WPA Murals as Historical Artifacts: What is Archaeology’s Role in the Preservation, Protection, and Analysis of Early 20th-century American Art?

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

When U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt formed the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935 by as part of the New Deal, his goal of rescuing the United States from the Great Depression was predicated on the creation of a flurry of new jobs that resulted in extensive public infrastructure as well as providing money for those skilled in the arts. One product of this investment was the production of thousands of artistic murals around the country. This paper argues that these WPA-era murals should be considered artifacts and studied within the discipline of archaeology and sub-discipline of historical archaeology. It questions why archaeology has not embraced WPA art as material culture worthy of study even though it falls within many established parameters of the field. Using examples of recently discovered and restored artwork at San Diego State University, we suggest that historical archaeologists are especially suited for complex issues of historic preservation and can be important interdisciplinary collaborators with art historians, museum curators, and others.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37989.0