New Deal Liberalism: WPA Artwork  
# Sunday, January 25, 2009

The development of modern American liberalism may be traced to the late 19th and early 20th century, it may also be viewed as the modern version of the classical liberalism upon which America was founded. Following the Great Depression, it became the dominant ideology in the U.S., until the late 1970s, when it was challenged by supporters of religious conservatism, laissez-faire economics, and a strong military presence overseas.



The New Deal arts projects provided work for jobless artists, but they also had a larger mission: to promote American art and culture and to provide Americans with access to what President Franklin Roosevelt described as "an abundant life." The projects saved thousands of artists from poverty and despair and enabled Americans across the country to see an original painting for the first time, attend their first professional live theater event, or take their first music or drawing class.



With the United States economy spiraling down the drain, there's been a renewed interest in the New Deal projects of the 1930s and 1940s as potential models of how to once again make big government good government.



Read Lincoln Cushing's new article:
Privatizing the Commons: The Commodification of New Deal Public Art

Lincoln Cushing has been researching New Deal prints for his forthcoming book from Cornell University Press, Agitate! Educate! Organize! American Labor Posters.

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