Manuscripts Collection
During the Great Depression the United States government sponsored several projects promoting the production of works of art. Among them was the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), begun in December, 1933, and funded by the U.S. Civil Works Administration. The PWAP was not a relief program, but rather a means to provide jobs for unemployed artists. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the PWAP's main objective was to document the contemporary "American scene" in paintings, murals, and sculpture that would be appropriate for display in any federal or other publicly owned building. All artworks produced became the property of the federal government.
Under the PWAP the country was divided into 16 regions. Region 10, composed of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, was administered by the Committee of Federal Relief on Fine Arts, headquartered in Chicago and chaired by Walter S. Brewster (December 1933 - February 1934) and Increase Robinson (February-April 1934).
Minnesota's PWAP was administered by an advisory subcommittee headquartered at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and chaired by the Institute's director, Russell A. Plimpton. a clerk, Homer R. Kinney, and two committees: He was assisted by 1) the Technical Committee, which served as a jury on submitted artworks, and 2) the Committee on Definite Art Projects, which investigated the need for artwork in individual public buildings and helped allocate artists for each job.
During its existence the Minnesota PWAP employed approximately 50 local artists. They produced artworks for display in such public buildings as schools, universities, libraries, state offices, municipal park buildings, and hospitals.
The PWAP was formally terminated on April 28, 1934. It culminated its work with a national exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. (April 25-May 30). Selected works from throughout the nation were displayed, including approximately 12 from Minnesota.
Unfinished Minnesota PWAP projects already in progress were completed during the following year with funding from Minnesota's State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA).
Historical data was taken from the collection.
The papers document the daily operations of the Minnesota PWAP, particularly its relationship with the Chicago office. They consist mainly of correspondence, photographs, file cards, national directives and bulletins, reports, telephone memoranda, and payroll registers.
The materials are divided into the series listed below and are arranged chronologically within each series unless otherwise noted in the series descriptions that follow.
St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society, 1987.
Microfilm available for sale or interlibrary loan from the Minnesota Historical Society.
Originals (1.25 cu. ft.) held by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Accession number: 13,892.
Processed by: Cheryl Norenberg Thies, April 1987 .
Catalog ID number: 6648758
The bulk of the correspondence falls into two categories: 1) that between the Minnesota and Chicago offices; and 2) that between the Minnesota office and its constituents.
Letters in the first category comment on the enrollment of qualified artists; directives from the national office, particularly those covering the reduction of salaries and the number of enrolled artists; travel expenses; the use of artwork identification cards; telephone and telegraph protocol; and procedures for closing the Minnesota office, including the need for a complete photographic record of all artworks produced during the project. The main correspondents are Minnesota's Plimpton and Kinney and Chicago's Robinson, R. J. Dooley, and Polly Root Collier. There are also memoranda of telephone conversations and materials describing the organizational structure of the PWAP at the national, regional, and state levels.
Materials in the second category include requests for artworks; lists of artists, assignments, and completed artworks; Technical Committee artwork critiques and commentary on appropriate buildings for display of the artworks; samples of the oath of office all enrolled artists were required to sign and the questionnaire used to determine the artwork needs of various public buildings; letters and reports regarding the disposition of the artworks; and applications, letters, and reports focusing on the use of SERA funds to complete PWAP projects.
The following annotations highlight some specific items and topics:
1933: A letter from PWAP national secretary Edward Bruce delineating the PWAP's non-relief status (December 18).
1934: A letter from PWAP national technical director Forbes Watson concerning the appropriate subject content for PWAP murals (January 4); notes from Plimpton's meeting with the Chicago officers (January 15) and a report of the regional directors' meeting (February 28); materials pertaining to the PWAP's national exhibition, including correspondence, lists of artworks, shipping receipts, and the exhibition catalog (March-April); notices of the PWAP's April 28th termination (April); and a report on the "University [of Minnesota] Art Project Employing PWAP Artists" (November 3).
Kept by Kinney as Minnesota PWAP clerk, the volume includes letters and memoranda of Kinney, Plimpton, and the Technical Committee, and notes on individual artists and their projects. There are also notes from the planning session for the University of Minnesota art project employing PWAP artists. The volume is written in both short- hand and longhand.
Alphabetical name file of artists who applied for the project, including those not accepted. The cards contain information on educational background and previous employment and, for those accepted, enrollment data, Technical Committee actions on submitted artworks, and a paycheck register. Not all of the cards contain all of the above information.
Alphabetical files documenting each enrolled artist's participation in the PWAP, particularly his or her progress through each, assignment and the actions taken by the Technical Committee on each of his or her submitted artworks. Included in the following order in each file are project registers; project logs; paycheck registers; progress reports; assignment and identification cards; and correspondence, photographs, and newspaper clippings. Not all of the above items are contained in each file.
Of particular interest are letters in the John K. Daniels file concerning a proposed bust of Dr. William J. Mayo and letters and reports in the Elof Wedin file focusing on his assignment to record life at the Itasca (Minnesota) Emergency Conservation Work camp (March-April 1934).
The artists were divided into two classifications according to their expertise, with each classification having a prearranged pay level. Some of the payroll lists contain a single alphabetical listing of the artists' names, each followed by the amount paid. On many of the payrolls, however, the artists' names are arranged alphabetically within each classification. Since the pay levels were prearranged, a number of the payrolls either list the payment amounts only at the beginning of each classification or simply do not list them at all.
Black and white photographs, with accompanying file cards, of 271 artworks submitted to Minnesota's PWAP office. The file cards supply data on the artist, title, physical dimensions, and medium of the artwork; comments and actions of the Technical Committee; and the artwork's disposition. Several artworks appear both as sketches and final products in the series.
The series is incomplete in two regards, as follows:
1) There are file cards but no photographs for numbers 26, 78, 86, and 240. However, the file cards for numbers 78 and 240 correspond to the same artworks as the photographs and file cards for numbers 235 and 77, respectively.
2) There are no cards or photographs for numbers 205, 245, 249, and 250.