- In France, many personalities called for a "New deal of culture", to use Jack Lang's words, recalling the financial efforts made towards artists by President Roosevelt in the 1930s.
- But what has been put in place? We asked Margaret Rung, New Deal specialist.
- Thanks to the Art New Deal, "the era saw a surge of artistic creativity," explains the history professor at Rooselvelt University in Chicago.
While the arts sector is facing an unprecedented crisis, following the coronavirus pandemic, does it need a New Deal for culture, as proposed by several personalities, including former ministers Jack Lang and Christiane Taubira? Before answering this question, it is interesting to examine the cultural policies implemented by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s, following the crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed.
We asked Margaret Rung, a history professor at Rooselvelt University in Chicago and director of the New Deal Center, a few questions.
Can you explain to us what has been done for artists in the context of the New Deal?
The New Deal has supported artistic creation through various programs, the best known being Federal One, created in 1935. There have been four variations: for the arts, writers, theater and finally for music. To participate, individuals had to prove that they lived by their art and that they were unemployed or in need.
The very first federal program emerged in the first 100 days of the Roosevelt era, in the context of the industrial revival brought about by the New Deal and was led by the Civil Works Administration. It was called Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) [which could be translated as “artistic public works project”] and selected artists in need, competent to decorate public gardens and buildings. The best known works are the frescoes painted on the Coit Tower in San Francisco.
This policy lasted only six months and was followed by another. She has known different names: "The Section of Painting and Sculpture," "The Section of Fine Arts," or "The Section". We owe him the sculptures and frescoes that we see in many post offices. Unlike the other two, this policy was more about excellence. The work was remunerated after a competition at regional and federal level.
Then the PWPA created a program to finance the purchase of works for existing federal buildings or under construction which did not have an artistic budget (Treasury Relief Art Project or TRAP). Initially this program stipulated that 90% of employed artists must be unemployed or in need, then this ceiling fell to 75% later. Then finally there was Federal One, with the four projects I told you about.
What was the purpose of these programs?
Roosevelt believed that funding culture was both good for the economy, because it put people to work, and good for Americans, because it gave everyone access to art. And because it encouraged culture to put itself at the service of the public good. Regarding poverty and unemployment, Roosevelt sincerely believed that people preferred to work rather than receive money directly, and that is why he initiated these orders.
This idea was suggested to him by several people: first George Biddle, one of his former classmates from Groton School and Harvard. The latter wrote to him in 1933 expressing his deep admiration for the Mexican government's decision to pay wall artists to decorate public buildings with images of the Mexican Revolution, thus creating "the largest school of wall frescoes since the Italian Renaissance ”. He argued that American artists were just as aware of the "social revolution" at work in the United States, and that, with government support, they could represent "on living buildings the social ideals you are trying to accomplish ”.
Federal One, the Section and TRAP established strong links between culture and democracy. The officials at the helm of these programs firmly believed that all American citizens deserved to have access to art and that artists should be encouraged to explore themes relevant to American culture, history and life.
Did it work? Both economically and artistically?
It was a huge success. Thanks to this policy, the era experienced a surge of artistic creativity. Ordinary Americans had access to concerts, plays of all kinds, sculptures, frescoes, paintings, prints, street performances, tour guides and much more. In addition, Federal One provided arts education courses and enabled the creation of arts centers at the local level. Thanks to him, the government allowed the preservation of archives of folk art, the recording of popular songs throughout the country and interviews with former African American slaves were conducted. This public policy has made it possible to document the life and culture of men and women of different gender, age, geographic, ethnic and social origins.
The Federal Arts Project alone employed 5,000 artists, who created nearly 108,000 paintings, between 17,000 and 19,000 sculptures, over 11,000 prints and between 2,500 and 4,000 frescoes. In 1939, the music project employed 7,000 musicians, who had performed nearly 225,000 concerts attended by nearly 150 million people. The Federal Writers Project produced nearly 1,200 publications and 14,000 manuscripts, with writers such as Richard Wright, Zora Neale Hurston and Studs Terkel. The theater project had recruited nearly 10,700 people a year after it started, operating in 31 states. 11 cities had companies entirely made up of black actors and actresses. Others have seen Spanish, Yiddish theater flourish…
Even today many post offices exhibit sculptures and frescoes created thanks to The Section and countless public buildings across the country offer to see works created thanks to the WPA and TRAP programs.
A large part of the works were destroyed, the Americans not always appreciating what had been produced. But in the 1980s and 1990s, historians and archival specialists began to recognize the richness of this cultural experience. Since then, groups have mobilized to save the works and historians have worked to find the stories behind these pieces. This pioneering effort not only supported American artists, providing them with jobs and opportunities, it also left a rich creative and cultural heritage in the midst of a decade of economic disaster.
In France, many personalities have called for a "New deal of culture", to use Jack Lang's words. What do you think ?
It is not only a good idea, it is necessary. Art is at the center of human experience and it is vital for social cohesion. The artistic programs of the New Deal opened new conversations on fundamental subjects in the United States: on what was important for the Americans, on their aptitudes and their shortcomings…. What Was the Outline of American Life? And why was the United States organized into regions? The artists of the New deal not only raised the American people through aesthetic production, they also used their art in the service of social justice, and demonstrated in a concrete way the link between art and democracy, between art and human dignity .
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