United States -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945 -- California -- San Francisco
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945 -- California -- San Francisco
Date:
1938-1941
Scope and Contents:
Publicity, correspondence, clippings, photographs, travel receipts, and telegrams relating to the dedication of the Noah's Ark murals by Dorothy Puccinelli and Helen Forbes at Fleishacker Mother's House in San Francisco Zoo; and correspondence, field reports, committee lists, publicity, photographs relating to National Art Week in Northern California.
Biographical / Historical:
Director of Information, Federal Art Project; Northern California.
Provenance:
The materials microfilmed are from the files of Arthur Painter, but were loaned to AAA through Lewis Ferbrache who was a collector for AAA's "New Deal and the Arts" project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Federal Art Project. National Art Week Search this
Extent:
270 Items ((on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Place:
United States -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945 -- Washington (State)
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945 -- Washington (State)
Date:
1940-1941
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, press releases, and miscellaneous publications, chiefly relating to Savery's work as chairman of Art Week and related activities with the National Council for Art Week in Washington state.
Biographical / Historical:
Savery was chairperson of National Art Week for the state of Washington, Seattle, Washington. National Art Week was an attempt by the Federal Art Project to cultivate a greater cultural and consumer awareness of the arts across America. It lasted only 2 years, 1940 and 1941.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming by, Richard Berner, 1964. Berner is affiliated with the University of Washington in Seattle.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Selected records from the United States National Archives and Records Administration of the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Work Projects Administration. Records cover a broad range of topics. The bulk are from the Central Files, "States" and "General Subject" series, 1935-1944. Also microfilmed are materials from series Federal Art Project, Federal Project #1, WPA, among them records related to the Index of American Design; and records of the Chicago Field Finance office relating to allocations of works of art.
General Subject Files is comprised of correspondence, memoranda, receipts, reports, and business files. Found on reels DC44-DC49 are correspondence and memoranda of the the FAP; materials relating to Art for the Millions published during the WPA; receipts for loans of works of art.and other correspondence, memoranda, business records, reports, and lists of artists. Found on reels. DC45, and DC49-DC50 are materials relating to the two National Art Weeks of 1940 and 1941; regional correspondence, 1939; reports, 1939; and papers relating to exhibitions held for WPA artists.
Central Files, "States", on reels DC62-DC111, is comprised of general correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, reports, and records of FAP activities at the state level. Much of the material is between state administrators and national directors. There are occasional occurrences of letters from individual citizens seeking assistance. Topics covered include FAP, Federal Writers' Project, Federal Theater Project, Federal Music Project, Index of American Design, and other projects under Federal Project # 1 of the WPA. New York City has its own separate file.
Federal Art Project, Federal Art Project #1, series appears on reels DC51-DC61 are broken down into "General Correspondence File", reels DC51-DC59, consisting of ca. 80 files with a variety of titles, for example Artist's oil paints, Congressional correspondence, Index of American Design (mostly reel DC53), Museum of Modern Art, News releases, Salary increases, etc.; and "Regional Correspondence Files," reels DC60-DC61, for Ohio, Washington state, and California; publicity and exhibition material; and "Regional and State Correspondence Files," Alabama to Michigan. Among the persons represented are Holger Cahill, Lawrence Morris, Thomas C. Parker, Russell C. Parr, and Constance Rourke.
Chicago Field Finance office records relating to allocations of works of art are found on reels DC129-DC130 and include requests for allocations of funds, requests for loans, receipts for allocations of works of art, shipping receipts, miscellaneous forms and correspondence.
Arrangement:
Microfilm reels DC44-50: General Subject Files. Reels DC51-61: Federal Art Project, Federal Project #1, WPA. Reels DC62-DC111: Central Files: "States" (reel DC53 is exclusively related to the Index of American Design). DC129-DC130: Chicago Field Finance office records relating to allocations of works of art. Most series are arranged alphabetically by subject, artist, state, territory, and district. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the records on microfilm reflects the order and arrangement as existed during the microfilming project, 1964-1966, and may not correspond to the original order of the records currently maintained by the National Archives in Record group 69,
Biographical / Historical:
The Federal Art Project (FAP) fell under the jurisdiction of Federal Project No. 1 of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to aid unemployed artists, following the precedent set by the Public Works of Art Project and other Treasury department art relief projects. Holger Cahill was appointed director of the FAP and remained in that position throughout its existence. The WPA was established in May 1935 specifically as a work relief program for the millions of individuals left unemployed during the Depression. Its name changed to the Work Projects Administration in 1939 when it fell under the administrative hand of the newly created Federal Works Agency.
The FAP projects included a broad range of events and activities which generated the various publications and materials found in the central files of the general subject series. ART FOR THE MILLIONS was a publication project about the accomplishments of the FAP consisting of a series of articles by Project workers. In addition to creating work for artists, the FAP sought to increase art appreciation as well as art sales among the general public. In doing so it devised a plan which created National Art Week. National Art Week was observed in both 1940 and 1941, and although the scale was grand and participation by the public impressive, the financial return on both occasions was minute, putting an end to plans for future National Art Weeks.
Provenance:
Series and files microfilmed by AAA were selected from the National Archives record group 69, records of the Work Projects Administration. Additional records of the WPA are preserved at the National Archives. FAP series and files not microfilmed by AAA include: additional records of the Federal Art Project (FAP), National Archives boxes, 27-58 and records of the FAP in Ohio, ca. 1937-1940; Division of Information, "Primary File" of the FAP and National Art Week; and photographic prints and negatives in the Still Picture Division, National Archives Building.
Restrictions:
The Archives does not own the original records. Use is limited to microfilm copy.
Correspondence, writings, clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, and miscellany.
ADDITION: Biographical material; writings, including notes, drafts, and finished copy for Engel's columns, "Do You Know That?" and "The Bright Palette," manuscripts of articles about collecting autographs, and "Miscellaneous Art Notes-- Michael M. Engel" (1 vol.); art research files; letters from Engel's collection of artists' autographs, many of which are illustrated; and artists' files, containing mainly clippings, exhibition announcements, photographs, and a small amount of correspondence, except for the Hugo Ballin file, which contains a large number of letters with illustrated envelopes.
Also, printed matter, including M. Grumbacher & Co. publicity, promotions, and biographical information on artists featured in their advertisements, articles about Engel and his palette collection, annual exhibition catalogs and other printed matter of Audubon Artists and other art organizations and galleries; photographs and slides of Engel, artists who represented M. Grumbacher & Co., palettes, paintings produced in Grumbacher demonstrations and other works of art, and one album of photographs of paintings by various artists with notes on palettes; files on camouflage, containing printed matter, notes, and photographs; and scrapbooks, including 3 on National Art Week, a WPA-Federal Art Project event, compiled by his wife, Mary Black Diller, an artist active in promoting it, and 3 compiled by Engel containing publicity material on Artists for Victory "Four Freedoms," Florida International Art Exhibition at Grand Central Galleries, and "Wayman Adams Film Painting a Portrait."
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, collector, lecturer, writer; New York, N.Y. Engel worked as public relations director for M. Grumbacher & Co., an artists' supplies firm. He contributed to Art Digest and other magazines, and founded Audubon Artists in 1940.
Provenance:
Donated 1975 by Mary Black Diller, widow of Michael M. Engel, and in 1994-1995, by their son, Michael M. Engel.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
