New Deal Fairy Tale, Nursery Rhyme, and Story Art (6/10): "Alice in Wonderland"

The ceramic sculptures below were made by Edris Eckhardt (1905-1988), while she was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1936. According to her Wikipedia page, Eckhardt taught at the Cleveland School of Art, Cleveland College, Western Reserve University, University of California Berkeley, and Notre Dame. All images are courtesy of the Cleveland Public Library.

Above: "Alice and the White Rabbit."

Above: "Mad Tea Party."

Above: "Three Queens."

Above: "Ugly Duchess."

Above: "Walrus and Carpenter."

New Deal Fairy Tale, Nursery Rhyme, and Story Art (5/10): "Hansel and Gretel"

Above: "Hansel and Gretel," a stencil print by Frank Daniel Fousek (1913-1979), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1939. According the website Art of the Print, Fousek "was strongly associated with the Cleveland Chapter of the Works Progress Administration... The Cleveland W.P.A. Graphics Art Workshop began operation in 1935 and continued to 1943. It was considered one of the five best centers for original prints and its artists included Leroy Flint, Russell Limbach, Dorothy Rutka, Sheffield Kagy, Kalman Kubinyi and Frank Fousek. Kubinyi was in charge of the project until 1939, when Frank Fousek assumed control." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Kelvin Smith Library, Case Western Reserve University.

Above: A WPA poster, promoting the WPA's production of "Hansel and Gretel." In "Hansel and Gretel," a witch captures two children and plans to eat them. But Gretel foils the plan by pushing the witch into an oven. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: A scene from the WPA's production of "Hansel and Gretel," Los Angeles, February 16, 1937. In 1938, WPA Theatre Director Hallie Flanagan told a congressional committee: "The Federal Theatre has an audience of many millions, among them a great proportion of youth. It has an ambitious nationwide plan in which local and regional material is developed, a plan which includes classics, living newspapers, research, dance, children's theatres" (Hallie Flanagan, Arena, New York: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1940, p. 326). Photo courtesy of the National Archives and the New Deal Network.

New Deal Fairy Tale, Nursery Rhyme, and Story Art (4/10): "The Emperor's New Clothes"

Above: A WPA poster, by artist Richard Halls, promoting the WPA children's theatre production of "The Emperor's New Clothes." According to one Internet source, Halls was born in New Orleans in 1906 and taught at the City College of New York from 1952 until his death in 1976. Charlotte Chorpenning, whose name you see in the poster above, worked for many years at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago - her "adaptations of children's stories made her the most produced playwright in Goodman Theatre history" ("Our History," Goodman Theatre). Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: An actor in the WPA's production of "The Emperor's New Clothes," ca. 1936. "The Emperor's New Clothes" tells the story of two weavers who trick an emperor into thinking he's wearing new clothes - clothes that can only be seen by smart people. And though he's not actually wearing anything, everyone plays along, for fear of being called dumb. Photo courtesy of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.

New Deal Fairy Tale, Nursery Rhyme, and Story Art (3/10): "Little Miss Muffet"

Above: "Little Miss Muffet," by Frank Daniel Fousek (1913-1979), created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Kelvin Smith Library, Case Western Reserve University.

Above: In this 1938 photograph from rural Kentucky, we see children gathered around a WPA pack-horse librarian. The WPA paid librarians to deliver books and other reading material to remote areas of the country, where people had limited or no access to libraries. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

New Deal Fairy Tale, Nursery Rhyme, and Story Art (2/10): "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"

Above: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," a WPA poster by Aida McKenzie, ca. 1937-1941. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: The description for this WPA photograph, ca. 1935-1943, reads: "Minnesota - [WPA] Nursery Schools - Storytelling time at the Rice School for poor children of the neighborhood." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

New Deal Fairy Tale, Nursery Rhyme, and Story Art (1/10): "Mowgli and His Brothers"

Above: "Mowgli and His Brothers," a painting by Gladys Carambella, created while she was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. Mowgli is the main character in Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" (1894). There doesn't seem to be much information about Gladys Carambella on the Internet, but it appears she was born on August 22, 1898 and died on September 22, 1974 (see, e.g., "Gladys M. Beidelman Carambella," Find A Grave). Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Kelvin Smith Library, Case Western Reserve University.

Above: A WPA poster promoting "Story Hour," a WPA recreation project in Illinois. Between 1935 and 1943, and in various parts of the country, the WPA conducted many story-telling programs for children. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

New Deal Art: "Dark Houses"

Above: "Dark Houses," a wood engraving on paper by Michael J. Gallagher (1898-1965), created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science & Art.