Title: New Deal Cultural Programs
Headings: New Deal Cultural Programs:
New Deal Cultural Programs:
Experiments in Cultural Democracy
by Don Adams and Arlene Goldbard
IN THIS DOCUMENT...
Introduction: Federal Cultural Programs of the 1930's
Early New Deal Programs: PWAP and FERA
The Treasury Section of Fine Arts
The Works Progress Administration (WPA)
The Birth of "Federal One"
Federal One's Component Projects
The Federal Art Project:
The Federal Music Project:
The Federal Theatre Project:
The Federal Writers Project:
The Historical Records Survey:
Federal One in Retrospect
The Problem of Censorship
The End of an Era
FOOTNOTES
Go to the Cultural Policy in U.S. History for the
history of U.S. cultural policy prior to or since the Great Depression
Return to the Webster's World of Cultural Policy Home Page
Return to the overall WWCD Home Page

Content: For some, the New Deal offered a chance to act on the exciting ideas of Mexican muralists in their struggle to create a new public art not constrained by the conventions of the European art world. For others, inspiration came from the practical work that had been done in the settlement houses and rural extension services; from new progressive educational theories; from the new definitions of art that had come out of the Russian Revolution; from the Group Theater and other experiments in politically-conscious, collaborative art; and from dozens of other influences. The main federal cultural programs of the '30s were based on concern for a labor market: professional artists and others engaged in cultural work. The skyrocketing popularity of media like the phonograph, radio and movies had recently supplanted many thousands of live performers: some 30,000 musicians had been displaced by new mechanical modes of music reproduction;