WPA Wall Hanging
SKU N-06-6047
WPA Wall Hanging
Dimensions: 20" (w) x 28" (h)
Entitled "Wall Hanging by WPA Handcraft Project, Milwaukee, Wisconsin", this poster is a color photographic reproduction of the original design that was done in block-printed cloth between 1935 and 1942. The author is unknown and was commissioned as part of the WPA, Milwaukee Handcraft Project. This project began in 1935 as an experiment aimed at employing workers who were considered unemployable because of age or disability. The project soon became a thriving business, employing up to 900 workers who made rugs, draperies, furniture, wall hangings and toys that were purchased by public institutions such as hospitals and schools.
This wall hanging was given to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt by the Milwaukee Handcraft Project. Mrs. Roosevelt recognized the economic contributions of domestic handicrafts, but she insisted that their benefits surpassed social and economic improvement. She had faith in the aesthetic and cultural power of the arts which was portrayed by her involvement in craft -related projects such as the New Deal cultural projects. In addition, this wall hanging was reproduced in black and white for a catalog that accompanied a 1997 National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) exhibit entitled "A New Deal for the Arts".
-- description by Henry Henley
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