“We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon”
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, Address on Hemisphere Defense, Dayton, Ohio, October 12, 1940, Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/209196
(cover page and detail below) Howard Heath, Westport Pioneer Spirit (Westport Organized, 1835-1935) (1935), oil on masonite. On view at Westport Town Hall
A Call for Action
Throughout the 1930s, the United States remained at the center of a global economic depression.
In order to provide relief for the unemployed, stimulate recovery and begin the process of economic reform, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt launched a series of programs, collectively known as the New Deal.
The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) and the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration (FAP/WPA) secured jobs for tens of thousands of artists, actors, musicians and writers, including sixteen artists who created artworks for the public buildings of Westport.
(image below) Howard Heath, Study for Administration of a Modern Community (1936), graphite. Photograph courtesy of Connecticut State Library, WPA Art Inventory
"Faith in America, faith in our tradition of personal responsibility, faith in our institutions, faith in ourselves demand that we recognize the new terms of the old social contract"
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, Campaign Address on Progressive Government at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, California, September 23, 1932, Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/289312
(background image) Arthur Elder, Historical Map of Westport (Green's Farms, CT, 1635-1935) (1937), oil on masonite. On view at Westport Town Hall
Art Works for Westport
Between 1934 and 1937, Westport’s First Selectman King W. Mansfield appointed the Westport Art Committee, chaired by author and artist Mrs. Henrietta Cholmeley-Jones, together with architect Sanford Evans and author Mrs. Brooke Peters Church, to award commissions for public artworks, based on a qualification of artistic skill and need. The artists each received a working salary of approximately $90 per month, sent from Washington, D.C., through the Connecticut state director, Wayland W. Williams of New Haven.
(image) Ralph Boyer, Westport Art Committee (1939), oil on canvas. On view at Westport Town Hall. From left to right: Sanford Evans, Mrs. Henrietta Cholmeley-Jones, Mrs. Brooke Peters Church, First Selectman King W. Mansfield.
"This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper"
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933 Inaugural Address, Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/208712
(background image) Howard Heath, Allen's Clam House (1938), watercolor on paper. On view at Coleytown Elementary School
Look to the Past, Strengthen the Present, Build the Future.
Westport’s WPA artists produced thirty-four high-quality works of art including large-scale murals, easel paintings, pencil and ink drawings, bas-relief and free-standing sculpture, and 120 photographs.
The WPA commissions were installed at Town Hall (formerly located at 90 Post Road East), the Library (formerly located at the corner of Post Road East), Bedford House (Y.M.C.A. formerly located at the corner of Post Road and Main Street), the Elementary Schools (Greens Farms School at 17 Morningside Drive South, Saugatuck School at 35 Bridge Street, and Bedford Elementary at 110 Myrtle Avenue, now known as Town Hall), the Junior High School (formerly located at 125 Post Road West, now known as Kings Highway Elementary School) and the High School (formerly located at 170 Riverside Avenue, now known as Saugatuck Elementary School).
For the enduring gift of these public artworks, the town of Westport contributed a total of $3,020 for materials and installation.
(image below) Photograph of pre-Revolutionary War saltbox house, located on the banks of the Aspetuck River in Coleytown, formerly owned by artist, Kerr Eby (c. 1935). Photograph produced by Thomas O'Connor Sloane in conjunction with the Census of Old Buildings in Connecticut, 1934-1937, WPA Federal Writers Project, State of Connecticut and Town of Westport WPA Records, Architectural Survey. Photograph prints and negatives housed at the Daniel E. Offut III Archives, Westport Museum of History and Culture, Westport, CT.
Art is a Community Experience
Federal funding for the arts during the New Deal era provided economic relief and psychological stimulus for Americans. The Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration fostered a partnership between local artists and their audiences.
The democratic sharing of this art experience to engage the local public resulted in a wide tolerance and deep interest in artistic production.
Artworks produced under the WPA celebrate local history, familiar scenery and images of hope for the future. During a period of perilous economic and social crisis, Westport’s First Selectman King W. Mansfield and the Westport Art Committee gathered the courage, independence and resourcefulness of artists. The town of Westport continues to support the arts and art education in our community today.
"Civilization cannot go back; civilization must not stand still. We have undertaken new methods. It is our task to perfect, to improve, to alter when necessary, but in all cases to go forward"
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Annual Message to Congress, January 3, 1934, Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/208328
Robert L. Lambdin, The Spirit of Adventure (1937), oil on canvas; right panel of a three-panel mural. On view at Westport Town Hall
Our Town, Our Promise
The General Services Administration in Washington, D. C. is curator for artworks commissioned under New Deal programs. WPA artworks remain property of the federal government and are granted by extended loan to local towns, for whom the work was created.
Westport’s WPA collections form a historically significant portion of the Westport Public Art Collections. Many of Westport’s WPA works have received federal approval for conservation, though funding for conservation work remains the duty of local caretakers.
The Westport Public Art Collections Committee strives to ensure that every WPA-commissioned artwork remains publicly accessible. However, several works have disappeared over the years, due to artworks’ removal or a public buildings’ demolition and renovation.
(image above) Robert L. Lambdin, The Spirit of Adventure (1937), oil on canvas; center panel of a three-panel mural. On view at Westport Town Hall
Thank you for exploring with us!
Related Bibliography for W.P.A. artworks
To learn more about the Westport Public Art Collections (WestPAC) and to Search the collections, visit westportarts.org
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