Discussion On The "New Deal" And Federal Art-Fostering Policies(1933-1943)

The Great Depression begun in 1929 caused an unprecedented disaster to America, bringing with it economic slump, social unrest, and political turbulent. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president at this critical moment. To deal with the crisis, he introduced the "New Deal" immediately, In solving the problem of unemployment, the Roosevelt Administration did not neglect the artists. Roosevelt hoped that the New Deal could manage to help American live a rich life again as well as cultivate their culture literacy. With the support of the president and the endeavor of a group of New Dealers who were high on developing American art, the Roosevelt Administration implemented a series of art-fostering policies. Not only the philosophy of Democratic Government and Welfare Society which the New Deal followed enabled the artists survive dignified, but also mainstreamed art in American’s daily life. Furthermore, with the violent political radicalism and the rapid expansion of national consciousness, these art programs also advanced Native American art. However, because the Roosevelt Administration’s art-fostering policies couldn’t separated from the New Deal, these art programs never escaped when the New Deal was under its opposition’s attack. The New Deal accounted for the fluctuating fortune of the art programs.In order to study the New Deal and the Roosevelt Administration’s government in the prospective of art-fostering policies, this thesis selects four programs through which the Roosevelt Administration aimed at developing plastic art:the Public Works of Art Project, the Section, the Treasury Relief Art Project, and the Federal Art Project.The first part introduces the coming of the Great Depression, the Great Depression’s strike on American artists, and how the New Deal concerned about American art.The second part discourses the Hundred Days and the Treasury Department’s three art programs:the Public Works of Art Project, the Section, and the Treasury Relief Art Project.The third part concerned with the Federal Art Project. With the New Deal coming to the second phase and the expansion of relief programs, the federal art-fostering policies reached its peak. Finally, as the New Deal slowed down and finished, the Federal Art Project came to its end.The conclusion evaluates the relation between the New Deal and the art-fostering policies. It also reviews the connection and distinction between these art programs. Ultimately, it looks into the federal fostering of art development in the future.