Art from the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project

("Fishermen," an oil painting by Ross E. Moffett.)

("Negro Mother and Child," a bronze statue by Maurice Glickman.)

("Young worker," an oil painting by Julius Bloch.)

The above images are from the Public Works of Art Project, Report of the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury to Federal Emergency Relief Administrator, December 8, 1933 - June 30, 1934 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1934). The report states that "The Public Works of Art Project was set up under the Treasury Department for supervision, as one of the agencies to extend relief to the professional class, its object being to employ artists who were unemployed in the decoration of public buildings and parks." The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) was a short-lived New Deal program, lasting from December 8, 1933 until May 20, 1934 (the end date on the report--June 30, 1934--reflects the end of the government's fiscal year). The spirit of the PWAP would live on in other New Deal programs and agencies, such as the Works Progress Administration.