College Offers New Deal Art Exhibition

September 2, 2008    

The University of New Mexico-Gallup is showing an exhibition of “New Deal Public Art by New Mexico Artists, 1933-1942” in the Ingham Chapman Gallery. The exhibition will be on view until September 26.

The federal Works Progress Administration of the 1930s commissioned hundreds of artists nationwide to produce what is now known collectively as “WPA Art.” The various WPA projects in the arts and other segments of society were an effort to put people back to work during the Depression.

More than 150 artists and craftsmen in New Mexico were employed in these projects. Cities and towns across the state benefited from their work, which included murals on public buildings, and paintings, pottery, sculpture, furniture and crafts for display in public institutions. Many of these works are still in existence in New Mexico.  

David Kammer, an Albuquerque historian and expert on New Deal art, will give a lecture on Monday, Sept. 8, from 7 to 8 p.m. in Calvin Hall Auditorium 248C. Light refreshments will be served after the lecture.

The exhibition is sponsored by the New Mexico Chapter of the National New Deal Preservation Association.

Call gallery manager John Zimmerman at (505) 863-7774 for more information.

 

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