, certain projects may have been completed or continued after that date. These projects were possibly funded by the Federal Relief Administration and the Baltimore Emergency Relief Commission but may have also pulled from other sources of state and local aid. November through December of 1934, an exhibition of works by the PWAP Region Four artists was held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. While the PWAP operated in Maryland, it employed roughly 40 artists and generated over 100 works of art that were allocated to public buildings and institutions throughout Maryland. The artists worked on their assigned projects on site or in their studios. Two Maryland artists were sent to Federal Relief Project work camps in Maryland. Aaron Sopher was sent to the New Germany Camp in Grantsville and Fredric Farley was assigned to Avalon Camp in Avalon Maryland.