Art in a Day’s Work, February 6 - April 5, 2014
Scope and Contents
Materials include master checklists; exhibition design materials; installation images; and publications pertainting to exhibitions organized and hosted by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in 2014.
Dates
- February 6 - April 5, 2014
Conditions Governing Use
Images in this collection are either protected by copyright or are the property of CBMAA.
For requests to license high resolution art images, please contact
reproductions@crystalbridges.org
For requests to license high resolution installation images, please contact library@crystalbridges.org
Exhibition Summary
Art in a Day’s Work featured more than 40 artworks, primarily prints, created during the Great Depression and the early 1940s. During the Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to provide work for 3 million Americans through the Works Progress Administration (WPA), founded in 1935. The WPA offered work to musicians, actors, writers, and artists under a subdivision called the Federal Art Project (FAP), which paid artists a salary to produce art about contemporary life. It is no coincidence that these artists found sympathy with laborers during their time with the FAP, as they too had to clock in and work regular hours in their studios. The WPA dissolved in 1943 as the focus of the country shifted to World War II. By then, labor became a patriotic pursuit. Every American was called to do their part for the war effort, and the artwork produced reflected this shift. Women in particular answered the call to enter the workforce and fill traditionally male jobs. Norman Rockwell’s Rosie the Riveter embodies both the entrance of women into the work force and the new patriotic emphasis on labor.
Extent
From the Class: In progress Linear Feet
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Repository Details
Part of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Archives Repository
600 Museum Way
Bentonville AR 72712 United States
(479) 418-5748
library@crystalbridges.org