The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was instituted in 1935 by President Franklin D.
Roosevelt to alleviate Depression-era unemployment. The object of the WPA was to reduce
dependence on private charity and Federal, state, and local relief by putting people to work
on a variety of needed projects. The WPA spent almost $11 billion--80% of it in
wages--between 1935 and 1943 and provided jobs for 8.5 million individuals. Although
criticized by non-supporters of the New Deal, the WPA played a vital role during the 1930s
in helping the nation's jobless maintain a minimum standard of living. In 1943, when the
economy began to grow, Congress refused to grant the agency new appropriations and the WPA
was disbanded.
One of the most successful, if controversial, projects undertaken by the WPA was the
Federal Art Project (FAP), started in 1935. Employing artists, musicians, actors, and
writers, the FAP focused upon nationalist and patriotic themes and used the then-current
genre of social realism. Major painters as well as unknown artists were employed by the FAP
and largely produced murals and sculpture. The program was based on a recognition that art
was needed even in times of poor economy; it successfully spread original art to many small
American towns. In addition it operated over 100 community art centers and compiled a
20,000-piece Index of American Design. In 1939 Congressional criticism led to drastic cuts
in the agency's appropriations. In 1943 the Federal Art Project, like the rest of the WPA,
was disbanded.
The Federal Art Project in Wisconsin was headed by Charlotte R. Partridge, director of the
Layton Art Gallery in Milwaukee. Partridge served in this position from August 1935 until
1941 when she was succeeded by Margaret D. Clark. In 1939 Victor Volk became supervisor of
the Index of American Design project in Wisconsin.
