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NEW DEAL ART IN THE NORTHWEST: THE WPA AND BEYOND.

Author: Mark Humpal Date: Winter 2020 From: Oregon Historical Quarterly(Vol. 121, Issue 4) Publisher: Oregon Historical Society Document Type: Article Length: 697 words

Full Text: NEW DEAL ART IN THE NORTHWEST: THE WPA AND BEYOND by Margaret Bullock

Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, 2020. Illustrations. 240 pages. $39-95 cloth.

In March 1933, just over three years following the stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president. His administration soon enacted back-to-work programs with head-spinning urgency. Government officials quickly realized the importance of extending relief to workers in the art world and over the following decade, crafted programs not only to lift artists out of poverty, but also to boost the flagging morale of a nation.

New Deal Art in the Northwest is the first comprehensive exploration of how these art programs, often lumped together under the New Deal or Works Progress Administration (WPA) banner, played out in the Northwest in Region 16, specifically, Washington, Oregon, Montana, and Idaho. It is also the catalogue for the traveling exhibition, Forgotten Stories: Northwest Public Art in the 1930s. The core of the book, a culmination of nearly twenty years of research by Margaret Bullock, comprises three chapters: the first covers the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), the second combines the interrelated Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) and Section of Fine Arts (Section), and the third details the expansive (FAP). Bullock has conducted extensive research in the National Archives and other primary sources and for both facts and to offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the occasionally contentious interplay between program administrators, artists, and government officials.

Surrounding Bullock's central work are essays by a cadre of art scholars who encourage readers to consider both historical and current perspectives regarding New Deal art that survives (many works were destroyed, lost, or otherwise misappropriated over the years) in public places. The first essay, by Sharon Ann Musher, describes political and social factors precipitating the New Deal and how local politics regularly held sway over decisions regarding subject matter in a number of public art installations. Importantly, she highlights recent controversies surrounding the historical narratives in many of these works. Viewed through modern eyes, some New Deal murals, particularly those depicting tales of westward expansion and pioneers "settling" the West, have come under intense scrutiny due to a rising awareness of the maltreatment, oppression, and slaughter of Indigenous people.

Roger Hull contributes a chapter on the aesthetics and range of styles seen in New Deal art. The short answer here is that the range was not particularly wide, but due to "hot spots" of "the interplay of traditional sensibility and modernist invention," the seeds of modernism took root (p. 29). Indeed, many of the pillars of northwest modernism, including Carl Morris, , and Louis Bunce, emerged from these art projects.

In Chapter 6, seven essays consider New Deal programs from a broad array of contemporary viewpoints. Philip Stevens contrasts murals created by Native and non-Native artists, highlighting the pitfalls of accepting Euro-centric narratives about Indigenous people as truth. Following closely on this theme is Mindy J. Morgan's essay titled Land of Nakoda, a publication created as part of the Montana Writer's Project that compiles the stories of Assiniboine tribal elders. Tiffany Stith Cooper writes about photographer Minor White's rise to national prominence from his days working for the WPA. David F. Martin's entry focuses on stylistic and technical innovations in printmaking made by Washington State artists during the New Deal years. Sarah Baker Munro discusses the restoration and recreation of objects in Timberline Lodge, generally acknowledged as the crown jewel of the WPA in the Northwest. Roger Van Oosten recounts his adventures in rediscovering New Deal artwork languishing in various institutions' storage spaces and closets. Finally, Portland art conservator Nina Olsson explains the intricacies of conserving neglected, damaged, and painted-over New Deal art. The book includes two detailed appendices that provide opportunities for further research. The first lists all known New Deal artists working in Region 16. The second lists the location of all commissions organized by state and project, whether extant or missing. This highly readable and well-illustrated volume is a compelling tale of bold government action in the arts during hard times in the Northwest.

MARK HUMPAL

Portland, Oregon

Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Oregon Historical Society http://www.ohs.org/homepage.html Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition) Humpal, Mark. "NEW DEAL ART IN THE NORTHWEST: THE WPA AND BEYOND." Oregon Historical Quarterly, vol. 121, no. 4, Winter 2020, p. 457+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A647991648/AONE?u=wash89460&sid=bookmark- AONE&xid=5e1b0ef5. Accessed 10 June 2021. Gale Document Number: GALE|A647991648